The Mass Teaches Us How To Live- Not Theorize- Scripture

It helps if we were to picture the Mass as a divine dinner party hosted by God: you arrive and greet everyone, you sit down and listen to stories and catch up, you share the main meal, and then you say goodbye and head out

1) Mass began at the Last Supper (Matt 26:26-28)

2) Mass was held in private homes with the breaking of bread every Sunday until 330 AD when Emperor Constantine accepted Christianity as the official Roman religion and buildings were build (basilicas)

3) Crowds of people stormed into these buildings and the Priests realized they needed a way to get the crowds attention to calm down so they created the "Introductory Rite": walking the body (bread) into the church & to the altar with song & reverence.

4) Mass does not start when the priest starts talking—it starts the moment we cross the threshold of the church.

The MASS is teaching us how to LIVE the gospel.

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We have just prayed the Our Father:

“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Then the priest prays for Christ's peace and unity in His Church.

“The peace of the Lord be with you always.”

And we offer one another a Sign of Peace.

And then we move toward:

“Lamb of God, you take away the

sins of the world, have mercy on us…”

and ultimately Communion.

Reconciliation →

Peace →

Communion

The Sign of Peace isn't supposed to be a little social intermission where we say hello to people around us. It expresses something much deeper:

Christ has reconciled us, and we are called to live in

communion with one another

before

receiving Holy Communion.

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Matthew 5:21–26

If you're bringing your gift to the altar and remember that your brother has something against you, Jesus tells you to go be reconciled first, then return with your gift.

Matthew 5 — reconciliation before the altar

↓

Matthew 18:15 — go directly to the person

↓

Matthew 18:21–35 — forgive repeatedly/from the heart

↓

Our Father — forgive us as we forgive

↓

Sign of Peace — live reconciled

↓

Eucharist — Communion

The Protestant Church may have these same teachings BUT they do not have THE MASS...the living reminder....each week where we are reminded - held ACCOUNTABLE - to review our thoughts & behaviors.

Sirach essentially asks:

How can I hold onto anger against another person

while asking God to heal and forgive me?

Then Psalm 103 tells us what God Himself is like:

merciful, compassionate, slow to anger.

Then Romans gives the identity underneath all of it:

We belong to the Lord.

And finally Jesus says, in effect:

You have received enormous mercy.

Now become a person who gives mercy.

RECEIVE MERCY
God has forgiven me.

BECOME MERCIFUL
If I belong to Christ, His character should increasingly become mine.

GIVE MERCY
I approach the person directly, seek reconciliation and forgive.

And then...

COME TO COMMUNION

Because Catholicism doesn't allow reconciliation

to remain an abstract Bible lesson.

We hear it in Scripture.

We confess it in the Our Father.

We practice it symbolically in the Sign of Peace.

We receive mercy sacramentally in Reconciliation.

And we are drawn into Communion with Christ in the Eucharist.

The Mass takes something Jesus taught and forms us to live it.