Postscripts From The Catholic Spitfire Grill

I’ve been told tonight that what I really need is “The JOY of a personal relationship with the Lord has been denied you due to the Catholic organization they have slipped in-between you and God the Father. Such a DRAG. I am here because I love you and care. Jesus came so you could have an intimate relation with the CREATOR of all the UNIVERSE is that heavy or what?” [I have edited the comment for what I assume were typos on the commentor’s part] (If you are interested in reading the whole conversation you can read at You Say To-May-to, I Say To-MAH-to in the comments section.) I posted this about the Catholic Mass a very long time ago, but I think that it’s time to re-post it because I would like people like the commentor above to understand that the Catholic Mass isn’t the rote ritual that many in Protestant forms of Christianity are told. Neither is it anti-scriptural. In fact it is taken from scripture in both content and meaning from beginning to end. The Catholic Mass not only presents that plan of Salvation but invites us humans to partake in it fully. So without further ado…

This is a copy of a post I made at the request of someone on the Sonlight forums who asked me to fill to explain about the Catholic Mass. In fact, this is the second of two posts I made. I the first one, I indicated that I had left some information out and was later asked to fill it in and as long as this is (be careful what you ask for), I assure you there is still more, much more, that could be said. As I worked on this, I was constantly…continuously ….overwhelmed at the task of conveying into finite words the infinite that is only glimpsed in the Mass. The more I said, the more I knew could be said and the more I realized that as far as I have come in understanding these Mysteries, I have done nothing more than skim along the surface of impossibly deep richness. I would like to also state categorically that I am not worthy to do this. I am not trained in theology in any way; therefore, any errors in expression or theology should be blamed on me alone and not held against either the Roman Catholic Church that I love, nor my brothers and sisters in the Catholic faith. I hope that my brothers and sisters would not hesitate to correct me in the places where I have said things poorly or even incorrectly and I welcome them to add their own personal observations as well. In this version, I have tried to integrate the scripture references of the Mass taken from Scripture in the Mass and any other place I could get them with my extended remarks on what God says to me in the Mass and what I in return, offer up to Him. On a technical note, I found myself flummoxed with the use of pronouns. The Unity expressed in the Liturgy of the Mass is sometimes difficult to break away from; however, I recognize that not everyone in the congregation is as devout as I suspect Our Lord would like them to be. I tried to use the first person plural where my personal reflections do not substantially reflect some well-known traditional practice and in places where although I join the action of the community, I am particularly involved as an individual such as during the penitential rite. Some of this is rather strongly stated. I understand that may cause distress in my brothers and sisters who do not share my view of the Truth; however, in order to adequately convey what I have found in the worship of the Roman Catholic Church, I cannot shy away from those aspects of it that are less palatable to those who prefer a more symbolic approach to unity, authority, and sacrament. I understand that many disagree with me. Not that you need it, but I give you leave to think I am a crackpot and sadly and completely deluded.  I am not trying to be gratuitously cranky.

So much has been said in the last couple of weeks on Lifelong Learners. There have been so many hard hitting exchanges in here that you may find it odd that it that I suddenly took a break from all the other conversations in which I was participating to focus on these two sentences. But, for me, this strikes at the heart. So often I hear how the Roman Catholic Church puts things between me and Jesus, and that we substitute Mary and the Saints for where our focus really ought to be. Told that our identity isn’t really Jesus. That the faith of the Roman Catholic Church is empty, meaningless repetition and ritual. (I am not saying that’s what [person on the SL forums] (or anyone else in particular) meant to say or even that if she (they) did, that you meant it to be hurtful or offensive.) I would like to set the record straight though. Unfortunately, it is a sad fact of the divisions in the Our Lord’s Church that sometimes we must use words other than simply “Christian” to define what we believe. I assure you that my “identity as a Roman Catholic” IS my faith in Jesus Christ. Period. I have said something about a “fullness of faith” in the Roman Catholic Church that is not present in any Protestant denomination that I have been a part of. I want to state for the record that I did not leave my Evangelical Roots because I was unhappy there. In fact, I left my Evangelical roots loudly protesting to the Lord that I was very happy where I was thank you very much and did He really think this was necessary. In fact, there was a time in my life when I would have said to me, exactly the same things you have said. I also said that I was pretty sure that you couldn’t be Catholic and be saved. Catholics didn’t know Sacred Scripture. They didn’t respect Sacred Scripture. They believed in Saints and Mary not Jesus. Some of them even worshipped Mary. In fact, I have heard very little said about Catholics here on this forum that I did not say myself at one time. What I found in the Roman Catholic Church instead was a deep love and respect for Sacred Scripture. In fact, in the context of the Liturgy which is simultaneously drawn from and serves to explain scripture, I found a fullness of Sacred Scripture that I never had before. I found that far from elevating Sacred Scripture, the doctrine of sola scriptura had the effect of subordinating it to the intellect of the individual. In spite of the fact that I am no longer sola scriptura, the scriptures mean more to me now than ever before and I have the sense of believing it all instead of turning away from the uncomfortable parts. It is ironic to me that I gave the Lord my idols of my intellect and the scriptures and He gave them back to me breathed full of a new life. When I submitted to the authority that He deemed best for His Church and for me his daughter, I found a freedom I never had before. Just as I when I submit to the other authority structures created by God, in my family as a daughter and in my marriage as a wife…life just works better.

