November 22nd

Once we have prayed the Creed together, the next part of the Mass is the General Intercessions or the Prayer of the Faithful.

The priest briefly introduces the General Intercessions and then either a deacon or a member of the congregation (if there is not a deacon present) leads the congregation in the prayers.

The prayers normally follow a specific pattern.  First, we pray for the Pope and for the other shepherds of the Church (other bishops, priests, etc.); then we pray for government leaders, either our own or throughout the world.  There can then be prayers for the local community as well as prayers for the sick.  There is always a prayer for the faithful departed and finally, the last intention is usually for people for whom the Mass is being offered.

At the end of each intention, we are invited to pray to the Lord and we ask the Lord to hear our prayer.  It is very easy to make this response without thinking about it, but we should try to be attentive to what it is that we are praying for as a community and truly pray the response: Lord, hear our prayer!

The priest concludes the Intercessions with a short prayer, and then all are seated.  With the conclusion of the General intercessions, the Liturgy of the Word is completed and we begin the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  We will take up that topic, next time.

God bless,

Father White

November 15th

Following the proclamation of the Gospel, the priest gives a homily.  The homily is optional on weekdays, but it is required on Sundays.  The homily is meant to break open the Word of God and help people understand what it means for us today.

After the homily, there may be a brief period of silence for reflection.  During that time, it can be helpful to reflect upon the main message of the homily, or some point that particularly struck us.  We also may make some resolution, based on the message of the homily.

When making resolutions, it can be particularly helpful to make resolutions that are concrete, not general or abstract.  It is not enough to say that I will do better in the future, for such resolutions are easily forgotten.  The question to ask, when making a resolution, is how will I do better in the future.  If I resolve to do something specific, I am much more likely to follow through on it.

The next part of the Mass is the Creed.  We together stand up and profess our faith.  The Creed is a brief summary of all that we believe as Catholics.  When we recite the Creed together at Mass, it is also a prayer.  At our Baptism, the Creed was professed for us.  At Mass, every Sunday, we profess our own belief in all the articles of faith contained in the Creed.  In a sense the Creed is our prayerful re-commitment to the Truths of our Faith.

It can be easy to get through the Creed and not even realize what we have been saying.  It is important to try to say the Creed with attention, thinking about the mysteries contained therein.  The mysteries contained within the Creed are the mysteries of our salvation: they call our attention to the great things that God has done for us.  Praying the Creed together at Mass should inspire our hearts with gratitude.  Let us try to be attentive whenever we pray the Creed and thank God for the gifts that He has given to us: especially for the gift of revealing Himself to us through His Son.

God bless,

Father White

32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

The poor widow put in more than all the other contributors.

The poor widow gave everything that she had.  She did not have much, only a few coins, which the Gospel tells us, were only worth a few cents.  Yet it was all she had to give; it was her whole livelihood: it was all that she had to live on.  She gave it to the Lord and Jesus points her out because of her great trust in God.

We hear of a similar thing in the First Reading.  The Prophet Elijah went to a particular town, during a time of great famine.  There hadn’t been any rain, and therefore there weren’t any crops.  There wasn’t anything to be found to eat, anywhere.  He saw a widow and he asks her to give him something to eat.  The widow says that she was just getting ready to cook the last bit of the food that she has in the house and then her plan was to wait to die because there just wasn’t any more food.  Elijah promises her that if she trusts the Lord and gives him something to eat, that the Lord will miraculously provide for her and for her son.  And that is exactly what happens.

Because the widow trusted in God she and her son, and Elijah as well were all miraculously provided for.  God is not outdone in generosity, but we have to trust Him.  The widow in the Gospel could have held on to those few cents.  She could have reasoned and justified herself by thinking that she could not afford to give anything.  She might have thought: “I better hold on to these few coins; they are all I have left.  I can’t give them to God.”  Instead she realized that a few coins wouldn’t do her any good anyways; but if she entrusted herself completely to the Lord, she had faith that she would be provided for.  She was likely familiar with how God provided for the widow through Elijah and she likewise put all her hope in the Lord.

What both of these Scripture passages illustrate for us is the importance of relying upon the Lord.  We should not put our trust in the things of this world.  This world is passing away.  We were not made to live in this world forever; we were made to be forever happy with God in Heaven.  If we seek God first, everything else falls into place.  That doesn’t mean that our lives will necessarily become easy, there are always trials in this life; but we will find that if we put our trust in the Lord, He will always provide for our needs.

