Hey Catholic teens! Sorry I’m a day late in posting this, I
ran out of time yesterday! So in
continuing my effort to shed some light on why the mass is exciting, I’d like
to write today about the entrance and the Liturgy of the Word. The Liturgy of the Word is the first part of
the mass that begins with the penitential rite where we say the Confiteor and
ends with the Nicene Creed. That’s a big
part of the mass, and it includes the Confiteor, Kyrie, Gloria, opening prayer,
2 readings from the Bible (on Sundays), the reading from the Gospels, the
homily, and the Nicene Creed.
The
entrance procession is an important part of the mass. The priest acts at mass “in persona Christi”
which just means “in the person of Christ.”
When the priest is walking forward toward the alter at the very start of
the mass, he is reenacting Christ’s journey to Calvary. I read once that during the middle ages,
priests would actually carry a cross up to the alter during the entrance
procession. Then the priest genuflects and goes forward to kiss the alter. As far as symbols go, the cross and the alter
are interchangeable-it is on the wood of the cross that Christ died for our
sins and it is on the wood of the alter that that same Christ becomes present
as we celebrate the mystery.
If you
have prepared yourself for the mass then you will probably be at least a little
familiar with the readings for that day.
We do something very significant when the priest or deacon reads from
the gospels-we stand up! Why do we do
that? Is it because by that time we are
all falling asleep and we need to get the circulation going again? No! By
standing up, we are acknowledging that God is present in the reading. The first chapter of John explains this
concept pretty well. John 1:1 says,” In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The same God who is present in the Eucharist
is also present in the scriptures.
When we
hear the readings at mass and listen to the homily, we have to remember that
the stories we hear in the Bible are not just historical. Scripture is God’s
way of speaking very directly to us. We
need to try to find ourselves in the scripture readings. There is a method of reflecting and
contemplating scripture called Lectio Divina that I would like to just briefly
touch on. Obviously Lectio Divina is not something we can really do at mass,
but it is all about finding yourself in scripture, and the daily mass readings
are a good place to start. Lectio Divina
has 4 basic steps-read, meditate, pray, and contemplate. When we read a passage, we should do so
slowly and carefully, letting every word sink in. Then we meditate on what we have read, and I
think it is particularly helpful to find out who we are most like in the
passage. We can discover very surprising
things when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough to take only what God
wants to give us from scripture. In the
third step we allow ourselves to speak to God directly from our hearts. These prayers don’t have to be beautifully
worded or artistic, you just have to mean them!
In the final step, we rest and allow ourselves to be transformed by the
things the Holy Spirit is telling us.
Lectio Divina isn’t quite as mysterious as it sounds, and at first it
can be difficult but it opens up a whole new world of interesting Bible
discoveries!
In a
typical homily, the priest will probably try to do a sort of “condensed Lectio
Divina” with the congregation. The
priest will try to give some historical background to the readings if it is necessary,
and then he will talk about how we can take the words and make changes in our
life with them. Homilies are absolutely
necessary, however a priest can only make general statements whereas when you
meditate for yourself, you can be more personal. For example, a priest might say in his homily
that through the readings for that day, God is telling us that we need to be
charitable and generous toward people.
But through further meditation and contemplation, you find that God is
calling you to be charitable and generous by volunteering at a soup
kitchen. As Catholics we tend to be very
Eucharist centered, which is not at all a bad thing, but sometimes we forget
that we have to pay attention to the readings at mass too!
That’s
it for today! I challenge you to take
time once or twice a week and try to practice Lectio Divina with the mass
readings for that day. This is a very
silent and meditative kind of prayer and you might find that it takes a long
time to do, especially if you don’t try it often. Trust in the Holy Spirit, He will guide you!
I’m praying for you all and I will talk to you again soon!
Through Christ who strengthens me,
Emily
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