And I found Jesus everywhere I looked. Every nook and cranny. In the very air I breathed. The Mass that I had heard was empty of Jesus and nothing more than meaningless words and purposeless gestures from beginning to end, was suffused with Jesus.

I would like to tell you about The Mass because I want to show you in my own paltry pathetic words how I can say that my faith is dependent on Jesus Christ. Period. And how my RC faith supports that and does not detract from it.


Let me start at the beginning and give you a little framework about how I believe Sacred Scripture to speak about the subject of worship. First, worship as seen in the Old Testament is defined by God. We don't know the specific instructions given to Adam but we do know that when Cain had his own ideas about the way things should be, he was corrected by God. I see in the Old Testament that God gave the form of worship in detail and that any time folks got a hankering to tinker with the rules (2 Chronicles 26:16-23; Exodus 30:36-38; Leviticus 10:1-3) there were consequences. I see that throughout the Old Testament, God never left it up to "us" when it comes to what He wants from us in the way of worship......fortunately for us, because the Bible is full of examples of what happens when we take matters into our own hands. Nowhere in scripture do I see any indication that God is leaving it up-to-us in the New Covenant. He defined worship in the Old Covenant; I am left with the expectation that He will do so in the New Covenant. So when Jesus says at the Last Supper, during the last moments He will have before His Sacrifice on the cross, "Do this in memory of me," I have to believe that it is significant. He is facing His execution. Time is short. Whatever He says and does in those moments is not going to be one of the little things.

Old Testament worship was not only the foreshadowing of the coming perfect sacrifice, it also prefigured worship in the New Covenant. Under the Old Covenant the sin sacrifices were offered over and over to remind the people of the coming of the Lamb of God that would take the place of Isaac. In the New Covenant, the Perfect Sacrifice is made present to us in the offering of the Mass simultaneously calling to mind the Incarnation and acting as a foreshadowing of the Second Coming and the Feast of the Lamb in Revelation. In the Old Testament, Melchizedek, a priest and king, offered bread and wine prefiguring the bread and wine offered by Jesus, priest and king in the New Testament. (Hebrews 7:1-7) The sacrifice of Jesus is also prefigured in Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac. Isaac carried his own wood up hill to one of the hills of what would later become Jerusalem only to be told by God that He would provide Himself the Lamb. But those are not the only significant images of Old Testament worship that are fulfilled in Jesus and establishment of worship in the New Covenant. The deliverance of the Israelites from the land of Egypt (a land gripped with a religion of death itself and the Israelites literally in bondage to death) prefigures our deliverance from sin. This is God’s metaphor for salvation written into the very lives and experiences of his Chosen People. The Passover lamb was killed and eaten…not simply killed…the blood placed on the doors and the Angel of Death passed over their homes. God however, did not intend to save the Israelites from just the Angel of Death. This was a rescue mission. Action was required. They had to gird their loins, eat the Passover dinner while standing and ready to leave; and then, they had to leave the bloody door behind taking with them the riches they were given, and flee the land of death. To escape the pursuing Egyptians, the Israelites passed through the waters of the Red Sea (prefiguring Baptism) and entered into the desert. There they begin their long preparation for entering the Promised Land. While wandering in the desert, God fed them on manna a substance that resembles bread but acts like flesh (gets wormy and rots not molds -- Exodus 16:20). God decreed Passover as a perpetual ordinance and establishes the OT sacrificial worship system. Again, we see offerings of both fine (wheat) flour (bread) and animal sacrifice with a differentiation between the holocaust offering which was not eaten and the sin sacrifice that was.