Another lesson we can learn from these passages is not to hold anything back from the Lord.  If the widow had not given Elijah something to eat the flower and the oil would have run dry, and she and her son would likely have died from the famine.  Jesus says it like this: If anyone tries to preserve their life, they will lose it; if anyone loses their life for my sake and the sake of the Gospel, they will save it.  (cf. Mk 8:35)

We are all called to be Saints.  We are all called to love God with all our hearts, with all our minds, and with all our strength; it is by making this radical gift of ourselves to God and to others for His sake that we will find true happiness.  If we aren’t Saints yet, it is because we are still too attached to something other than God.  We have to examine our hearts and ask ourselves what it is that we love more than we love God and then surrender that part of our lives to Him.

The goal is to conform ourselves to Jesus Christ.  Jesus didn’t just talk about this kind of total love; He fulfilled it on the Cross.  Jesus did not hold anything back on the Cross.  He gave everything that He had.  He shed every last drop of His Precious Blood for you and for me.  Jesus says that if we want to follow Him we have to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him.  We have to imitate Him.

We can easily imitate the other people that we heard about in the Gospel, those who give of their surplus:  “God can have this part of my life, He can have this part of my heart; but this other part is mine.  I like this sin too much, God.  I am not ready to give up that part of my life just yet.”

God wants your whole heart.  God sacrificed His Beloved Son to save you from sin and death.  He doesn’t love your out of His surplus.  God IS love, and He loves you with all that He IS.  If a billionaire gave you several hundred thousand dollars, you would think that that was a pretty great gift.  Of course the billionaire would still have a lot more money leftover for himself.  God doesn’t just give you part of what He has; He doesn’t give you part of Himself.  He gives Himself totally, wholly, and completely to you in the Holy Eucharist.  The Eucharist is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ: it is everything that He IS.  And He asks us to respond to Him, by giving Him ourselves: wholly and completely.

If we had to choose between a million dollars and receiving Holy Communion, which would we choose?  What if we chose the million dollars, thinking that we can always receive Communion next week, but then died the same night that we received the million dollars?  Could you imagine standing before God after choosing money over Him?  What would it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your soul?  We cannot serve both God and mammon.

Ask yourself this upcoming week: “Do I love God above all things?  What part of my heart have I not given over to God?  What part of my life am I not willing to sacrifice for God?”  Then ask God for the grace to give yourself completely to Him, just as He gives Himself completely to you.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, on fire with love for us, help us to love you with all our hearts and please you in all our thoughts, actions, and desires.

Amen.

November 8th

At the end of the first and second readings of the Mass, the congregation responds to the Word of God by saying: “Thanks be to God.”  That can seem pretty strange, if we think about some of the readings that we hear proclaimed, particularly from the Old Testament.  (e.g. Think of the account of David and Bathsheba.)  If we have just heard a reading that has a tragic ending, one might wonder why we are thanking God for something tragic.

The reason that we thank God at the end of the reading, is not necessarily because of what we have just heard, but because through the Scriptures, God continues to speak to us.  We thank God because He has just spoken to us through His Word.

After the second reading, we stand for the proclamation of the Gospel.  There are several things that we do during the proclamation of the Gospel to show the importance and the reverence that we have toward the Gospel.  We all stand out of respect for the words and teachings of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  We all sing the “Alleluia” before the Gospel is proclaimed.  The word “Alleluia” literally means: “praise the Lord”; it is a hymn praising God for revealing Himself to us through the Gospel.

While the Alleluia is being sung, the priest bows to the altar and says a short prayer, by which he asks God to purify his heart and his lips that he may worthily proclaim the Gospel.  If the person proclaiming the Gospel is a deacon, the deacon asks the priest for a blessing.  The priest blesses the deacon, and prays that God will purify the deacon’s heart and lips that the Gospel may worthily be proclaimed.  The prayers that the Church puts on the lips of her ministers at the time of the Gospel proclamation remind us of how holy the Gospel is and how important it is that the minister strive to be holy, that he may worthily proclaim it.

The Gospel reading is further elevated from the other readings by the fact that it is read from a separate book which is decorated with gold.  The Gospel book is also carried aloft in procession both at the beginning of the Mass as well as right before the Gospel is read to show its importance.

There are several ways that the priest (or deacon) shows reverence toward the book of the Gospels right before he proclaims it.  The book may be reverenced with incense (on special occasions); the priest signs the book with a cross before he reads; once the Gospel has been proclaimed, the priest reverences the Gospel book with a kiss.  As he kisses the book, he says: “By the Words of the Gospel may my sins be wiped away.”

