Ten tips to get the most out of your participation in the Mass.
1. Pray on the way to Mass. Whether you drive to a distant chapel or walk down the street to a cathedral, turn your attention to the coming celebration. Arrive five minutes before Mass.
2. Turn off your phone before entering the house of God.
3. Invoke the Holy Spirit to prepare you to participate in this amazing mystery.
4. Use your Missal, if you have one, the Mass app, or the missalette available in the church. By reading, or listening attentively, you can avoid distractions, following the prayers of the priest.
5. At the offertory, offer your loves, your worries, and your entire life, placing them beside the bread and wine being presented by the priest.
6. Pray with special care the Holy, Holy, Holy Lord…, united to the angels in adoring God. Live the Eucharistic Prayer feeling yourself to be part of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ.
7. In consecration, do what you can to kneel before your Lord. Be united to the sacrifice of Jesus who is the only Victim. By doing so, you also offer to God the Father, through Christ, and with the Holy Spirit, all the sacrifices, sufferings, self‑denials, and troubles of each day.
8. Have the necessary preparation for Communion: you need –besides being in the state of grace– to have the right intention, and keep the Eucharistic fast.
(a) The eucharistic fast requires abstaining from eating and drinking, except water and medicine, for one hour before actual Communion time. The sick and the elderly, as well as those who take care of them, may receive Holy Communion even if they have taken something within the hour.
(b) Holy Communion may be received a second time on the same day when one attends Holy Mass again on that day, and when one receives the Blessed Sacrament as viaticum in danger of death.
9. Complete the Mass with an intense thanksgiving, devoting a few minutes to private prayer. In this way, your Mass will have a direct influence on your work, your family life, your dealings with others, and the manner you will spend the rest of your day. In short, the Mass should not be an isolated event of the day; rather, it should be the inspiration and the dynamo of all your actions.
10. Quietly leave the church to begin offering “your Mass” (that is, your family life, your work, and relaxation). You are now the priest of your Mass. Participate in each Mass as if it were your last. And remember to turn on your phone.
Torreciudad: The Visitation. Going to offer help. Fruit of the 2nd Joyous Mystery: Love of Neighbors.
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