Later God’s only son, identified in the first line of the New Testament as Abraham’s son, carried the wood of the cross up the hill to be the Lamb provided by God. The very circumstances of his birth in a stable with the animals, visited by the shepherds that watched the flocks of animals destined to become temple sacrifices called to mind his destiny as a sin sacrifice. Driven into Jerusalem on the day the Passover lambs were brought into the city, it is thought that Jesus died at the same time as the afternoon sin sacrifice in the Temple. The sin sacrifice is at the center of what God demands for our reconciliation with Him. At the Last Supper, Jesus, the Perfect Sin Sacrifice, decreed that in the New Covenant, worship would be centered on His Sacrifice. He tied all of the threads of Old Testament worship into one miraculous memorial. Priest and King and Lamb, Bread and Wine, Body and Blood and just as the Israelites were required to eat the Passover Lamb, to eat the sin sacrifice so are we required to do so in the New Covenant. Just as God provided bread that acted like flesh to feed them in the time from their deliverance from the land of death before their entrance to the Promised Land, He has done the same for us. The Apostles, steeped in the prophetic rituals and remembrances of the Old Testament would have understood what eating the flesh of Jesus meant. If Jesus meant for Holy Communion to be anything other than his literal Body and Blood, He would have needed to explain that. Not vice versa. The Gospels repeatedly speak of details that mark Jesus as the fulfillment of the Passover Lamb/Sin Sacrifice….no broken bones (Exodus 12:46), wine from hyssop (Exodus 12:22), and when speaking of Jesus garment at the time of crucifixion John uses the same term used for the priests’ vestments when offering a sacrifice. Just as Jesus didn’t back away from the hard words He spoke in John 6, He didn’t soften what He said in those last hours before His Passion.

Old Testament worship was transformed by the Perfect Sacrifice. The Temple was no longer necessary but all of the elements of Old Testament worship remained. Instead of the imperfect ram that substituted for Abraham’s son, and the animal sacrifices that were to be offered repeatedly; Jesus established a new form that fulfilled all the elements of the Old Testament prophecies and practice and itself foreshadows the worship of heaven. It is only in the mystical re-presentation of the sacrifice of Jesus in the Mass that the threads of worship seen in the Old Testament are all brought together, remembered, renewed, and present a renewed foreshadowing of what is to come in heaven (numerous references in Revelation). Well-educated, devout Catholics believe that in the Mass we literally enter into the eternal worship as pictured in the Book of Revelation (CCC 1089, 1090, 1136). Jesus as Priest and Victim is always present at the altar in heaven where the angels sing for eternity “Holy, Holy, Holy” and it is we…bound in time and on earth that come and go from that altar in worship in the Mass.

(I highly recommend The Lamb’s Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth by Scott Hahn and On Being Catholic by Thomas Howard.)

I have often heard non-Catholics say that they appreciate the sense of reverence in the Catholic Mass. Heck...I said it myself before I was Catholic. I tell you honestly, that the "appreciation" I had of that reverence only scratched the surface of what was really there. I knew that Catholics bowed and kneeled but I never really understood how specific those actions were and the whys behind them. Let me try to walk you through some of the details of the Catholic Mass to try and show you how Christ is to the believing Catholic in the Mass.

When we first walk through the door and into the church, we dip our fingers in holy water and make the sign of the cross. Why? To remind ourselves that we enter the church through the waters of baptism. To renew our baptismal promises. In this simple gesture we proclaim our belief in the Trinity ("In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.") and remind ourselves why we are here (the symbol of the Cross).

Before we take our place in the pews, we turn toward the Tabernacle (prefigured in the Old Testament by the Holy of Holies) which holds the reserved consecrated communion hosts and therefore, by our Catholic beliefs, contains the Real Presence of Christ, and genuflect (kneeling and making the sign of the cross). In this way we acknowledge Christ's presence in the Sanctuary and His Lordship over us. If for some reason the Blessed Sacrament has been removed from the Tabernacle (the candle which indicates the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in the Tabernacle will be extinguished), Catholics will still bow toward the altar in recognition of the Sacrifice that Christ made for us on the Cross that is re-presented in the Mass. Furthermore, if at any time during the Mass (or if you are in the Sanctuary for another reason) you cross the from one side of the church to the other, walk to the front of the church, or away from the front of the church, or walk in front of the Tabernacle (or altar) devout Catholics solemnly bow or genuflect....every. time. As an aside, Catholics are often considered unfriendly because they do not stay after Mass and "chat." Well they may be unfriendly, but the not staying and chatting in the church comes from reverence. It is considered inappropriate to "chit-chat" in the Sanctuary in the literal presence of Jesus. He is Our Lord and we are always to be mindful and respectful of that while in the Sanctuary.