A final way that the Gospel is marked off from the other readings is that there is a special response made by the congregation at the conclusion of the Gospel: “Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.”

God bless,

Father White

Solemnity of All Saints

“See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.  Yet so we are.”

We are all children of God by virtue of our Baptism, and therefore we are all brothers and sisters in the Lord.  Today we celebrate all the Saints in Heaven.  This Solemn Feast is meant to remind us of our brothers and sisters who fought the good fight on earth and now, side by side with the Angels, surround the throne of God in Heaven and continually sing His praises.

In our First Reading this morning, we hear that the Saints whom we are celebrating today are from every nation, race, people and tongue.  The Saints we celebrate today are from all walks of life: some were married, some were priests and religious, still others were single.  Some lived to see old age, some died when very young.  Some were tortured and killed for the Faith.  Some lived quiet lives of solitude.  What they all share in common is that they were all outstanding in holiness.  The Saints lived lives of heroic virtue and witnessed, by the way that they lived in the world, to God’s love.

Their heroic lives can and should inspire us to be more faithful ourselves.  This month would be a great time to read about a Saint.  We are all called to be Saints.  Reading the lives of the Saints can help encourage us in the pursuit of that goal.  Saint Ignatius of Loyola experienced a great increase in fervor by reading the lives of the Saints.

Saint Ignatius was a soldier, who was wounded in battle.  He was hit in the leg by a canon ball.  He ended up spending a lot of time in a hospital bed recovering.  Prior to his injury, he had enjoyed reading fictional stories of knights and chivalry.  While bedridden during his recovery, he asked for some books to help pass the time.  The only books that the hospital had available were some books on the lives of the Saints.

Saint Ignatius was reluctant, but because there weren’t any other books about, he began to read the lives of the Saints to escape boredom.  These stories from the lives of the Saints greatly inspired Saint Ignatius.  They made him feel that he wanted to do the things that the great Saints had done.  These books lifted his mind and heart to God.

Saint Ignatius later reflected on the difference between how works of fiction affected him and how the lives of the Saints affected him.  He came to realize that although reading fiction stirred up his imagination, it left him feeling empty afterwards.  The excitement he experienced in a good fiction book, quickly went away.  The lives of the Saints, on the other hand, were not only exciting; they also drew him closer to God.  When he finished reading the lives of the Saints, he continued to have a sense of peace and joy.

The Saints can be a great help to us.  Their lives of the Saints can inspire us; the Saints also pray for us from Heaven.  They want us to be there with them, and they intercede for us with God.  Some Protestants accuse Catholics of praying to the Saints and thereby give to the Saints the worship that belongs to God alone.  Let us be clear, when we answer such objections.  We worship God alone, but we honor the Saints who are in Heaven.  When we honor them, we honor God Who has done great things through them.  We do not pray to them; we ask them to pray for us.  The Letter of Saint James tells us that the fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much.  (cf. James 5:17)  The Saints were certainly righteous, and so their prayers are very efficacious.  They are in Heaven, and in Heaven they behold God face to face.  Their prayers are perfect.  They do not suffer from distractions in prayer, as we here on earth do.  Furthermore, they are our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Why would they not pray for us?

The Church calls the relationship between the Saints and us the Communion of Saints.  We are all members of the Body of Christ.  We are called to be Saints.  The Saints want us to fulfill God’s will: they want us to be Saints.  Their lives on earth inspire us, and their prayers for us in Heaven assist us as we journey through this valley of tears.  The Letter to the Hebrews calls them the great cloud of witnesses, which surround us.  (cf. Hebrews 12:1)  Let us remember to often ask the Saints to pray for us, and thank God for the gift that He has given to us in our brothers and sisters in the Faith.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the Saints.  May their lives inspire us to an ever-greater holiness; may their prayers gain us Your constant help and protection.

All holy men and women, pray for us!

Amen.

November 1st

Immediately following the opening prayer, or collect, the congregation is seated in order to listen to the Word of God.  This part of the Mass is known as the “Liturgy of the Word”.

On Sundays, there are always three readings from Scripture and a Responsorial Psalm.  The first reading is usually taken from the Old Testament.  The Easter Season is the exception to that rule.  During the Easter Season, the first reading is taken from the Acts of the Apostles.  In the book of Acts, we hear about what the Christian community did during the days following the Resurrection and Ascension of Our Lord, and so it makes sense that we hear these accounts read during the time immediately following Easter, when we celebrate the Resurrection.

