April 28, 2020 - Prepare for Heaven!

Today we will focus on the remaining parts of the introductory rites of the Mass: sign of the Cross, greeting, penitential rite, Gloria and the opening prayer. These rites produce their effect regardless of our participation, yet we only benefit from the efficacious actions of these rites by the attention we show, intentional commitment we give, and willing participation we make to prepare ourselves to hear and welcome God into our hearts. 

The sign of the Cross and the greeting remind us that we are entering into a communal prayer led by the priest or bishop, the presider. Making the sign of the Cross reminds us that first and foremost the Mass is a prayer. Next, the one presiding over the congregation greets the people, inviting us to receive the peace, love and fellowship of the Trinity into our very lives. Often the priest will say, “The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God (the Father) and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” We are being welcomed at this point to enter into the communion of the Trinity.

Remember from yesterday that the priest is standing and indeed acting at this point in the person of Jesus Himself and thus his words take effect, they accomplish what they say, because they are the words of Jesus the only, true priest. This is truly an amazing invitation! 

Immediately following this invitation to enter into the authentic communion of our Triune God, we have the penitential rite. This might seem like a bit of a downer after this great invitation. We now go back to reflecting on the fact that we are wretched sinners, and this may tempt us to despair, and lead us to think we cannot really experience communion with God. On the contrary, my brothers and sisters, we reflect on our sins so that we might remove any obstacle that could prevent entrance into the heavenly communion to which we are called.

Of course this penitential rite is a communal act of contrition at which time we are invited to spend a few moments in personal reflection. During which time we call to mind our simple or less serious/venial sins, and turn to God for mercy and freedom from these sins. This does not replace the need for confession when I am aware of more serious sins, or mortal sins. These serious sins can only be forgiven through a sincere confession, which I can arrange to do before Mass so that I will be free to commune with God. The beauty of penitential rite and confession is that we are reminded that we are saved sinners!

Following this glorious freedom from sin both from confession before Mass and/or our communal act of contrition at Mass, is the Gloria. Gloria is our praising of God for what He has done for us. We praise and thank Him for His love, mercy and peace through Jesus Christ His son and our savior. We recall His saving works and the freedom, love, joy and peace we have because of the gift of God. We praise, honor and glorify the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as we prepare to enter this glorious heavenly communion!

Finally, the introductory rites end with the opening prayer. This too does not seem to be all that important and meaningful at first, especially by its name - opening prayer. It can seem like just a nice prayer that father says and sometimes stumbles through, and sometimes perhaps you don’t even understand what he said. To get a more complete understanding of this prayer we need to recall the original term for it - “The Collect”. Yes, this is traditionally referred to as the Collect - pronounced CAL`-lekt, not cal - LEKT as we normally would. Yet the meanings are the same - we collect or gather prayers! 

Whose prayers are we collecting by this one prayer that the priest prays? Everyone who is present at the Mass - you! You are meant to be uniting your prayers, which include everything in your heart - your loved ones, your intentions, people who have asked for your prayers, your struggles, concerns, fears, worries, etc… . These are all gathered together and united in that one prayer, The Collect or Opening Prayer, that is prayed by the priest and offered to God the Father. This is extraordinary because this prayer is always heard and answered by the Father, because, remember, through the ministry of the priest, it is truly Jesus who is offering it.