DATE ……SUNDAY /
Use of water. One of the first things Catholics do when they come to church is dip their right hand in water and make the sign of the cross. This ritual is a reminder of our Baptism: We were baptized with water and signed with the cross. At every Mass we renew the promises of our Baptism. It is Baptism that brings us to Church.
Genuflection. In medieval Europe, it was a custom to go down on one knee (to genuflect) before a king or person of rank. This secular mark of honor gradually entered the Church and people began to genuflect to honor the altar and the presence of Christ in the tabernacle before entering the pew. Today many people express their reverence with an even older custom and bow to the altar before taking their place.
Posture, song. When the Mass begins everyone stands up. Standing is the traditional posture of the Christian at prayer: It expresses our attentiveness to the word of God and our readiness to carry it out. Often we begin by singing together. What better way to gather than to unite our thoughts and our voices in common word, rhythm and melody.
I The Introductory Rites
Entrance Song
Greeting. The priest will ask us to begin with the sign of the cross, again reminding us of baptism, and will greet us, saying, "The Lord be with you." You will hear this greeting frequently. It means many things. Like "good day" it can mean both "hello" and "good-bye." It is both a wish (may the Lord be with you) and a profound statement of faith (as you assemble for worship, the Lord is with you). It is an ancient biblical greeting: Boaz returned from Bethlehem (we read in the Book of Ruth 2:4) and said to the reapers, "The Lord be with you!" The ritual response to this greeting is always the formula, "And also with you," by which we return the hello, the good wishes, the statement of faith.
CEL: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amem.
CEL: The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
People: And also with you. or
CEL: The Grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
People: Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. or
CEL: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Penitential Rite The celebrant invites the people to call their sins to mind, and to repent of them. He may use the following, or similar words:
CEL: My brothers and sisters, to prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries, let us call to mind our sins (pause).
People: I confess to almighty God, and to you here present that I have sinned through my own fault (All strike their breast) in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do, and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, here present, to pray for me to the Lord our God. or
CEL: Lord, have mercy.
People: Lord, have mercy.
CEL: Christ, have mercy.
People: Christ, have mercy.
CEL: Lord, have mercy.
People: Lord, have mercy.
The Gloria A hymn of praise. It may be said or sung. The Gloria is not used on the Sundays of Advent or Lent.
People: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ only son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father, receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amem.
Opening Prayer
CEL: Let us pray (Pause): Celebrant and people pray silently for a while. Then the celebrant says the opening prayer, which expresses the theme of the day’s celebration.
People: Amem.
II The Liturgy of the Word
Liturgy of the Word. When we gather at a friend's home for a meal, we always begin with conversation, telling our stories. At Mass, after the rites of gathering, we sit down and listen as readings from the Word of God are proclaimed. They are the stories of God's people. Three readings and a psalm. On Sundays there are three readings from the Bible. The first reading will be from the Hebrew Scriptures. We recall the origins of our covenant. It will relate to the Gospel selection and will give background and an insight into the meaning of what Jesus will do in the Gospel.
First Reading
Reader: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks to be to God.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Reader:……………….
Then we will sing or recite a psalm—a song from God's own inspired hymnal, the Book of Psalms of the Hebrew Bible.
People: Responsorial Psalm.
Second Reading (The second reading will usually be from one of the letters of Paul or another apostolic writing).
Reader: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks to be to God.
Gospel Acclamation and Gospel Reading (Standing for the Gospel. Because of the unique presence of Christ in the proclamation of the Gospel, it has long been the custom to stand in attentive reverence to hear these words. We believe that Christ "is present in his word, since it is he himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the church" (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy #7).
Gospel Acclamation Song
The priest will again greet us with
CEL: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
He then introduces the Gospel reading while marking a small cross on his forehead, lips and heart with his thumb while praying silently that God cleans his mind and his heart so that his lips may worthily proclaim the Gospel. In many places, the congregation performs this ritual action along with the priest.
CEL: A reading from the holy gospel according to N.
People: Glory to you Lord.
CEL: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
People: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Homily. (which replaced the word "sermon" for many) is a new word for Catholics. It means more than just a sermon or a talk about how we are to live or what we are to believe. It is an act of worship rooted in the texts of the Mass and especially in the readings from Scripture which have just been proclaimed. The homily takes that word and brings it to our life situation today. Just as a large piece of bread is broken to feed individual persons, the word of God must be broken open so it can be received and digested by the congregation.