Following the first reading, we have a Responsorial Psalm.  The Psalms are prayers that were written with the intention that they would be sung.  Singing the Psalms is a major part of Jewish worship, and we continue to use them.  The Psalms are prayers that were inspired by God.  When we pray the Psalms, we worship God with the very words that He gave to us.  We also know that Jesus prayed the Psalms, and so we also follow the example of Our Lord when we pray them.

The second reading is always taken from one of the Epistles (Letters) of one of the Apostles.  The Epistles are letters that are usually addressed to one of the early Christian communities, although some of them are addressed to a particular person.  (e.g. the Letter to Timothy)  These letters tend to offer practical advice.  The letters often address a particular issue going on within the community to which it is written, but we know that the Holy Spirit inspired the letter, and therefore we can still gain insight and greatly profit from following the instructions found in them.

The proclamation of the Gospel is the high point of the liturgy of the Word.  We give special respect and honor to the Gospel because the Gospels record the life, death, and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

God bless,

Father White

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

There are several levels or ways in which any given Scripture passage can be taken.  The most basic level is the literal, or historical meaning.  The Second Vatican Council tells us that the Gospels faithfully teach us what Jesus actually did and said.  In today’s Gospel, we hear that Jesus healed a blind man.  This really happened.  Jesus made a blind man see.  The healing of the blind man was good, not only for the blind man, but also for the people who witnessed the miracle and for us today.  The Blind man received his sight; and the miracle was, for the crowds and for us, a proof of Jesus’ divinity.

There is also a moral sense to Scripture.  Scripture can teach us how to live, and it can teach us how to pray.  It is important to remember that even though Scripture was written a thousand years ago, or more, it is still relevant for us today. Scripture is the inspired Word of God; that is why it can continue to instruct, inspire and speak to us all these many centuries later.  This encounter between Jesus and the blind man in today’s Gospel can teach us many things.

First of all, we learn of the importance of faith.  The blind man must have had some level of knowledge about Who Jesus IS and at least some faith that Jesus could and would do something for him; otherwise he wouldn’t have been calling out.  He must have been told about Jesus.  Perhaps someone in the crowd told the man that Jesus had been performing miracles and healing people.  Perhaps someone in the crowd told the man that this was the long awaited Messiah, the promised King, Who would rule on the throne of David forever.

At the very least, the man knew something about Jesus and had some level of faith that Jesus could heal him.  He must have heard about Jesus from someone.  Saint Paul tells us that faith comes from hearing.  It is important that we share our faith with others.  Saint Peter tells us that we are to be ready to give others a reason for the hope that is within us.  We should not be ashamed to tell others of the great things that our God has done for us.  If no one had told the blind man in today’s Gospel about Jesus Christ, he never would have called out to Jesus; he never would have been healed.

Someone did tell the blind man about Jesus, and the blind man cried out to the Lord.  He persevered in his prayer, even when it seemed that the Lord had passed him by, even when the crowd was telling him to be quiet.  There are several passages in Scripture that tell us of the importance of persevering in prayer.  Some people get discouraged if their prayers are not answered immediately, in precisely the way that they want them to be answered.  Praying is not like making a wish.  It isn’t magic.  The Lord wants us to pray, He wants us to ask Him for things, but we should not become discouraged if it seems that the Lord has passed us by.  We should continue to persevere in our prayer.

The blind man’s perseverance paid off and Jesus stopped and had the man called.  Jesus waited for the man to come to Him.  When the man was called he threw aside his cloak and he leaped up.  We too should cast aside anything that keeps us from coming to the Lord.  The biggest thing that keeps many from making progress in the spiritual life is attachment to sin.  Some of the great spiritual writers tell us that it is impossible to make real progress in the spiritual life without uprooting attachment to sin.  Sin and God are completely and radically opposed to one another.  That is why Jesus tells us that if our eye causes us to sin to pluck it out.  He isn’t speaking literally, of course, but it does make the point very clearly: we need to avoid sin.

When the blind man comes to Jesus, the Lord asks him: “What do you want me to do for you?”  It isn’t that Jesus doesn’t know what the man’s needs are.  This is the same Jesus Who knows the thoughts of the Pharisees hearts as they murmur within themselves against Him.  He wants the man to ask.  God knows what we need better than we do.  He wants us to bring to Him all our wants and needs.  He wants us to bring to Him everything that is on our hearts.  Jesus tells us to ask, seek, and knock.  Praying for our needs helps us to remember that we rely upon God.  If God did everything for us without our asking, we might begin to think that we did everything on our own.  Apart from God, we can do nothing.  But through Him all things are possible.

