I confess to Almighty God,
And to you my brothers and sisters,
That I have sinned through my own fault,
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,
And the Angels and Saints,
And you my brothers and sisters,
To pray for me to the Lord our God
During this prayer we think about the times that we didn’t show love and we say sorry for what we have done wrong so that we can meet Jesus clean from sin. Next is the Gloria, which is usually sung and is said on most Sundays but not in Lent or in Advent.
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 ……………
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
Amen.
Then last in this section we will say an opening prayer that the Priest will say and then the congregation will then reply Amen. It also expresses the theme of the celebration. Now there will be the liturgy of the word where they have Hebrew testament, psalm response, Christian testament, gospel acclamation, gospel, homily and the creed (profession of faith). In this section all eyes should be towards the lectern.
The first reading is usually from the Old Testament from the Acts of the Apostles during Eastertide. A member of the congregation reads this. The readings are not from the bible itself but from the Lectionary.
The psalm response comes next and this is when the Priest will ask God for different things for example ‘Please can you help all the people who have been effected by the tsunami.’ The congregation will then reply ‘Lord Have Mercy’
The second reading is after that. This reading is from the new or old testament. They are usually from letters. Next is the Gospel Acclamation. This is when an ordained minister will bring the bible over to the Lectern and candles will be lit to show a sign of respect and so that you know how important the Gospel is. Now comes the Gospel. The gospel is usually in the theme of the mass. This is the inspired word of God. Next is the Homily. This is what the ordained minister, who said the Gospel, will but the Gospel into modern day language. The best is short and simple so that people understand it and don’t loose concentration.
Now comes the profession of faith. This is when we say what we believe in, in the Roman Catholic religion. This is very important in the church and should and will be taken very seriously. Next is the preparation of the gifts where ordinary people will collect money from the congregation and offer it up to God. This money will be for the church or could be for nearby charities or clinics. The offertory song may be played during the collection or after the collection. This song may be to do with the collection or the Eucharist. The offertory procession comes next and this is when the people that collected the money will take it up to the alter to be offered to God, along with the bread and wine that the alter boys or girls will get and take up to the alter.
The Liturgy of the world comes next and this is the most important party of the mass. First is the Sanctus. This is when we say the ‘Holy Holy’ before the memorial acclamation. This is where we remember what Jesus has done for us. There is at least four different ways of doing this. The great Amen follows and this is when we remembered that without Jesus the mass or the religion would never have been alive. This is normally known as the Eucharistic Prayer. Then we say the greeting of peace where we shake hands with the people around you and ask them peace be with you. After that is the Eucharist acclamation and this is when we, the congregation, agree to having the Eucharist by saying ‘…. Lord I am not worthy to receive you…. say the word and I shall…’ Now we say the most important prayer, The Our Father. Now we are ready to go receive the communion and during this a song may be sung.
The last part of the mass is where there will be a:
Closing prayer: when we say a prayer for the last time in the mass.
Final blessing: now the Priest or Deacon will ask you to go in peace to serve the Lord and go spread the word of the Lord. This is now the end of the mass where the Priest and Deacon and alter boys or girls will go around the Church and a song will be sun.
Mass is very important in a Roman Catholics commitment to God and Jesus. It is like a weekly profession and confirmation of your beliefs and faith. We go to mass to pay homage to God and to Jesus. And showing that there is only one God that we pray to and respect. We also know that Jesus wanted this to continue after his death as at the first mass he said ‘Do This In Memory OF Me’. Being at a mass is like being a member of a family and to confirm you are still a member you have to go to mass. We also go, to fulfil the commandments ‘Thou shall keep the Sabbath day holy’ and ‘ Thou shall not have false Gods before me’. Jesus said these so that we shall keep it holy. We will show that there is only one God that we will pray to. Others go so that hey will go to heaven and to be free from sin. And others go because that are in need of help and God is the only one they can turn to and that can help them. Most people go to church to strengthen their faith as well as to strengthen their relationship with God and Jesus. They also come to Church to get support from their community and God. And also some people come because they think that the closest thing to Jesus is to take the Eucharist. We also have to prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus and when they go to heaven. We also feel like a community when we go to Church because we are part of the family of believers. Also we are fed spiritually when we go to Church so that we receive Gods voice and replies to our prayers.
There are four different types of prayers that we say to God. These are thanking, asking, praising and forgiveness. Many people say that prayer should be private and that you should be one to one with God. But others say that our prayers will be heard more and will be stronger if we pray as a community of believers at Church.