Creed. (All standing.)
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father; God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation, he came down from heaven: by the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried. On the third day He rose again, in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven, and is seated on the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom shall have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets.
We believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
General Intercessions.
The Liturgy of the Word (our "story-telling" part of the Mass) comes to an end with the General Intercessions. Before you leave your home to go out to eat, you might take a look in a mirror to see if you look the way you want to look—hair in place, coat buttoned correctly—and perhaps make a few last-minute adjustments so that your mind's image of yourself matches that in the mirror.
The General Intercessions serve a similar purpose at Mass. We are the Body of Christ by Baptism. Now, as we prepare to approach the table for Eucharist, we look into the readings, like a mirror, and ask: Is that who we are? Does the Body of Christ present in this assembly resemble that Body of Christ pictured in the Scripture readings? Usually not! And so we make some adjustments; we pray that our assembly really come to look like the Body of Christ, a body at peace, with shelter for the homeless, healing for the sick, food for the hungry.
We pray for the Church, nations and their leaders, people in special need and the local needs of our parish—the petitions usually fall into these four categories. A minister will announce the petitions, and we are usually given an opportunity to pray for the intentions in our heart, making some common response aloud like "
Reader: Lord, hear our prayer. or
Reader: We pray to the Lord. Or
Reader: Let us pray to the Lord
People: Lord, hear our prayer.
CEL: Says the concluding prayer.
People: Amem.
III The Liturgy of the Eucharist
Preparation of the Gifts (The early Christians each brought some bread and wine from their homes to the church to be used for the Mass and to be given to the clergy and the poor. Today a similar offering for the parish and the poor is made with our monetary contributions. Members of the parish will take up a collection from the assembly and bring it to the priest at the altar with the bread and wine to be used for the sacrifice. The priest places the bread and wine on the table. He then mixes water with the wine and washes his hands to help us think of the Last Supper. (Mixing water with wine and washing hands are things all Jews did at meals in Jesus' day.) Finally, he invites us to pray that the sacrifice be acceptable to God. We respond "Amen" to the Prayer Over the Gifts and stand to participate in the central prayer of the Mass.)
CEL: Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made. It will become for us the bread of life.
People: Blessed be God for ever.
Invitation to Pray (All standing.)
CEL: Pray, brethren, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.
People: May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his name, for our good, and the good of all his Church.
Prayer over the Gifts
People: Amem.
The Eucaristic Prayer
CEL: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
CEL: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to the Lord.
CEL: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give him thanks and prise.
CEL: The celebrant continues alone.
People: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
[Eucharístic Prayer II]
Invocation of the Holy Spirit
CEL: Lord, you are holy indeed, the fountain of all holiness. Let your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy, so that they may become for us the body and + the blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
People: Santificai nossa oferenda, ó Senhor! (ajoelhados)
The Lord’s Supper
CEL: Before he was given up to death, a death he freely accepted, He took bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT IT: THIS IS MY BODY WHICH BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU. When supper was ended, He took the cup. Again He gave you thanks and praise, gave the cup to his disciples, and Said: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT: THIS IS THE CUP OF MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND EVERLASTING COVENANT. IT WILL BE SHED FOR YOU AND FOR ALL MEN SO THAT SINS MAY BE FORGIVEN. DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.
Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:
People: 1- Christ has died, Christ is rise, Christ will come again.
2- Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life. Lord Jesus, come in glory.
3- When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death, lord Jesus, until you come in glory.
4- Lord, by your cross and resurrection you have set us free. You are the Saviour of the World.
The memorial prayer
CEL: In memory of this death and resurrection, we offer you, Father, this life-giving bread, this saving cup. We thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you. May all of us who share in the body and blood of Christ be brought together in unity by the Holy Spirit.
People: Recebei, ó Senhor a nossa oferta!
Intercessions for the Church
CEL: Lord, remember your Church throughout the world; throughout the world; make us grow in love, together with N. our pope, N. our bishop , and all the clergy.
People: Fazei de nós um só corpo e um só espírito!
For the dead
CEL: Remember N., whom you have called from this life. In baptism he (she) died with Christ: may he (she) also share his resurrection. Remember our brother and sisters who have gone to their rest in the hope of rising again; bring them and all the departed into the light of your presence.