I’m going to wrap up this “practicing Catholic” series with some tips on two central practices of Catholic worship fitting for Holy Week: Mass, and Confession. Here are a few suggestions for getting the most out of Mass:
- Love God and neighbor through the week.
- Read the coming Sunday Scripture readings. (Use p.2 of the weekly Bulletin or some other source to locate them.)
- Spend some time each day in prayer.
- Plan to arrive early, and succeed. Use the five minutes of silence before Mass well.
- Don’t plan something for “right after Mass,” so you won’t feel hurried to get out.
- Dress carefully for Mass: cherish and display your God-given dignity and individuality.
- Bless yourself as you enter the church. It’s a reminder that this is a special place and time. (Silence any watch, pager, or cell-phone for the same reason, unless your job requires you to be on-call.)
- As you enter the pew, bow or genuflect.
- Sit quietly before Mass begins, and gently put aside any thoughts, worries, or plans that try to intrude; make space to hear God’s Word.
- When the Gathering Hymn begins, pick up a hymnal and join in the singing. Do this for all sung parts of Mass.
- When the presider says, “Let us pray,” don’t “say private prayers”; instead, quiet yourself to be attentive and receptive to the words about to be prayed aloud.
- During the readings, look at the reader; don’t use a missalette unless you have a problem with your hearing.
- When you sit, stand, and kneel, be attentive to posture. (We pray with our bodies as well as our souls; that’s why we change postures during the Mass.)
- To receive the Holy Communion, bow just before you approach the minister; to receive in the hand, have one hand resting in the other, palm flat, and about chest-high. Say, “Amen” to both consecrated bread and cup before receiving them.
- During the Communion procession and after, join in the singing; this isn’t a time for private prayer.
- Don’t neglect to receive from the cup (unless you’re ill); Christ instituted it for a reason.
- Join in singing the thanksgiving and/or recessional hymn.
- Don’t even think about leaving your place until the procession of ministers reaches the doors.
- Make it a practice to talk with your family or your friends about what Christ said to you at Mass (and make it a practice not to offer a critique or a review of the Mass). Consider using a notebook to jot down what Christ says to you at Mass each week.
- Don’t expect fireworks; the effects of praying the Mass are cumulative, and appear only over the course of years of doing it regularly, every Sunday.
- (Return to #1, and repeat.)
Nothing about ritual prayer is accidental. Taking shortcuts doesn’t work. Until next week, Peace