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From the symbolism of the sanctuary to the sacred mystery of the Eucharist, this review explores how understanding the biblical roots of the Mass can transform our daily worship into a deeper encounter with Christ.

Read this insightful parishioner reflection on the Biblical Walk Through the Mass faith formation talk presented by Charbel Raish.

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The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith. It is the centre piece of our belief.

Our first Faith Formation session began with a Biblical walk through the Mass presented by Charbel Raish who took us through the meaning, reason and biblical roots of what we say and do at every mass.

The mass is divided into four parts

1. Introductory Rite.
2. Liturgy of the word.
3. Liturgy of the Eucharist.
4. Concluding Rite.

How does it begin? The mass is a form of prayer, worship the highest form of prayer. We worship God in mass with intercessory prayer through Jesus, Mary and the Saints. We begin with the sign of the cross, which is a powerful prayer on its own, invoking the Holy Trinity. Then we prepare ourselves to acknowledge our sins and asking forgiveness saying a prayer of repentance. Following that we pray the Gloria, which is the greatest form of praise to God, again invoking the Trinity. After the readings from the Old Testament and the New Testament, we stand to greet the Gospel. Then we listen to the homily which is the priest’s opportunity to make what we have heard relevant in our lives. Sometimes, we make the mistake of judging the mass by the homily only. We then profess our faith in the Creed, which is a miniature summary of the bible and again praying to the Trinity followed by prayers of intercession.

The Liturgy of the Eucharist begins with the Offertory when we offer to God our finite gifts along with the bread and wine. The priest meets us at the foot of the Sanctuary which symbolises heaven and the rest of the church, us, symbolises earth. God meets His children. At the end of the Preface, we pray the Holy, Holy, Holy, which originated from Christmas, we join with the angels singing before the majesty. As the priest prepares the gifts, he mixes some water with the wine, this water symbolises us. When this happens, we are invited to offer in prayer whatever is affecting us in our lives then it is transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ at the consecration, which is the high point of the mass. The bread and wine are consecrated separately because at the Last Supper Jesus did this to represent his death. But they do not remain separate because both are the Body and Blood Soul and Divinity of Jesus. After the Our Father, we offer each other a sign of peace, because we cannot expect to have peace with God unless we are at peace with each other. While the Lamb of God is prayed the priest places a small piece of the Body of Christ into the chalice because if the separation of the body and blood is death, then the reunification is life, the Resurrection. The priest raises up the bread and wine saying the prayer of John the Baptist, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’. The consecration at every mass is Good Friday, the second elevation is Easter Sunday. We then say the Centurian’s prayer, ‘Lord I am not worthy…

At every mass we are present at a wedding, where we the church, are the bride and we approach the altar to meet the priest who represents Christ our groom and we become one with the creator of the universe when we receive Holy communion. It is a moment we should stop, quietly reflect and cherish the moment. The concluding rite then, sends us out to the world with the message of Jesus Christ.

Written by Karen (Parishioner)