Essay Sample on Catholic Mass Service

Introduction

The mass service is the most important sacred ceremony conducted in all Catholic churches. The mass is performed in a very formal way, and it follows the same protocol and routine throughout all Catholic churches regardless of the country it is held in. The Catholic mass usually incorporates prayer, hymns, scripture readings, symbols, partaking in the holy communion among other activities. The following essay, therefore, seeks to explain my first-hand experience attending a Catholic mass service (Blackburn 780).

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I arrived at precisely 8.55 am for the mass that was to begin at 9 am. At precisely 9 am, the procession consisting of the priest and his attendants and they proceeded towards the altar while the church choir indulged the whole church in hymns. The choir continued to sing until the priest and his attendants reached the platform and were all settled in and after which the singing stopped and everyone being led by the priest participated in the Penitential Rite. The penitential rite is an acknowledgment by every Catholic believes that they have sinned from the last time they attended mass.

After this declaration of sin, being led by the priest, we asked the Lord to forgive us for the sins that we had committed. This first part of the mass is referred to like the liturgy of the word. After that, we sang a hymn of adoration for God, which was closely followed by a prayer addressed to the Holy Trinity. There was a certain stillness in the church as if to show the readiness of the congregation to receive the word of God that was set for that particular service.

Afterward, a qualified lector stood up and read the designated scriptures for that particular service, and after this, we stood up, and the priest read the Holy Gospels to us. This contains the words and also the actions of Jesus Christ, and therefore us standing for it was a sign of respect. We sat down, and the clergy stood up to read for us the sermon that was to be used by the priest for the teachings of the day. The priest was welcomed by hymns to the pulpit after which the congregation went back to their seats as we awaited the priests' message for that day.

He preached about the message of forgiveness using the story of the prodigal son as the reference to this teaching. The priest urged every person in the church always to show the spirit of forgiveness in their daily lives no matter how hard it may seem. In the middle of the sermon, he gave us a story explaining why it is essential always to forgive people. He told us that even Jesus Christ himself forgave Judas and Peter for betraying him, an act no human being would have been able to emulate. He ended the sermon by asking everyone in the congregation to meditate on a wrong or wrongs that were done to them and urged us to forgive those wrongs and learn how to move on from them, no matter how unforgettable or gruesome they were.

The priest went back to his seat and the choir continued to sing hymns as the preparation of the liturgy of the Eucharist was underway. With everyone seated and the choir leading us in the beautiful hymns, three different offering baskets were placed at the front of the church to serve the three rows in the church. One by one in an orderly manner, we stood up and walked towards the offering baskets, and we gave our offerings, and we went back to our seats and continued to sing along with the choir.

After everyone was seated, the offerings were taken to the altar together with grape wine and a container carrying the sacraments. The priest prayed for the offerings. He later poured the wine into a cup, and this was followed by reading from the scripture as he lifted the sacraments above the altar table as an offering to God and does the same for the wine he had initially poured. After this, he washed his hands and made a prayer and also read from the scripture as verse and he dedicated the wine and the sacrament to God. The sacrament presents the body of Christ, and the wine represents the body of Christ.

This ritual is done in remembrance of the last supper that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples and performed the same ceremony. After this, the choir broke into more hymns for about twenty minutes as they engaged the whole church in this songs and dance. This was followed by the entire church kneeling for the consecration, and after the prayer, we all stood up again. We prayed the prayer that was taught by Jesus Christ referred to as Our Father while raising our hands. This was followed by the priest asking us to give each other a sign of peace. We did this by shaking our neighbors' hands as far as one could reach as a sign of faith and unity.

The Agnus Dei was sung, which was a way of asking God for peace and mercy, and after this, we knelt again in preparation of partaking in the Holy Communion. The priest after a prayer took a sip of the wine and ate the sacrament and prepared the congregation to participate in the communion. The believers in the church who were in a state of grace lined up and approached the priest to receive the holy sacrament. Afterward, the believers went back to their seats and sat silently as they said a prayer. We were asked to stand up again, and the priest blessed the congregation and sent us to spread the word of God. After this, I went back home and thought about the sermon that had been given and how it related to my life.

Works Cited

Blackburn, David. "The Catholic Church in Europe since the French Revolution. A Review Article." Comparative Studies in Society and History 33.4 (1991): 778-790.