Need your help with understanding the Mass

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jesusmademe

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  1. The crucifixion is present to us at Mass. It is also present at other times when we pray our devotion to the crucified Christ. How are those two presence different?
  2. At Mass we heard the word of God being read.
    I can also read the Bible at home and practice lectio divina. How is the presence of the word of God at Mass different from when reading it at home?
    All I know is that you have time for lectio divina at home. At Mass you have many things that need your attention so you just hear the word of God but can’t meditate on it.
  3. At Mass we really have no silence. Maybe we have a short silence after the homily/preaching.
    Why is it not proper to have silence at Mass when it is proper to have a lot of silence at Adoration?
 
Just commenting on the silence I agree. In my opinion there should be silence during and after Communion, definitely no loud music. Another good place for silence is during the presentation of the Gifts.
 
jesusmademe said:
Why is it not proper to have silence at Mass when it is proper to have a lot of silence at Adoration?
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Good question. Even at an EF, there’s a certain discomfort during periods where the priest prays quietly that the organist feels to fill with some soft non vocal music.
 
In the Credo of the People of God, Saint Paul VI wrote:

"Sacrifice of Calvary

24 . We believe that the Mass, celebrated by the priest representing the person of Christ by virtue of the power received through the Sacrament of Orders, and offered by him in the name of Christ and the members of His Mystical Body, is the sacrifice of Calvary rendered sacramentally present on our altars. We believe that as the bread and wine consecrated by the Lord at the Last Supper were changed into His body and His blood which were to be offered for us on the cross, likewise the bread and wine consecrated by the priest are changed into the body and blood of Christ enthroned gloriously in heaven, and we believe that the mysterious presence of the Lord, under what continues to appear to our senses as before, is a true, real and substantial presence.(35)

Transubstantiation

25 . Christ cannot be thus present in this sacrament except by the change into His body of the reality itself of the bread and the change into His blood of the reality itself of the wine, leaving unchanged only the properties of the bread and wine which our senses perceive. This mysterious change is very appropriately called by the Church transubstantiation. Every theological explanation which seeks some understanding of this mystery must, in order to be in accord with Catholic faith, maintain that in the reality itself, independently of our mind, the bread and wine have ceased to exist after the Consecration, so that it is the adorable body and blood of the Lord Jesus that from then on are really before us under the sacramental species of bread and wine,(36) as the Lord willed it, in order to give Himself to us as food and to associate us with the unity of His Mystical Body.(37)

26 . The unique and indivisible existence of the Lord glorious in heaven is not multiplied, but is rendered present by the sacrament in the many places on earth where Mass is celebrated. And this existence remains present, after the sacrifice, in the Blessed Sacrament which is, in the tabernacle, the living heart of each of our churches. And it is our very sweet duty to honor and adore in the blessed Host which our eyes see, the Incarnate Word whom they cannot see, and who, without leaving heaven, is made present before us."

The full document is at Solemni Hac Liturgia (Credo of the People of God) (June 30, 1968) | Paul VI
 
jesusmademe said:
The crucifixion is present to us at Mass. It is also present at other times when we pray our devotion to the crucified Christ. How are those two presence different?
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Jesus becomes fully and totally present at the Mass, body, blood, soul, divinity. This is more than you have elsewhere.

In general, in addition to private devotions, God’s people have always required some sort of group liturgy. So if you’re going to do a group thing, why not do the one for which Christ said “Do this in memory of me.”

The sequence of the readings, followed by the Eucharist parallels the road to Emmaeus where Jesus’s disciples were on fire with the Word. But they didn’t “know” Jesus until he broke the bread with them. Even if you can’t meditate on the Word at Mass, somehow, some way, it works in us like seeds that grow eventually.

IMHO

I totally agree with you on the silence.
 
ProVobis said:
Good question. Even at an EF, there’s a certain discomfort during periods where the priest prays quietly that the organist feels to fill with some soft non vocal music.
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It may not be the organist.

A few weeks ago, Father asked me to continue playing softly after the Communion, while he is still at the altar. He said he feels awkward with everyone staring at him.

This is a middle-aged priest, not a young pries, and he has many years of experience saying Mass.

Of course, I obey Father. I personally like silence once the Communion Hymn is completed, but it’s my place to obey the priest.
 
