WEDNESDAY CATECHESIS

The Elements of the Mass April 22, 2020

 

Today we begin a new series for Wednesday Catechesis. This series is called The Elements of the Mass and it contains 31 episodes. Don't worry, each episode is only a few minutes long! We will go through all of the episodes over the course of five weeks. The series will help us to answer questions like these:

 

"What is active participation in the Mass?"

"Why is a church building important for worship and what does it signify?"

"Why does Mass seem so repetitive each Sunday?"

 

In addition, the series will examine various prayers of the Mass like the Collect (the what?), and help us to understand the importance of liturgical vestments.

 

The aim of the series is to improve our participation at Sunday Mass: to understand what we do, how we do it, and why we do it.

 

Today we will cover the first six episodes:

 

1. "The Meaning of Liturgy"

- In our series premier, we find out the definition of the word "liturgy." While it technically means the work of the people, there are two more aspects that help us understand why we even have the Mass in the first place.

 

2. "Intelligent Worship"

- The Second Vatican Council, in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, called for “active participation” on the part of the Faithful. It also called for a participation that would be full and conscious. In this episode we learn the importance of worshiping intelligently.

 

3. "The Role of the Parishioner"

- We Christians are here on earth as exiles. Many of us grow up in middle class Christianity. The danger with that is that we have everything we want and as a consequence we don’t really long for heaven. In this episode we learn what the role of the parishioner is in the Catholic Mass.

 

4. "The Church Building"

- In this episode, we dive into the meaning of the church building. The Catholic Church is a sacramental Church which means deeper realities are expressed in perceptible signs. The church building is not a neutral place; it is not simply a skin for liturgical action. It is a place where prayer happens; it is a temple where sacrifice is offered.

 

5. "Processions"

- A procession is an assembly on the move. It symbolizes, in every instance, our pilgrimage through this world to our true homeland; we are citizens of heaven. There is a difference between “gathering” and “assembly.” A gathering can be any group. An assembly,

on the other hand, is a group called together, formed into a body, united in their purpose and in their destination.

 

6. "Signs and Symbols"

- The Catholic Mass is full of signs and symbols. Where do these signs come from? Where do they get their meaning? The Church teaches that the meaning comes from four categories: creation, human culture, the Old Testament and they are fully revealed in the mission of Christ narrated for us in the New Testament. The sacramental system depends on signs that are perceptible. Every created thing has the impression of God, the Divine Artisan.

 

Each episode has with it a study guide that you might find helpful.

 

To access the series, go the series website: https://www.elementsofthecatholicmass.com/episodes.

 

Please share your experience of the session on our Facebook page. You can also email the church at SJC@sjy.org.