Why do we do the same thing at mass?

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My protestant friend asked me why we have a “script” and say the same prayers every Sunday and do the same thing all the time in unison. I didn’t know what to tell him.

Please help.

Thanks!
 
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MeOnly:
My protestant friend asked me why we have a “script” and say the same prayers every Sunday and do the same thing all the time in unison. I didn’t know what to tell him.

Please help.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
What church does your friend attend? I grew up United Methodist and there wasn’t a week that we DIDN’T recite the Apostles’ or the Nicene Creed or the Lord’s Prayer. The Offertory hymn and Benediction are always the same, too.
 
Ask him (or her) why Protestants’ sermons are so long! A Presbyr friend of mine said her pastor went on way over an hour. And Lutheran on the radio goes on and on…they interject themselves into the gospel too much IMHO.
 
His churh only goes on for an hour. He doesn’t understand why some things are in latin (kyrie, if thats how you spell it) and why we say the uniformed prayers and go through the same thing every sunday. Mostly the prayers he’s wondering about I told him about the Eucharist and stuff.

I find it hard to explain to him.
 
In Mass we unite ourselves in worship, just like the beings in revelation who recite Holy Holy Holy Lord… over and over again.
We believe Mass is the ultimate form of worship.

So that from east to west a perfect offering may be made, we unite ourselves in the Eucharist.

If everyone did their own thing then it wouldn’t be unity in worship, it would be worshipping how you feel like worshipping.

This ensures a conformity of beliefs, but it is not exactly the same each week or day as we do use the liturgical calendar and read different readings to ensure we cover pretty much the entire Bible. This is different in that it is not just parts of the Bible that the pastor chooses, which really depends on the pastor you have and how\what he\she wants to cover.
 
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MeOnly:
My protestant friend asked me why we have a “script” and say the same prayers

It is better to think of the Mass as one big long prayer which has certain parts which don’t vary and other parts which do. Prayer intentions can vary, but the order of the Mass stays the same. You could also say that the mass is a perfect prayer which, therefore, requires no change, but that would not be very helpful!

every Sunday and do the same thing all the time in unison. I didn’t know what to tell him.

Doing things in unison is good - what else would you expect the body of Christ to be doing? The alternative is to have one person “praying” while the rest “pray” silently - is this somehow any better? If he says yes, well just say that that also happens during the Mass when the priest recites certain prayers while the congregation simply responds to them; ie “Amen”.

Please help.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
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MeOnly:
My protestant friend asked me why we have a “script” and say the same prayers every Sunday and do the same thing all the time in unison. I didn’t know what to tell him.

Please help.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
The Catholic Mass is centered on the Eucharist. Why do we do the same thing at every Mass? Because it’s the very same body, blood, soul and divinity we celebrate, the Eucharist hasn’t changed in almost 2,000 years. We do exactly as Jesus taught us to do, there’s no need to change it or “modernize” it. The truth doesn’t change. Now, there are some variations based on locale and local custom, music, no music, language, but the celebration of the Eucharist should never change, it’s perfect as it is.
 
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MeOnly:
My protestant friend asked me why we have a “script” and say the same prayers every Sunday and do the same thing all the time in unison. I didn’t know what to tell him.
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We got it from the Apostles. One of the oldest liturgies is the Liturgy of St. James; it has been passed from them down to the present day.
Now one for your friend. Who determined their order of worship?

God Bless
 
Just to add to the great answers here, man needs order and ceremony in worship–it’s how we are. Your Baptist friend’s church has its order of service too, even if they don’t acknowledge that that is what they are doing. They have an opening hymn, just like Catholics. They read from God’s word, just like Catholics, they have a sermon (homily), just like Catholics and they conclude their service with prayer and a closing hymn, just like Catholics do.

The Mass may contain more set prayers, but Baptists have their set prayers too. Just listen sometime and you’ll find a definite pattern to their prayers, such as: “Father God we just want to thank you…” is a very common opener for their public prayers. They get into a routine of praying the same way over and over again, but they can’t see that they do that since they claim they are being spontaneous. But are they really when they use the same words and phrases over and over again? Ask your friend about all these things to get him thinking outside the hidden biases in his “box”.
 
On another note, I like that it is the same week to week, city to city, around the world. This helps with unity. Catholics can find comfort in knowing we can step into any Catholic church when we travel and know that our worship will be the same (or should be the same).

That is very cool!
 
From the Catechism:

1345 As early as the second century we have the witness of St. Justin Martyr for the basic lines of the order of the Eucharistic celebration. They have stayed the same until our own day for all the great liturgical families. St. Justin wrote to the pagan emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161) around the year 155, explaining what Christians did:

On the day we call the day of the sun, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place. The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as much as time permits.

When the reader has finished, he who presides over those gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things.

Then we all rise together and offer prayers* for ourselves . . .and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandments, so as to obtain eternal salvation.

When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss.

Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren.

He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and for a considerable time he gives thanks (in Greek: eucharistian) that we have been judged worthy of these gifts.