After He heals the blind man, Jesus tells him to go on his way.  The man is so grateful for his healing that he follows Jesus, Who IS the Way.  We, too, should be grateful for all that God has done for us.  Everything that we have that is good comes from the hand of God.  Our gratitude for all the good that God has given to us should inspire us to more faithfully follow the Lord.

A final thing that we can learn from this Gospel passage is how we are to act in regard to others.  We should never allow ourselves to become an obstacle between others and Jesus.  How can we become an obstacle?  Bad example is one way that we sometimes discourage others.  If others know that we are Christians, and we don’t live up to our calling as Christians, others can become scandalized.  Now, we are all sinners; we all fall short of the glory of God.  The important thing is that we try to live our faith.  When we fall, we come to confession; we ask for mercy.  But we should be aware that others could either be inspired or discouraged by our example.  It is good to sometimes ask ourselves: “What type of example am I setting for others around me in the workplace, or at school, or at home?”  We should do what we can to set a good example: in our speech and in our actions.  In this way, we can help others come to Jesus.

October 25th

Once we have all asked God for mercy in the penitential rite, we then sing an ancient hymn known as the “Gloria” or “Glory to God in the Highest”.  We sing this hymn, almost as a response to the penitential rite.  We have just asked the Lord to have mercy upon us and we know that He is kind and merciful, and so we praise Him, with great trust that He has heard our prayer and will, indeed, have mercy upon us.

In this song of praise, we join our voices with the voices of the Angels.  The first line of the Gloria is reminiscent of the words that the Angels sang, as was witnessed by the shepherds, shortly after the birth of Jesus.  After the Angel of the Lord announced that the Savior of the world had just been born, a whole multitude of Angels appeared saying “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.”  (cf. Luke 2:13-14)

The Gloria is a beautiful hymn of praise which we offer to God in praise and adoration.  This hymn is used on Sundays (except during Advent and Lent due to the penitential nature of those Seasons) and all major Solemnities.

Following the singing of the Gloria, the priest says (or sings): “Let us pray.”  Haven’t we already been praying?  The invitation to pray is not an indicator that we are just now starting to pray: hopefully, we have already been lifting our minds and our hearts to God in the penitential rite and in the Gloria.  This invitation is to introduce the “collect” or “opening prayer”.

The official name for the opening prayer is the collect.  This prayer is focused on the theme for the Mass that is usually set based on the Gospel of the day.  There should be a moment of silence between the invitation to pray and the collect.  This allows us to call to mind the things that we want to pray for in a special way during that Mass.  The priest then leads us in the collect, which concludes with a Trinitarian ending, and all present make the prayer their own with the response: “Amen.”

God bless,

Father White

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

“The sons of Zebedee came to Jesus and said to Him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

This is the extent of how some people pray to God: some people only pray by bringing their list of wants or needs to the Lord.  Outside of asking for something they need, they never think of God or pray to Him.  There is certainly nothing wrong with bringing our needs and even our hopes and wants to the Lord, but that should not be the only time or the only way in which we pray.  Imagine that someone you know only comes to talk to you when they want to ask you to do something for them.  Would you consider them a very good friend?

Prayer is meant to be a conversation with God; it is meant to deepen our relationship with God.  By spending time in prayer, you are spending time with Someone; Someone Who knows you better than anyone else in the world and Who loves you more than anyone else ever could.  God created you.  He made you to know and love Him.  He wants you to spend time with Him.  He desires that you tell Him everything that is on your heart.  We should talk to God in prayer; but remember that prayer is a conversation.  We should also spend some time trying to listen to what it is that God wants to say to us.  God speaks in the silence; we have to open our hearts to receive His message.

If we open our heats to God in prayer, He can transform our lives.  Perhaps that is why some run away from silence.  Some people are afraid of being transformed.  If I take prayer seriously, I may be called to change the way that I am living my life; and I might be attached to some things that God may want me to give up.  That can be a frightening thought.  “I don’t want to change my life; I have a plan for my life and I don’t like it when my plan gets interrupted.”  God also has a plan for your life.  And He is God.  He knows everything.  He knows what is best for you.  He loves you.  He knows you better than you know yourself.  If we believe that God is Love: that He is all good, all knowing, and all-powerful why would we not want what God wants for us? Trusting in God can be intimidating; it means that we have to let go of some control.  Giving our lives to God means that we have to give up sin, and that can be difficult.  But that is the way to find fulfillment in this life.  Do you want to find peace and joy in this world?  Then instead of saying: “God, I want you to do whatever I ask of you”, say: “Not my will, but Thine be done.”  That takes faith.

