3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B- Homily

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – HomilyJonah 3:1-5, 10Psalm 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 (4a)1 Corinthians 7:29-31Mark 1:14-20 You can see near the end of this homily, I did something different to help people understanding the Bible shapes how we celebrate Mass and what we say. This is not easy to capture in typed words. …

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The Hidden Depths of the Mass #24

The Eucharistic Prayer – The Epiclesis Within the Eucharistic Prayer, the Epiclesis is the portion where we ask the Holy Spirit to transubstantiate the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus.  In Eucharistic Prayer II, the explicit words are “Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon …

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The Hidden Depths of the Mass #23

The Eucharistic Prayer – Preface The Eucharistic Prayer starts with a preface.  The preface begins with the priest saying, “The Lord be with you” and the people responding, “and with your Spirit.”  The preface ends with the “Holy, Holy, Holy.” The GIRM (General Instruction of the Roman Missal) divides the Eucharistic Prayers into eight parts.  …

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The Hidden Depths of the Mass #22

The Eucharistic Prayers Following the offertory at Mass, the Eucharistic Prayer follows.  There are a total of ten Eucharistic Prayers found in the Roman Missal that contains all the prayers for Mass.  The Eucharistic Prayers are trinitarian in their nature.  They are addressed to God our Father.  The prayers invoke the Holy Spirit to make …

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The Hidden Depths of the Mass #21

The Liturgy of the Eucharist – “My Sacrifice and Yours” As we transition from the offertory to the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest says, “Pray my brothers and sisters,, that my sacrifice and yours, may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.”  Of course, there is no greater sacrifice than that of Jesus willingly sacrificing his …

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The Hidden Depths of the Mass #19

The Liturgy of the Eucharist – The Offertory Part 2 After the gifts of bread and wine have been brought to the altar, the priest holds up first the bread and then the wine and says (silently if music is being played), “Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we …

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The Hidden Depths of the Mass #18

The Liturgy of the Eucharist – The Offertory The first part of the Liturgy of the Eucharist is the Offertory.  At a Sunday Mass, two things happen concurrently while the offertory hymn is song.  The altar is set and a collection is taken.  The collection is not simply the church wanting money to pay its …

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The Hidden Depths of the Mass #16

The Liturgy of the Word – The Prayers of the FaithfulFollowing the Creed, we conclude the Liturgy of the Word with the Prayers of the Faithful.  They are also commonly called the General Intercessions or Universal Prayer.  The priest introduces the prayers.  The lector then reads the individual petitions followed by a concluding prayer.  To …

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