Some of what you read here may be just a reminder, some of it may be new - something you didn't know or a different way of looking at things. We hope it will be useful.

As priests, we are preparing for Sunday all week, taking note of what's happening in people's lives in the parish and beyond, relating it to the readings and the season, praying. These last weeks it has taken quite a bit of time, individually, together and with parishioners, to prepare this little commentary on the Mass.

Before Mass Begins
Lets begin in the sacristy. It's not just a matter of getting our vestments on in there. In the sacristy we prepare for Mass. In fact, the vestments and everything else helps to prepare us, reminding us of what we are about to do.

In the same way, we hope you have a chance to prepare for Mass, not just to stroll in out of habit, or unthinkingly. A look at the readings, a moment of reflection, all helps. Then as you arrive, things should start to help you - the sight of the church, a welcome, Catholic friends, a sign of the cross with holy water at the door, the quiet of the church, the colour of the season - all these should work on you, helping you to prepare for Mass.

Here are some of the vestments that the priest will wear to celebrate. Let's begin with:

Catholic liturgy speaks to us through all our senses, not only words, it is sacramental. So the chasuble today, and the altar covering, are PURPLE, the royal colour worn to prepare to receive Christ the King – worn for Advent, Lent and the sacraments of healing , At other times it could be green – the fresh GREEN of new life and hope which is the ‘ordinary’ life of the followers of Christ throughout the year. In other seasons it may be WHITE, for resurrection, celebration, joy – Christmas and Easter, baptisms and weddings; or RED for blood and the warmth, fire and love of the Holy Spirit – for Confirmation, the feasts of martyrs and of the Holy Spirit.

Introduction and Opening Rites
We come to Mass to join ourselves with Christ. He is the main ‘actor’ in this liturgy. But Christ’s presence to his Church is revealed gradually during Mass.

Finally Christ is seen to be present in a unique way under the species of the Eucharist. This we call the “Real Presence”, not in an exclusive sense, as if the other kinds of presence were not real, but ‘par excellence’. It is a presence that surpasses all others, because it is a substantial presence by which Christ, the God-man,

whole and entire, becomes present under the forms of bread and wine.

Just think of the first things we do at Mass:

Why this intense focus on God? Because we must be ready shortly to know it is God who speaks to us in his Word.

• it is our prayer rising before God like incense
• it is the cloud of God’s presence on Sinai, in the desert, at the Transfiguration
• it is a sweet smelling offering, like the offering of a good life, to the Lord.

Liturgy of the Word
Through these preparations and the opening rites we should now be focused clearly on God. So we come to the Liturgy of the Word. God speaks to us in many ways through the rich prayers and actions of the Mass but he speaks especially in the Scriptures.

First is an Old Testament reading, the theme of which always links with the Gospel. Attached to this reading is a psalm that should properly be our sung response.

The second reading, from the New Testament, often stands alone and often is part of a continuous reading of one of the New Testament letters.

Our readers come from amongst the congregation. This is right as our Baptism calls every one of us to ministry of some kind. Reading is one of the more visible ways of living out our baptism.

Special honour is given to the Gospel with incense, candles and everybody standing up.

Christ speaks to us directly in his Gospel and, if you notice, our responses are different from those with the other readings, as we speak directly back to Christ.

The Gospel is greeted with its own special song, usually alleluia, but in Lent ‘Praise to you O Christ ..’. We mark our forehead, lips and heart with a cross to remind ourselves to allow Christ into our minds, to let our lips speak his words and the spirit of his Gospel to penetrate our hearts. After the Gospel we continue with the liturgy of the Word as the priest or deacon 'breaks open' the scriptures for us.

In the Eucharist we ‘break the one bread’ so that everyone may share in the bread of life. In the homily, we ‘break the bread of the Word’ so that everyone may share in that too, breaking it down to find its meaning in our own lives.

The homily is meant to be a short reflection on the readings. From time to time it gets abused and is used for all manner of topics and appeals, this is a shame because we need the “bread of the Word” broken for us.

The Church presumes that God’s people will meet often, not just on Sundays. But when Sunday is our only time together there is just not enough time and so things have to get crammed in. The only way to change this is by much more involvement for everyone between our Sunday gatherings.

We move now to the Creed and the Bidding Prayers, or Prayers of the Faithful.
As a psalm was attached to the Old Testament reading as a response, so the Creed and Prayers are attached to the Liturgy of the Word as our response of faith and prayer. And that prayer is our solemn work as the Church, praying for the whole world. After the bidding prayers the litergy of the Word is complete.

Liturgy of the Eucharist
Offertory and preparation of altar and gifts
Practically there seems to be a bit of a break now, while everyone looks for something for the collection - but our focus mustn't change from God. Everything we have is from God. He is the ‘giver of the gifts we bring’, as one of the prayers says. When we realise and appreciate that, and are thankful, then we know what to give back at the offertory, how generous to be in return. At the offertory we acknowledge God in a thanksgiving gift.

Then there is the bread and wine. ‘Why bread and wine’, some ask, ‘why not some other food?’ Quite simply using bread and wine is what Christ did and is a remembrance of Him at the Last Supper.

The one thing remembered by all from the Last Supper, is that Christ ‘took, blessed, broke and gave’ bread and wine and said to us ‘do this in remembrance of me’.