Our culture says that we should be free to do whatever we want.  We live in a culture that rejects God and there is a lot of misery in the world as a result.  Temptation is a lie.  When we are tempted, the promise is that sin will make us happy.  When we give in to the temptation, however, we find ourselves more miserable afterwards.  Sin does not produce joy; it separates us from God.  We were created for God and so we can never be fulfilled apart from Him.

Our culture tries to surround us constantly with noise.  There are many people who are not comfortable with silence.  If things are quiet, God can speak to us.  If we are silent, our consciences can bother us.  And so some people try to constantly surround themselves with noise, so that they will not be able to hear the Lord.  Noise drowns out the Lord’s voice.  In order to hear the Lord, we need to find a quiet place for prayer.

The Lord wants to draw us closer to Himself; He wants to change us: He wants to shape us and mold us more and more into the likeness of His Son.  The Eternal Son of God became a man in order to show us how to live as God created us to live.  He taught us how to love, by the way He lived and by the way He died.  We are called to imitate Jesus, Who says in the Gospel today that He did not come to be served but to serve.  If we want to be truly great, we have to imitate our Lord.  Jesus spent time helping others, and He also took time alone for prayer.  We read in the Gospels that He often went away, to be alone and pray.

Our prayer life should help us to love God ever more deeply, and it should also inspire us to help others.  Authentic prayer must be joined to some form of charity toward others.  Our faith must be lived out in love: love for God and love for others.  How can we say that we love God if we never pray?  How can you love someone that you never talk to; how can you love someone that you never listen to?  We need to pray and when we pray we need to both talk and listen.

On the other hand, if we say that we love God, but we do not put our faith into action, Saint James says that we are deceiving ourselves: “Faith without works is dead,“ he says.  Jesus says it like this: “whatever you did or didn’t do to the least of my brothers, you do or didn’t do also to me.”  Faith leads to prayer and prayer leads to charity.

The challenge for all of us is to examine ourselves: “Do I pray as I ought?”  “Does my prayer affect the way that I live my life?”  Lord Jesus, help us to deepen our love for You through prayer, and help us to put our faith into practice in our daily lives.  Amen.

October 18th

After the Sign of the Cross and the liturgical greeting, the priest invites all who are present to call to mind our sins.  Right at the very beginning of the Mass we pause to examine our consciences and then we ask for God’s mercy.

We know from Scripture that nothing impure will ever enter into the Lord’s all-holy presence.  (cf. Revelation 21:27)  We also know that we all fall short of the glory of God.  (cf. Romans 3:23)  We take a moment, at the beginning of every Mass, to call to mind all those times when we have failed to do God’s will— all the times when we have not loved the Lord with all our hearts, and all the times that we have failed in charity towards our neighbor— and we ask for God’s forgiveness and mercy.

This prayer for mercy is known as the penitential rite and there are several options that the priest may choose use.  One of the options is a prayer known as the Confiteor.  The name of this prayer comes from the first word of the prayer in Latin, which literally means: “I confess”.

In the Confiteor, the priest and the people acknowledge their sins and request prayers from the Blessed Mother, the Angels and Saints in Heaven, as well as from one another.  After all have prayed this prayer, the priest asks that God have mercy upon us and bring us to the everlasting life of Heaven.

We then say (or sing) the Kyrie together.  The priest starts and the people respond.  6 times in a row mercy is beseeched of the Lord.  When we pray: “Lord, have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy”, we are not just praying for ourselves.  We are praying also for those around us, who have just asked for our prayers.  (cf. the end of the Confiteor: “I ask . . . you my brothers and sisters to pray for me to the Lord our God.)

It should be noted that the penitential rite does not take the place of sacramental confession.  If we have mortal sin upon our souls, we should always go to Confession before receiving Holy Communion.

The other forms of the penitential rite are shorter, but the object of each one of them is the same: to pray for ourselves and for one another, that we may obtain God’s mercy, and that we may more worthily enter into the sacred mysteries.

God bless,

Father White