Now that we are in and sitting, we are encouraged to take a few moments in prayer to prepare for Mass (again chit-chat is discouraged) and especially to examine our conscience in preparation. As we stand to begin the celebration of Mass (and prayerful, mindful attendance is known as “assisting” at Mass rather than merely “attending” CCC 1140, 1142, 1143) the procession makes its way down the aisle. Leading the procession is the cross…the visible sign of our salvation possibly flanked by servers carrying candles to remind us that this is our hope. There may be more people following the cross, but the Book of the Gospels is held aloft just ahead of the priest who will be the principle celebrant. Not a lectionary, not a catechism, the Gospels. The Gospels which are the heart of Sacred Scripture because they tell us about Jesus, His incarnation, His Ministry, and His Passion and they provide a visible reminder of the importance of Sacred Scripture.



As the Mass begins we again make the sign of the cross and again acknowledge the Trinity in whose name the proceedings are to be conducted and our need for redemption by the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.

After a brief greeting we acknowledge our sinfulness to God. It is a personal and public confession of guilt. I acknowledge that because of my sin Jesus had to come and suffer and die. My relationship to God as a sinner in need of redemption is reinforced and I ask "Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, all the angels and saints, and you my brothers and sisters to pray for me to the Lord our God." Notice that the relationship expressed in this pray is that I am a sinner in need of help and I am asking everyone around me to remember me to God who is offended by my sin. There is no blurriness regarding divinity....at least for me. Then I immediately ask mercy from the Trinity acknowledging that forgiveness comes from God and asking for peace (reconciliation in the forgiveness of my sins).

In the next instant we celebrate the granting of that peace and remember the coming of Jesus as a baby in Bethlehem with a hymn of praise (sometimes we even sing it, often though it is only recited) known as the "Gloria" The opening line of this hymn comes from the angels’ song at Jesus birth "Glory to God in the highest and peace to His people on earth.".....we are again celebrating Jesus as the source of our Peace. The Peace that is granted through the forgiveness of sin that He alone made possible.

And then, we act on the faith we have expressed in a loving and forgiving God who provided us the Word Incarnate and we pray. The text of the opening prayer varies from week to week. I will quote a sample here from May 7, 2006:

Next comes the Liturgy of the Word. On an average Sunday we hear a reading from the Old Testament (Romans 15:4), one from the Psalms, one from the New Testament, and then the Gospel reading (Mark 14:9; Matthew 24:14; Revelation 14:6). The OT reading is always directly tied to the Gospel reading. (Easter Vigil Mass has up to ten large portions of scripture read.) The scripture is read from a special pulpit, called the ambo, that is set aside for the reading of the Word of God and the homilies. Announcements are not allowed from this pulpit....well at least they are not supposed to be made from there. Not everyone knows this rule and I suspect that dispensation is granted for very small churches without appropriate facilities. The point is that wherever possible we are to give a special place of honor to the reading and hearing of Sacred Scripture. The hearing of scripture is important in the Catholic Church because James 1:22-23 tells us that we are to not to just hear the word but we are to be doers of the word and Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes through hearing (not reading) the Word. The Catechism of the Catholic Church strongly encourages faithful Catholics to read Sacred Scripture regularly; nevertheless, the Catholic Church is mindful that the literal sense of scripture cannot be ignored and that we must also hear the words of Sacred Scripture. For this reason if you attend Mass daily, you will hear very nearly the entire Bible read aloud to you in the course of three years and a very substantial portion if you only attend on Sundays. After the readings, the lector announces "The Word of the Lord" and the congregation affirms "Thanks be to God.” (Romans 6:17-18; Romans 7:24-25; 1 Corinthians 15:56-57; 2 Corinthians 2:14; 2 Corinthians 9:15) When the Gospel is read, the congregation stands in honor of Jesus because the Gospel is the life, ministry, and words of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. During Mass, only a Priest or a Deacon is allowed to read the Gospel (we are allowed to read the Gospels outside of Mass of course). Preceding the Gospel reading we trace the sign of the cross on our foreheads (calling to mind Revelation 7:3 and 14:1), our lips, and our hearts accompanied by a prayer that God would keep his words on in our hearts and minds and on our lips. (Luke 8:12)

Click here to get today’s liturgical readings from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

After the homily (2 Tim 4:1-2) we recite a statement of faith usually in the form of the Nicene Creed.

