Feb 20 Thu
How should I participate in the Mass?
Our Mother the Church wants us to attend Mass, not as strangers or passive spectators. We must try to understand it better each time, and participate in a conscious, pious, and active manner, with the right dispositions and cooperating with divine grace. Our participation must be both internal and external.
Internal participation.
Since the sacrifice of the Mass is the same as the sacrifice of Calvary, they have the same fourfold purpose:
• To adore the Blessed Trinity. The sacrifice of the cross was first of all a sacrifice of adoration and praise of God. Although the Mass is sometimes offered “in honor and memory of the saints, the Church teaches us that the Mass is not offered to the saints but to God alone, who has given them their crown.”
• To give thanks for the many benefits we receive from God, including those which we are not aware of. Only Christ our Lord can offer God a worthy hymn of thanksgiving. He did so when he gave thanks in the Last Supper and when hanging on the cross, he continued to give thanks. Our Lord continues to thank God the Father for us in the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
• To ask pardon for our sins and for the many times we have not loved God as we should. This desire for expiation and atonement should lead us to make a good confession. The same Christ who died on the cross for our sins is present and offered in the Mass so that sins may be forgiven.
• Petition, to ask for the many spiritual and material things we need. Jesus Christ on the cross died offering prayers and supplications and was heard because of his reverent obedience, and now in heaven lives always to make intercession for us. These graces benefit those who attend Holy Mass and the persons for whom it is offered.
These should be our thoughts and intentions at every Mass that we attend, uniting ourselves with Christ and making his desires and sentiments on the cross our own.
External participation.
• Attend the Mass with a spirit of prayer, praying as the Church teaches us, avoiding distractions. Be one with the words, actions, and gestures of the celebrant who acts in the person of Christ. Give up personal preferences; accept the option that the pastor, considering the circumstances of the people in each community, has chosen from among the legitimate possibilities that the liturgy offers us.
• Listen, answer, acclaim, sing, or keep opportune silence to facilitate union with God and deepen our reflection on the word of God. All the faithful present, whether clergy or laity, participate together, each in his way.
• Stand, sit, and kneel with the congregation, and be serene when you see someone who does not do so.
• Be punctual. This is a considerate detail for Christ our Lord himself and those attending the Mass. Arrive before the priest goes to the altar. Leave only after the priest has left.
• Dress properly, as for an important meeting and not as if we are going to play sports.
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