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jesusmademe said:
Why is it not proper to have silence at Mass when it is proper to have a lot of silence at Adoration?
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One can have a silent (except for the priest and the responses) Mass, and if you ever run into a heavily Hispanic parish you will have some lively, music filled Adoration times.
 
ricmat said:
Jesus becomes fully and totally present at the Mass, body, blood, soul, divinity. This is more than you have elsewhere.
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How then is Jesus present when we say a private devotion to Him crucified? What does the Church have to say?
 
Silence seems more like a private thing.
In Eucharistic adoration we have silence but those silences are for private prayers.
Mass is not a private thing and thus we have less silence. Sure we all have our own way of prayibg at Mass. There are many different ways of praying when the Priest lifts up the Chalice and the Host at the Consecration. I often follow thhe advice a Priest gave me. I sometimes tell Jesus the issues I struggle with.
The EF have silence at the Consecration. At tge historical crucifixion there was probably no silence at all.
 
Yes but why do we have Bible readings at Mass?
At home I read in order to study or practice lectio divina.
I don’t really understand.
I have attended Masses in the EF and the Priests reads (or chants) the Bible readings facing the Liturgical east. At an OF the readings is always done facing the people. This is confusing.
It is then probably not read or chanted for us to meditate on it.
 
jesusmademe said:
I have attended Masses in the EF and the Priests reads (or chants) the Bible readings facing the Liturgical east
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The gospel is read facing north, supposedly to address the barbarians coming from that direction.
 
jesusmademe said:
why do we have Bible readings at Mass?
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God is present in His word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church.
Sacrosanctum Concilium 7
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The history of Israel is full of stories of sinners and God’s fidelity to them. The psalms give an even greater insight into our emotional reactions to God’s actions. The letters of St Paul tell us how the early Christians struggled with living a Christian life. And the gospels tell us of the life and devotion of Jesus and those who knew him.

God speaks to us so that we will understand something about the kingdom of God, and something about the will oof God. Hearing about these things, we are better prepared to say “Your kingdom come, your will be done” when we pray. It is the way we are taught to pray
 
  1. At the Mass, it is not simply the crucifixion which is presented to us, but the entirety of the Paschal Mystery: the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of our Lord. So too, this Paschal Mystery is not simply called upon and invoked, but it is physically present in its fullness upon the altar in the Eucharist. It is this unbloody sacrifice which is the ultimate focus of the Mass which we cannot find anywhere else. Even in adoration, we simply adore the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. In the Mass, we find the actual sacrifice enacted before us and then receive Him who is the New and Everlasting Covenant.
  2. Lectio Divina and the readings at Mass are done for two different purposes. Lectio Divina is centered around meditation. It is purely for spiritual growth and guidance. The readings at Mass is specifically for preparation for the Eucharist. It is not meditation, but instruction. The proclaimed Word of God carries with it the Holy Spirit. It comes down upon the listeners to fortify their spirits for the spiritual change which accompanies reception of the Eucharist. Just as the priest calls down the Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine at the Epiclipsis where he holds his hands out over the bread and wine, so too does the proclamation of the Word of God overshadow us with the Holy Spirit so that Christ may be born anew in our souls with the reception of the Blessed Sacrament. The homily is not meant to be a meditation but a call to action, not from the priest, but from the Church itself.
  3. Mass is not the same as adoration. Adoration in inherently personal, an intimate conversation between Christ and the individual. Mass is meant to be dynamic. It is a communal act of the Church. Even at Christ’s death, there was no silence. The land itself roared as it tore itself apart. Silence can sometimes be used as a tool to emphasize the solemnity of a Mass, but the Mass itself is far from silent. It resounds across the ages in that unbloody eternal sacrifice, echoing in every land throughout every age.
I hope this helped.

God Bless,
Br. Ben, CRM
 
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  1. At Mass are we there at the historical events but we just don’t see it with our eyes?
  2. So the homily is about what we should do and not about why we do what we do? So the Priests cannot speak about eg transubstantiation as that is explaining sometjing rather than telling us how we should act in life?
  3. So silence is more proper for private devotions? Is there a good reason why OF took away the silence at the Consecration? Too many private prayers said at that time in the old days?
    Silence and Latin is very good at showing the importance of the Consecration. Vernacular doesn’t do the job as good as Latin for me. I am not sure what language(s) was used at the last supper and crucifixion but it was probably a language people understood.
 
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So the Gospel was not read for the people attending Mass? I mean, you face the one you are talking to.
 
Point taken. But you have a sermon which faces the people.

Trent encouraged explanations of the Mass and I suppose the readings too.
 
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That’s weird. Even our high masses have plenty of silences. All the low masses I attend have loads of quiet time.
 
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