As Father prepares the gifts, he has several private prayers he is making:

Before that last private prayer, incense might be used once again. The altar, priest and people might be incensed, as we recognise and respect, more and more clearly, Christ’s presence there.

The preface to the Eucharistic Prayer
‘Eucharistic’ prayer means prayer of thanksgiving and it is all addressed to God the Father. It has a structure, and understanding this helps us, not just to let Father get on with it while we think our own thoughts, but to follow its movement in ourselves.

There’s a short dialogue between priest and people that goes like this:

Priest: The Lord be with you .....
People: And also with you
Priest: Lift up your hearts
People: We lift them up to the Lord.
Priest: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God
People: It is right to give Him thanks and praise.

This little dialogue shows this is our prayer, priest and people together. He, as priest, prays it in the name of Christ and on our behalf.

The Preface follows the dialogue and is joined to one of four Eucharistic prayers. There are over 80 prefaces that can be used depending on the type of celebration and together with the Eucharistic prayers make the a unified whole. The preface concludes with the "sanctus" which is said by everyone: 'holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are filled with your glory, hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest.

The Eucharistic Prayer
Bells
Soon we hear the bells and see Father’s hands spread over the bread and wine. This is called the epiclesis, calling on the Holy Spirit to act –

i) to change the bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood

Consecration
Then we recall to God the words of Christ at the Last Supper that have been remembered for 2000 years. By these words the bread and wine are consecrated or transubstantiated to use the precise theological term, and Christ is made present in a unique and substantial way. The priest then shows first, the consecrated Bread and then the consecrated Wine to the people by lifting them up so all can see. Often a bell is rung at this time to draw our attention to Our Lord's Real Presence.

Then immediately in the Mystery of faith and in the words that follow, there is a solemn remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice in his suffering, death and resurrection. It is this sacrifice that we offer back to God. Then follow simple intercessions for Church and world, living and dead, in communion with Pope, Bishops and Pastors everywhere. This is the Church at prayer. It ends with a great doxology, an act of offering and praise to God summing up the whole prayer. Our response is called the Great Amen and should be a firm Amen to all that has been said and done, not just a mumble.

Liturgy of the Communion
'Our Father ....'
Now we pray together in Jesus' own words the "Our Father" or "The Lord's Prayer".

The sign of the peace
Before we go to Holy Communion we need to be in harmony with our brothers and sisters. The invitation by the priest for the Sign of the Peace to be given to those around is carried out with a simple shake of the hand.

Breaking of Bread
The priest breaks the large host into several pieces, the earliest name for the Mass is 'the breaking of bread', so this moment is perhaps more important than we had realised. Often we have almost passed over it unnoticed, but it deserves more attention than that.

Lamb of God
When we say 'Lamb of God', it is the sacrificial lamb we are talking of not a fluffy, spring lamb in the fields. By now we are asked to behold Christ, sacrificed and made present and available to us as a meal.

We come to receive Christ at Communion, his Body and Blood given for us. United in this way in Christ, we should be aware of a bond with each other and with God that is stronger even than death.

St Augustine says: ‘if you are the body of Christ, his members, it is the mystery of yourselves that is laid upon the altar; it is the mystery of yourselves that you receive; it is to what you are that you say Amen’.

So we can say ‘Amen, this is the Body and Blood of Christ’ but we are also saying ‘Amen, I know and understand that I am a member of his Body’ and will live as such.

Holy Communion is usually offered under both kinds. Christ is fully present in either but it is right to receive from the chalice as well. It makes the sacramental sign clearer. ‘Holy’ Communion – have we become too familiar with it? It is normal to receive when we are at Mass but we must receive worthily. There is still the obligation of fasting for one hour before taking Communion – certainly chewing gum during Mass is not on. We can receive (not take) in our hands or on our tongue, but hands should be clean and the chalice may not be appropriate when you have a cold. For those who are unable to receive Holy Communion, eg non Catholics, those who need confession, etc, can always go forward to receive a blessing at this time.

As a priest is ordained to act in the person of Christ he is the one who takes, blesses, breaks and gives - but this last “giving” i.e. distributing Holy Communion could unduly prolong the mass when there is only one priest and so the Church has asked lay people to assist the priest in this particular aspect of his ministry. So when lay people help to give Holy Communion, this is entirely proper. Communion is a time for our own personal reflection as well as allowing others the space to encounter the Eucharistic Christ. Christ is present here. Let us not distract each other from that mystery.

We are nearly at the end of the Mass. Do we know what we have done? Whether we have done it well or not so well, whether the singing was good or not, whether the priest is holy or not, preached well or not, whether any of us are worthy or not, whether we have understood or not, whether we wanted to be here or not – by our actions our Covenant with God in Christ has been renewed. We should, and do, strive to do it as well, as faithfully and as prayerfully as possible but Christ asked us to ‘do this’ - and we have done it – and pledge ourselves to do it until he comes again.

After a prayer to conclude Holy Communion, a few announcements and a blessing we will be dismissed. ‘Ite missa est’, was the old Latin dismissal – ‘and so I send you out’. ‘Missa’ is where we get ‘Mass’ from. All that we have done is about going out now as Christians into our world. As we are dismissed from here, in a way the Mass is just beginning.