When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all present give voice to an acclamation by saying: ‘Amen.’

When he who presides has given thanks and the people have responded, those whom we call deacons give to those present the “eucharisted” bread, wine and water and take them to those who are absent.171
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 **[346](javascript:openWindow('cr/1346.htm');)** The liturgy of the Eucharist unfolds according to a fundamental structure which has been preserved throughout the centuries down to our own day. It displays two great parts that form a fundamental unity:
  • the gathering, the liturgy of the Word, with readings, homily and general intercessions;
  • the liturgy of the Eucharist, with the presentation of the bread and wine, the consecratory thanksgiving, and communion.

    The liturgy of the Word and liturgy of the Eucharist together form “one single act of worship”;172 the Eucharistic table set for us is the table both of the Word of God and of the Body of the Lord.173
    **1347** Is this not the same movement as the Paschal meal of the risen Jesus with his disciples? Walking with them he explained the Scriptures to them; sitting with them at table "he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them."174
 
MeOnly, a book I think you - and your friend - would find helpful is Thomas Howard’s Evangelical Is Not Enough. It addresses the need for liturgical worship and highlights what others here have already spoken of: we worship as One Body in Christ.
 
Set orders (The Agenda) of worship are older than the Jews. The agenda is mostly fixed with some changes in content that varies with the calendar (the feast or season), the god being worshipped, the people taking part, etc. Many ancient religions followed a format including the pagan rites of Rome. Maybe it is part of a human need for order and unity that are met by this practice.
 
Another reason we do what we do in the Mass is that the Mass is really an extension of the Jewish rites which which were based upon God’s own directions in Leviticus and the OT. Instead of sacrifices which only represented the penitent’s conversion, our sacrifice is the Sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary and completed upon His Ascension when Jesus stood before the Father offering Himself, as the high priest’s did on the Day of Atonement.

There, in the Jewish rites you find the beautiful priestly vestments, incense, repetitive prayer (the Psalms which are our responsorial psalms every Mass), even the showbread which was only consumed by the priests which is a foreshadowing of our own Eucharist.

The prayers that we say over the bread and wine are Christian versions of the prayers the Jews have said over the wine and bread at their tables for millenia.

In addition to going back to Justin Martyr to see the Mass, I suggest you read the Emmaus Road account in Luke and the place in Acts where Paul preaches the Gospel for so long that a young man falls out of the window and dies, is resurrected by Paul who then goes on to “break the bread” with his followers.

Both are the Mass in seed form–the Liturgy of the Word followed by the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

As to why we say the repetitive prayers and have Eucharist at each Mass, it is because we are doing as Jesus Himself told us to do, and as the Apostles taughts us after His Ascension. We are celebrating our acceptance and adherence to the New Covenant every time we go to Mass and “eat His Body and drink His Blood.” It is how Jesus is always present to all generations of all times as He promised whrn He said that He would be with us always.

I highly recommend reading Hahn’s _The Lamb’s Supper and Worthy is the Lamb by Thomas Nash (Ignatius Press) for a greater appreciation of the Mass and the New Covenant as a fulfillment of the OT covenant.

So I guess the answer is as a great Catholic apologist once said, (paraphrased–I can’t recall who said it either ;^) ):

…They worship God as they want, we worship Him as He wants us to.

The Mass is not just us praising God, it is us worshipping Him as He instructed us to. It is Holy Scripture come to life. It is the Bread of Life nourishing us for our missions in the world. (We eat every day, even though it’s a repetitive thing to do, don’t we?)

In Christ’s peace and joy,

Robin L. in TX
 
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MeOnly:
My protestant friend asked me why we have a “script” and say the same prayers every Sunday and do the same thing all the time in unison. I didn’t know what to tell him.

Please help.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Well to a certain extent we do, but the Liturgy of the word is different, and so is the Gospel reading, so not exactly the same.
And at certain times of the year, things change, Christmas, Easter etc;.
And not forgetting Saint Patricks day :irish1: ------------😉
 
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MeOnly:
My protestant friend asked me why we have a “script” and say the same prayers every Sunday and do the same thing all the time in unison. I didn’t know what to tell him.

Please help.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
You tell you friend, the reason we do what we do is because we are doing what our Lord Jesus Christ asked us to do in the Name of His Father, our God. We are doing it in unison because the more we prayed, constantly, over and over is because we are getting ready for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Prostestants to the same things as well, perhaps not as eloquently as we do or with as much ardor, however, they do the same thing over and over again in their own way! Unison is what is going to bring Jesus Christ back, although I believe that Our Lord Jesus Christ is already among us! By praying, and by believing, then will He show himself. Thus, we need to do it over and over, believe in Him and learn from what we are saying; understand what you are saying at mass! Itis all taken from the Holy Bible! Remember, at Jesus’ Resurrection, He only showed himself to the ones who believed in Him. That is why the Catholics do what they do, only we need to BELIEVE what we are saying. Believe and you shall receive. Believe with all you soul for He is here.

God bless.

raymonde
 
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