The Order of the Mass

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The Order of the Mass

• Liturgy of the Word

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Order of the Mass

• The Introductory Rites are followed by the
  Liturgy of the Word.

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Liturgy of the Word

• Introduction
• When we gather at a friends home for a meal, we
  always begin with conversation, telling our
  stories. At Mass, after the Introductory Rites,
  we sit down and listen as readings from the Word
  of God are proclaimed. These are the stories of
  Gods people.
• The Lectors, Cantor, and Celebrant proclaim the
  Word of God for us in readings from the Old
  Testament, Psalms, New Testament, and especially
  the Gospel.

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Liturgy of the Word

• The First Reading
• The Hebrew Scriptures
• The first reading is mostly chosen from the Old
  Testament and during some seasons the Book of
  Acts might be read. 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.

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Liturgy of the Word

• The Responsorial Psalm
• The Psalm reflects themes in the readings. The
  Psalm consists of an antiphon where the Cantor
  and the Congregation respond back and forth. This
  is a vehicle of prayer and praise - an atmosphere
  of prayer within which the readings occur.

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The Liturgy of the Word

• The Second Reading
• The New Testament
• This reading is also referred to as the Epistle,
  is usually from one of the letters in the New
  Testament which may also include the Book of Acts
  or the Book of Revelation. While the letters
  address particular situations in the early
  Church, their message still applies to us today.

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The Liturgy of the Word

• The Gospel Alleluia
• Alleluia is a Latin echo of the Hebrew
  acclamation Praise God! and is a key word in
  Christian worship. Here it heralds the Gospel.
• When the Alleluia is being sung, Father
  processes with the Gospels held high to the Ambo.
  Christians acclaim the most wonderful deed of God
  among humankind, Jesus Christ, here made visible
  in the book containing His words and message to
  us all.

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The Liturgy of the Word

• The Gospel Reading
• The Gospel is the climax of the liturgy of the
  word. Catholic faith teaches that in proclaiming
  the Gospel, Christ is truly present to the
  community. For this reason the community stands
  to witness to Christs resurrection which allows
  him to be present to his people.
• The priest 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.
• After the Gospel, the congregation sits for the
  Homily.

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The Liturgy of the Word

• The Homily
• Christians believe that faith comes through
  preaching. (Romans 313-15). This idea is rooted
  in Jewish belief that the creative power of Gods
  word transforms human life.
• The homily takes the Word of God and applies it
  to our life situation today. Just as a large
  piece of bread is broken to feed individual
  persons, the word of God is broken open so it can
  be received and digested by the congregation.
• The homily is often followed by a few moments of
  silence where we each thank God for the word we
  have heard and apply the message of the readings
  to our daily life.

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The Liturgy of the Word

• The Profession of Faith The Creed
• The Creed is a statement of our faith in the Word
  we have heard proclaimed in Scripture and the
  homily, and a profession of the faith that leads
  us to give our lives for one another as Christ
  gave his life for us. The Creed begins I
  believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of
  Heaven and Earth
• Did you know that the creed is used by not only
  the Catholic Church, but also by Episcopalians,
  Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, Orthodox
  and many other Christian faiths?

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The Liturgy of the Word

• General Intercessions
• Prayers of the Faithful
• The General Intercessions help us become who God
  is calling us to be. We pray for the Church,
  nations and their leaders, people in special need
  and the local needs of our parish. A Lector 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,
  Lord, hear our prayer.
• The Intercessions direct our faith which has been
  deepened through prayer and listening to Gods
  word to specific situations today.
• The Liturgy of the Word (our storytelling part
  of the Mass) comes to an end with the General
  Intercessions.

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Liturgy of the Word

• The Liturgy of the Word is followed by the
  Liturgy of the Eucharist.

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• These slides were created as a training tool for
• Mission San Luis Rey Parish Altar Servers.
• Research for these slides was derived primarily
  from
• A Walk Through the Mass by Thomas Richstatter,
  OFM
• featured on www.americancatholic.org and
• The Order of the Mass by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.,
  
• featured on www.catholic-resources.org
• Information was organized and presented by Laura
  Chun.
• Content was reviewed by Fr. Alvin Cachola, OFM