The Mass

For Catholics, nothing is more important than the Mass. It is the heart and soul of our worship of God. It is the celebration that gives us the strength we need to live a Christian life. Because of its importance, the Church places a serious obligation on all its members to take part in the Mass each Sunday and holy day.

Thus each Sunday the Christian community comes together to give joint worship to the Father and our Lord, Jesus Christ. Of all things Christians do, nothing is more important than celebrating Mass together. In your call to ministry, you will assist at other services, but nothing is as important as your services at Mass as one of the leaders of the community.

The Mass is a reenactment of the Last Supper when Jesus instituted the Eucharist and told his followers, “Do this in memory of me.” Although the Mass is a mystery, we accept the fact that bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus because Jesus told us that this is so. Some descriptions will help us to understand it better.

First and foremost, the Mass is a sacrifice. The idea of sacrifice to God is at the very heart of religion. The bible tells us how Abel and Cain, the sons of Adam, offered sacrifice to God. Abraham, whom the liturgy calls “our father in faith,” was prepared to offer to God his only son, Isaac. The Old Testament Jews through their priests sacrificed lambs and goats to God. Jesus offered his Father a sacrifice: himself. Jesus promised us that “when we eat this bread and drink this cup” he would continue his great sacrifice until he comes again.

The Mass is a memorial. It is an event that helps people to remember. The most important event, the one remembered at every Mass, is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We also remember through the readings other great deeds God has done for his people.

The Mass is also a sacred meal called the Eucharist (from the Greekeucharista, meaning “thanksgiving”). In the Mass we give thanks for all that God has done for us, and we all eat the same food — “the bread of life and the cup of eternal salvation.” Jesus has told us that this bread and wine are his body and blood (read John 6: 53-55). So, in this sacred meal, we Catholics believe that Jesus “life, death, and resurrection are continued for all of us through our celebration of his holy meal, begun at the Last Supper.

The way Mass is celebrated has developed over almost two thousand years. The early Christians called it “the Breaking of the Bread.” Despite its development, two elements have always been the same: listening meal. Today we refer to those elements as the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Following is the basic outline of the Mass, which you should learn well.

(Father Albert J. Nevins, M.M., Called to Serve: A Guideline For Altar Servers revised, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division Our Sunday Visitor, Inc. [1993], p. 6.)