The Necessity of The Mass
Fr. Hugh Gillespie, SMM
L ord, Open My Lips, and My Mouth Will Proclaim Your Praise
These words and Psalm 94/95 have been prayed for centuries every day. This prayer doesn’t begin with what I do for the Lord, but what I need … Open My Lips. It highlights the fact the ability to praise doesn’t come from within one’s self. It comes from God. The prayer begins with my suffering. Lord, I long to praise you, but without your help, I can not. To praise well, start with the lips. Hear more about this in the first five minutes of the audio.
This Special Devotion Series’ focus is on The Mass. This conference was given during a time of about three months, when Christians could only attend Mass virtually. As we start to go back to physically attending Mass, we are not going back to the way things were. The focus of the Series is to provide a deeper insight into the Mass, so that we hunger to attend Mass. Not as before, but with a deeper understanding and appreciation for the Mass. A deeper understanding that will drive a fuller participation in the Mass. What would it mean to us, and to the Church, if when we celebrate Mass, we pause and consider the importance of the Mass? With this Special Devotional Series on the Mass, and with a deeper understanding of the actions of the Liturgy, we will celebrate the Mass more fully.
The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb: Dutch Painter: Jan Van Eyck: 1432
Individually, and collectively, Lord, Open My Lips…Let us sing songs joyfully to the Lord.
Holy Communion is Not the Primary Focus of the Mass
For many, when we attend Mass, our focus builds in anticipation in receiving Holy Communion. While this is important, and it is truly a gift, it is not the primary focus of the Mass! Come let us worship the Lord. This is why we attend Mass. We must understand fully the Mass, if we are to understand Holy Communion.
Come. Let us approach Him with praise and thanksgiving.
In this prayer line we focus on the first verb. Come. We move from wherever we are, to a place where someone waits for us! We come to the Lord to give praise and thanksgiving. Indeed, Eucharist means: the giving of thanks. Gratitude to the Lord is a fundamental DUTY of Christians. Immediately prior to the Eucharistic prayer, there is a Preface. It is a dialogue between the Priest and the People (congregation).
It Is Our Duty and Our Salvation
- Come. Let us sing to the Lord … Let us give thanks.
- It is Right and Just (says the people).
- It is Truly, Right and Just, Our Duty and Our Salvation (see slide #1 below).
These prayers happen so quickly, it is easy to miss these words during the Mass. Note: Christians have a fundamental DUTY to give thanks to the Lord, everywhere and always. ALWAYS. Not when it is convenient, or not only during the Mass, but always.
Did you know, somewhere in the world, because of time zone differences, there is always a Mass taking place? That means the Body of Christ is always assembled to give thanks to the Lord during Mass! Obviously, we are not always awake. But somewhere, members of the Body of Christ are attending mass and giving thanks to the Lord. When you think of it in this light, when we all attend Mass, we must perform our duty by giving thanks to Lord as members of the Body of Christ. Psalm 95 talks about coming together to give thanks. The Preface in the Mass does the same thing.
The Reason for Thanksgiving
After the preface, the Mass’ focus turns to the reason for thanksgiving. The priest will include in the prayer the reason for thanksgiving (that day’s feast, or in celebration of Our Blessed Mother). We thank the Lord for what He has done for us through His Son. We appreciate what He has done for us and we show gratitude by praising Him. Lord, Open My Lips …
We Offer You This Praise
(See slide #2 and #3). It is now, during the Eucharistic Prayer, we offer praise, either to Him or for themselves and all who are dear to them. Why? Why do we praise, or for that manner, why do we pray? We do so for three reasons:
- For the Redemption of their (our) souls: Man needs salvation. It is something we must seek from Heaven. It something we must ask for and pray for, and therefore is the first reason we pray.
- In Hope of Health and Well-Being: We are fragile. And therefore, we must pray asking God to sustain us. We pray for out Health (physically) and our Well-Being (spiritually). We need physical and spiritual help from the Lord, and therefore, this is the second reason we pray.
- And Paying Homage to You, O God Living and True: It is our duty to give you thanks, and therefore, this is the third reason we pray.
We are all sinners. We need help to attain salvation. All of us need help to retain our health. We honor and love the Lord. This is why we attend Mass. We must pray for these three things. Salvation must be appreciated. We gather at Mass for the Salvation of Our Souls. We gather at Mass in the hope of our health and well being. And we gather to honor the Lord. Hear more on the reasons we pray and the reasons we attend Mass.
The Mass is where Heaven Teaches us to Pray
The Mass is not just a gathering of the congregation. Heaven is directly involved in our prayer! Our thanksgiving is itself your gift (see slide #4). The prayers we say add nothing to the Lord’s greatness. Our thanksgiving is His gift to us. Glorification of the Lord profits us in our salvation. Therefore, one element of coming to Mass is to receive and make use of the thanksgiving God has given to us!
If we take for granted the thanksgiving at the Mass, we do not appreciate the salvation He has given to us! Hear more about this in the audio.
Praying With the Angels
How many of us, when we enter the Church realize there is a visible and invisible congregation? The invisible congregation are the Angels from Heaven. They join us in praying. They join us in giving thanksgiving. Our neighbors in the pews are not just those that we see, but also include those we do not see. The Angels give thanksgiving to God as well at Mass. We participate at Mass with the Angels. Indeed, Mass may be described as having one foot planted on earth and one foot planted in Heaven.
When we say/sing the Gloria, this is a prayer from heaven. A song originally sung by Angels. They sing it with us at Mass (see slide #5). Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus … Holy, Holy, Holy. Our thanksgiving is a gift from Heaven. Even the songs are from Heaven! Hear more about how the Angels pray with us in thanksgiving.
Lord, Open My Lips …
I am unworthy. My lips are not clean. Open my lips, these same lips over which we receive Holy Communion. Hear the passage from Isaiah for which he pronounces his lips are not clean and what the angels do to clean his lips. While we are not worthy, God helps us to be worthy. Hear the conclusion of the conference. Understand why God gives us a gift. Hear more on The Necessity of Mass.
The Necessity of The Mass
Note: *
During the pandemic, The Shrine of Our Lady of the Island’s Facebook page has a series of video covering Mass and Conferences. This conference’s audio appears above. However, if you would like to see the video (captured using FB Live Stream), follow the Video * link. Selecting the button will transfer you directly to the Shrine’s FB page that contains the video. We encourage you to return to this website after viewing the video.
