Do we bring “our best selves” each week? Do we begin at home in our preparations for this sacred gathering? Below is a reflection of "The Gathering Rite."
Families and the Eucharist
Good beginnings are important. On a school day we have a better experience if we have our books and homework, if we eat a good breakfast and if we have had plenty of sleep. When we celebrate Mass, a good beginning is also necessary.
How can you get ready for the Mass at home? Can you get your clothes ready before you go to bed? Can you read the Gospel before you come to Mass? Can you say a prayer to help you think about God before you come into the church? Can you be kind to family members who come with you to church? Can you greet other people coming into church with you?
God calls us to come to Mass. People come from surrounding streets and towns. They come by foot, bicycle, car, truck and van. We are young and old, tall and short. We all come together to form a community, to pray to God and to be changed into beMer people. God gathers us from all corners of his Creation.
Draw a picture of the people who come with you to Mass. Keep your picture in a place that it will remind you to prepare for Sunday Mass.
Did you know?
The Book of Gospels is carried in the entrance procession and is shown to the people during the sung Gospel Acclamation because “Christ himself speaks when the scriptures are proclaimed in the Church” (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy #7).
Copyright © 2008, World Library Publications, the music and liturgy division of J.S. Paluch Co., Inc. Used with permission.
The priest is enabled to act in persona Christi, in the person of Christ, in the celebration of the Eucharist. The priest is the last to enter the celebration, for when he “joins the celebrating community, the Church, the Body of the risen Lord,
Copyright © 2008, World Library Publications, the music and liturgy division of J.S. Paluch Co., Inc. Used with permission.
The song is the first activity of the community gathered in Christ, who is present when the Church prays and sings (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy #7). “If singing is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing. Sing lustily and with a good courage” (Preface to Sacred Melody, John Wesley).
Copyright © 2008, World Library Publications, the music and liturgy division of J.S. Paluch Co., Inc. Used with permission.
”The most basic Christian gesture in prayer is and always will be the sign of the Cross. It is a way of confessing Christ crucified with one’s very body” (Pope Benedict XVI). It is also a statement of belief. From the very beginning of Mass we pray in the awareness of the cross of Christ, of the saving sacrifice it represents, and of our own share in that sacrifice through baptism. (Believe Celebrate Life The Eucharist)
Copyright © 2008, World Library Publications, the music and liturgy division of J.S. Paluch Co., Inc. Used with permission.
The Lord be with you” is a simple formula that expresses the foundational mystery of the Mass: that Christ is with us and makes us one. The greeting occurs four (4) times during the Mass – always before an important part of the liturgy.
Copyright © 2008, World Library Publications, the music and liturgy division of J.S. Paluch Co., Inc. Used with permission.
In the penitential rite, the Church itself, in its members, asks forgiveness and praises the God of mercy. This rite is not “a type of doormat where we wipe our feet before entering the sanctuary of God’s holiness” (Deiss, pp. 22, 24). The rhythm of penance and praise will be repeated over and over in the Mass, for forgiveness is at the very heart of the Eucharist.
Copyright © 2008, World Library Publications, the music and liturgy division of J.S. Paluch Co., Inc. Used with permission.
The Gloria is among the most ancient songs of the Christian people that began as a hymn for the office of Morning Prayer, but gradually made its way into the Mass. It was first sung only by bishops on special occasions; but gradually it came to be sung by all people on all Sundays, except in Advent and Lent. It is a prayer of marvelous light that at the same time recalls the shadows, the darkness out of which God called us.
Copyright © 2008, World Library Publications, the music and liturgy division of J.S. Paluch Co., Inc. Used with permission.
The Opening Prayer is also called the Collect because this prayer collects or gathers the prayers of the community into one. There are nearly two thousand Collects in the Roman Missal. “By these words spoken by the priest, it is I who pray in the name of the Church, and the Church that prays in my name” (Luistiger, p. 62).
Copyright © 2008, World Library Publications, the music and liturgy division of J.S. Paluch Co., Inc. Used with permission.
The Lectionary was developed at the direction of the Second Vatican Council, including a more plentiful sharing of the scriptures. Arranged in a three-year Sunday cycle and two-year daily cycle, the Lectionary allows us to hear almost the entirety of the New Testament, and a good portion of the Old as well. We are currently in Year B and, next week, will hear the Passion from the Gospel according to Mark.
Copyright © 2008, World Library Publications, the music and liturgy division of J.S. Paluch Co., Inc. Used with permission.
Triduum is a Latin term meaning “three days”. These most sacred days begin on Holy Thursday evening through Friday evening (day one), continue with Good Friday evening through Saturday evening (day two), and conclude with the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday (day three). The Triduum is the backbone of our faith through which we celebrate the Paschal Mystery (passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ) in its fullest form.
Copyright © 2008, World Library Publications, the music and liturgy division of J.S. Paluch Co., Inc. Used with permission.
Easter is always celebrated on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25 and is always on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. The third day of the Triduum, Easter Vigil through Easter Sunday, is the paramount celebration of the liturgical year in the Catholic Church. In celebrating Christ’s resurrection, we are called out of the darkness that shrouds our lives and into the light of possibility, of healing, of re-creation.
Copyright © 2008, World Library Publications, the music and liturgy division of J.S. Paluch Co., Inc. Used with permission.
More information on the Gathering Rite can be found here:
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