The Mass

[Mrvoll]

Today, while I was waiting for the bus, I was thinking. Is the Sacrafice of the Mass the highest christian worship?

I ask this because I think lisening to some preacher for 1-2 hrs. is not really worship.

[Paladin D]

[quote name='Mrvoll' date='Sep 17 2004, 11:27 AM'] Today, while I was waiting for the bus, I was thinking. Is the Sacrafice of the Mass the highest christian worship?

I ask this because I think lisening to some preacher for 1-2 hrs. is not really worship. [/quote]
Yes it is. From the Catechism:

[i][b]The Eucharist—Source and Summit of Ecclesial Life[/b]

[b]1324[/b]
The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life."136 "The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch."137

[b]1325[/b]
"The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church is kept in being. It is the culmination both of God's action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship men offer to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit."138

[b]1326[/b]
Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all.139

[b]1327[/b]
In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith: "Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of thinking."140[/i]


...and...


[i][b]1343[/b]
It was above all on "the first day of the week," Sunday, the day of Jesus' resurrection, that the Christians met "to break bread."169 From that time on down to our own day the celebration of the Eucharist has been continued so that today we encounter it everywhere in the Church with the same fundamental structure. It remains the center of the Church's life.[/i]

[Paladin D]

Those who do not believe in the True Presence, do not see the Mass as anything special. But for those who believe (like me), the Mass is Heaven on earth. [b]Our Lord, Jesus Christ[/b] is there... Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity (is that right?)

[qfnol31]

One Mass is worth more than all the other prayers said throughout history, being said now, and those that will be said in the future, here, in Purgatory, and in Heaven.

[Theoketos]

AMEN^

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='qfnol31' date='Sep 17 2004, 02:30 PM'] One Mass is worth more than all the other prayers said throughout history, being said now, and those that will be said in the future, here, in Purgatory, and in Heaven. [/quote]
Amen.

[let_go_let_God]

Through the Sacrament of the Mass, we join in the Last Supper of Jesus Christ. If properly disposed, we as Catholics are invited to partake of Jesus' Flesh and Blood. The Mass is the greatest prayer, as it has already been stated by qfnol31. (very well stated at that)

[picchick]

The sacrifice of the Mass, The offering of Jesus's Body and Blood is the highest form of Catholic Worship. By attending Mass you ARE participating. Are actions and recitation of prayers in the Mass are not passive phrases but active ones.
For example, on a Stubie retreat, one of the speakers said that we need to become more active in our worship and attendance at Mass. You know the prayer after the offetory where the priest says, "Lift up your hearts." and we say, "we lift them up to the Lord." Do you know what you are saying there? You are saying that we give God our hearts and minds and souls and our whole being! As the speaker put it, we should be thinking of putting ourselfs up on that altar as a sacrifice for God at that point. Sometimes I even feel like I am reciting prayers. But if you think about what you are saying, the Mass will become more than listening to a preacher preaching for 1-2 hours.

God Bless,
meg