Mass

Mass can be thought about as four parts:

We Gather

We Listen

We give thanks

We go

Click here for an overview of Mass from Together at One Altar website.

Used with permission from National Catholic Education Commission, Together At One Altar website.

We gather as the friends of Jesus coming together. We listen to the story about Jesus, told to us from the scripture. We give thanks to God the Father for all that Jesus did for us.

We listen to the ‘Scripture Readings’ read by people from the assembly, after which the Priest reads the Gospel. The First and Second Readings, and the Gospel are explained by the Priest and he talks about what we can learn from them in the ‘Homily’. The ‘Creed’ is when everybody in the Church stands up and says what they believe as a group. The ‘Prayer of the Faithful’ is when we offer prayers for people in need. People from the assembly lead us in this.

We give thanks. The gifts of bread and wine are brought to the altar during the ‘Preparation of the Gifts’. The ‘Consecration of the bread and wine’ is when the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus. We then speak the ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ which Jesus taught us.

We say it together to praise God for all that we have been given and to ask God to forgive us the things that we have done wrong. Next we acknowledge the people around us to share the peace that Christ gives, in a COVID-19 safe manner. This is called the ‘Sign of Peace’.

At ‘Communion’ those of us who have made our First Holy Communion, can now move forward to the altar to receive of Body and Blood of Jesus. This brings us closer to God. In some Parishes people can choose to move to the altar to receive a blessing. Please cross your arms to indicate you would like to receive a blessing. There may be special instructions for parents regarding Communion at school masses.

We go. To finish Mass the ‘Final Blessing’ is spoken. The Priest blesses us and sends us from the church to bring Jesus to the people we meet by being loving and kind.