Why do you go to Mass?

"The Church earnestly desires that all the faithful be led to that full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations called for by the very nature of the liturgy". - Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy 14.

Gone are the days where people were expected to just attend Mass to fulfill their Sunday obligation. Some of you might remember what Mass was like pre Vatican II when the assembly had no participation in the Mass at all. The faithful were expected to turn up and watch the clerical show that was going on, in and around the sanctuary and because the Mass was in Latin it meant that a lot more people had no clue on what was being said. Praying the rosary or using prayer books was the only task of the assembly while the priests celebrated the mass quietly to himself.

Of course with the reform of the Church's liturgy, lay people like you and were no longer required just to attend Mass but to fully participate in the celebration of Mass.

You might ask how? Well first of all, following the gestures and postures that we use during the Mass, secondly participate in the singing throughout the Mass, listening attentively to the readings that are proclaimed and the homily that Fr gives, responding to the word of God and affirming your faith in the creed that we recite every week, and responding to the prayers with a meaningful AMEN and then going out into the world and applying everything that you have taken in from the Mass into your daily life to make a difference in the lives of the people that you come into contact with.

Our next issue of "Liturgy" magazine in June will have a deeper look into the role of the assembly and how we are called to participate fully and actively in the Church's liturgies.

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