Constant Routine During Mass

[zagjames]

A great Idea i heard was to get a notebook, bring it to Mass with you, and pray to God (earnestly of course) that he will lead you to see one thing in the Mass. To give you one thing, one message, one idea, one conversion of heart in some way. And write down that realization. THat one thing will be big everytime, and if you write it down, and look back over it from time to time and you will see each Mass has a different effect on you, leads you to be a better person each time in a different way. God will use the continuity of the Mass to help get something new across to you every week and you will grow in the faith and in your calling to Holiness.

 

[bpbasilphx]

but just saying the same prayers week after week and standing up and sitting down I don’t know how many times just got to me after a while.

When I was a Baptist, we’d stand up and sit down week after week, and the gist of the supposed extemorized prayers was always the same from week to week, generally explaining to God that He really was God.

 

[JRKH]

A great Idea i heard was to get a notebook, bring it to Mass with you, and pray to God (earnestly of course) that he will lead you to see one thing in the Mass. To give you one thing, one message, one idea, one conversion of heart in some way. And write down that realization. THat one thing will be big everytime, and if you write it down, and look back over it from time to time and you will see each Mass has a different effect on you, leads you to be a better person each time in a different way. God will use the continuity of the Mass to help get something new across to you every week and you will grow in the faith and in your calling to Holiness.

What a VERY intersting Idea

Peace
James

 

[mangy_dog]

Hello everybody,

I am pretty much in the middle between Protestant and Catholic. I used to attend many different Protestant churches from a church of Christ to non-denominational as well as Baptist from time to time but I started thinking about the Catholic faith more and more once I received this Catholic Bible in the mail one time. I started reading as much as I could and the writings of the Early Church Fathers put it over the top for me and I knew that the Catholic church was the genuine article.

I have attended Mass in the past quite a few times and I love the feeling there but some things that I can’t get past is the repetitive nature or routine during Mass. I completely understand why it must all happen the same way during the Eucharist because of the Real Presence of Christ but just saying the same prayers week after week and standing up and sitting down I don’t know how many times just got to me after a while.

I am really not trying to offend anybody at all but it’s almost like it’s just going through the motions and just memorizing certain prayers more than anything else. I don’t know about you but that really hasn’t helped me to grow spiritually; it has only helped me to memorize prayers more effectively.

So I guess you could say I am at a crossroads. I know that from what the Early Church Fathers taught which were taught by the Apostles themselves is what the RCC teaches but something just deep in my soul says that the constant routine during Mass is wrong. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. God bless.

Curtis

I don’t know you but if I memorize a prayer, it makes it easier for me to interiorize that prayer. Because I know the prayer forwards and backwards, I’m able to assimilate and meditate each word, each sentence each meaning. Reading the Gospels over and over does not get old. On the contrary, I get something new every time.
The mass is like that, the rosary is like that, the “formula” for confession, baptism, matrimony etc. is like that. Unchanging is good.
The world may continue to change and other faiths may find it necessary to add variety to keep the faithful coming to service. Change for others is the way they stay in “business”.
I would be weary if one Sunday our priest decided that he was going to say mass a little different that day.
Unchanging is all the more reason why catholics should answer the priest’s prayers at mass instead of warming the pews with their mouths closed.
If I memorized all the prayers of the mass then I should have no excuse to answer the prayers of the priest. Answering the prayers at mass is important. It’s good that you know and memorized them.
Imagen two priests conducting an excorcism and one priest says a prayer and the other one doesn’t answer.
It is just as wrong for a congreagation to sit silently after the priest says, “the Lord be with you”…

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

 

[jmcrae]

For me, the fact that the Mass doesn’t change very much is a good thing, in the same way that how the gravity of the earth works doesn’t change, and the sky doesn’t change from blue to something wild, and the mountains stay still all the time and don’t decide to suddenly start jumping around, and the earth stays in the same boring orbit around the sun year after year after year.

I like that I can go to Mass and I don’t have to have any books with me; I can pray along with it without having to follow along in a program or something.

 

[MarcoPolo]

Ditto the Lamb’s Supper recommendation. After reading that and really understanding how the angels are there at mass with us and the power of the consecration…I have since had my eyes fixated on that host when the priest consecrates the host.

Also, perhaps this little website will help make the mass come alive for you. It’s only one screen long.

 

[Belle10]

I have attended Mass in the past quite a few times and I love the feeling there but some things that I can’t get past is the repetitive nature or routine during Mass. I completely understand why it must all happen the same way during the Eucharist because of the Real Presence of Christ but just saying the same prayers week after week and standing up and sitting down I don’t know how many times just got to me after a while.

Hi curtis, I’m Belle

I’m a cradle Catholic so I have a different perspective – I hope I can help too (there are already many good points in this thread).

We say the same prayers week after week because they’re Biblical. We do the same things during Mass each week because it is a reenactment of the Last Supper, so changing things isn’t up to us – we do it the way Jesus did. I think something important that you said is this: “I love the feeling there but some things that I can’t get past is the repetitive nature or routine during Mass.” I suppose coming from a Protestant background things were varied from week to week, and that’s why you say this…but remember, it’s not that we do things for routine sake. This is a great resource for why we do things during Mass:
davidmacd.com/catholic/catholic_mass_bible_references_full_text.htm

As far as the sitting, standing, and kneeling, these are all done as they are to show appropriate levels of reverence for the different parts of the Mass.

I am really not trying to offend anybody at all but it’s almost like it’s just going through the motions and just memorizing certain prayers more than anything else. I don’t know about you but that really hasn’t helped me to grow spiritually; it has only helped me to memorize prayers more effectively.

Don’t worry, I’m sure you’re not offending anyone. Many Catholics simply go through the motions, which is a shame. The fact that you’re concerned and don’t want this to happen with your spiritual life is a good thing! So, don’t just memorize and recite the prayers – PRAY them!

So I guess you could say I am at a crossroads. I know that from what the Early Church Fathers taught which were taught by the Apostles themselves is what the RCC teaches but something just deep in my soul says that the constant routine during Mass is wrong. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. God bless.
Curtis

I think you should speak with a priest and/or your RCIA teacher (if you’re in RCIA – don’t know if you are yet). Once you understand where parts of the Mass come from and why they’re done the way they are, perhaps it will help you to not focus on what’s the same each week (which is great by the way) but also what is different: the words of scripture we hear, and most importantly the experience of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist!

I hope this helps. God bless you on your journey home! :hug1:

 

[cheeto1]

There is also a custom at some sport of putting your hand
on your heart and singing the star spangled banner.
I bet some people get tired of that routine.

 

[MarcoPolo]

Someone emailed this to me also:
A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. ‘I’ve gone for 30 years now,’ he wrote, ‘and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them. So, I think I’m wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all.’
This started a real controversy in the ‘Letters to the Editor’ column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:
‘I’ve been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this… They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!’ When you are DOWN to nothing… God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!
All right, now that you’re done reading, if you’re of a mind, send it on! I think everyone should read this! 'When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, ‘Jesus, could you get that for me?’