The Apostle’s Creed (simpler) is generally reserved for Masses that are primarily for children. Again, the focus is on the Trinity and the means of our salvation through Jesus Christ. At the words "by the power of the Holy Spirit" we bow...in honor of the Holy Spirit. In a very real sense, Catholics pray a prayer of Salvation at every Mass. This is followed by prayers of the faithful. In an act of faith reinforcing what we have just said, we offer our petitions both general and private to God.

Now we are just getting to the part where we really focus on Jesus. What has gone before was just to remind us that we were sinners, that God provided His Son for our salvation.

I recall to mind the events on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) where Jesus spoke to the Apostles on the road at length from the scriptures (Liturgy of the Word) and their hearts burned within them (v. 32) and so they asked Him to come and stay with them (v. 29) and they knew Him in the breaking of the Bread. (Liturgy of the Eucharist) (v. 35). I have had Our Lord speak to me from the scriptures both in the written form and in persona Christi as the Priest spoke to me to explain the Sacred Scripture just as Jesus did for the Apostles. (No…the Priest is not divine, nor is he actually Christ. He has only been given the authority to act in the place of Christ.) Now it is time to beg Jesus to remain with me and I joyfully await knowing Him in the breaking of the bread.



The gifts (offering, bread, and wine) are brought to the altar and prepared. (Malachi 3:10) I try to remember the loaves and the fishes and wonder that God accepts our tiny gifts and does something marvelous with them. Without God all that we have is foul, but He takes our gifts…our possessions, our deeds, our hearts, our thoughts…all that we have and are, and purifies them. The offering is set to the side and the bread and wine are blessed and prepared. The priest takes a drop of water (which symbolizes humanity) and places it in the wine (symbolizing the divinity of Christ) the blessing said over the cup is derived from the Jewish Kiddush and in imitation of Christ at the Last Supper when He took the bread and wine and blessed it. The priest then washes his hands. This ritualizes the prayer of Psalm 51 from which he recites (usually inaudibly) “Lord wash away my sins, cleanse me from my iniquities” and recalls the act of Pilate at the condemnation of Jesus.


The Eucharistic prayers that follow start with a preface. Here I will quote from Cyril of Jerusalem in 350 A.D. Notice that the words of the priest have hardly changed in the last 1700 years. In fact all of the elements of the Mass and very often the very words of the Mass that have been outlined show up in the earliest records of the Church:



This is followed by the acclamation we hear in Isaiah 6:3, Mark 11:9-10 and in heaven itself in Revelation 4:8 “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty…” Remember we believe that the praise and worship of The Lamb (Jesus) as Priest and Victim is eternally present in heaven and that through the Mass we enter into that very praise and worship of heaven. As Catholics, parousia, or the Second Coming has two simultaneous meanings. Christ literally comes to us in the Eucharist in every Mass and even so, we also look for the Second Coming described in Acts 1:11. As Catholics we are not only looking for that time when we are fully present, fully alive, and fully aware in heaven to join in that worship we also believe that in this life we join into the worship of heaven even if we do not perceive it with our senses every time we go to Mass. And because we believe we are about to literally enter the Presence of Jesus, we hit our knees, because we read in scripture that at “the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.”


And now comes the recitation of the events of the Last Supper, where Jesus set as a memorial for all time the bread and wine becoming His Body and Blood. He miraculously unites all the pieces of Old Testament worship: the bread and wine offered by priest and king, Melchizedek, with the sacrifices prefigured by Abraham, Passover, and the Temple; we join all the citizens of heaven in the worship of Jesus, simultaneously Priest and Victim eternally present at the altar of heaven; and we remember the terrible price He paid for our redemption. The cost of the blood on the doorposts prefigured so long ago.


At the moment of consecration (where the Priest says the words “This is my Body” and “This is my Blood”) we bow our heads and pray silently “My Lord and My God.” The amen which closes the Eucharistic prayer is called the “Great Amen” because that Amen is repeated several times (usually in song) to give our assent and to show that we have been united with the Priest in all that He has done.

The Eucharistic Prayer is followed by a recitation of The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4). We pray again as an act of faith, that God in heaven hears us because of the reconciliation provided by Jesus. The Lord’s Prayer reminds us that our destination is with God in heaven (prefigured in the Mass) and that God will glorify His Name in answer to the prayer of Jesus (John 12:28); that although Jesus has already come to us in the Mass that the Second Coming is drawing near (Luke 21:31). We remind ourselves that we are dependant on him for our sustenance (Luke 14:15); that we are forgiven but that we must also extend the peace God has given us to others (Matthew 18:34-35). We ask to be kept from the final trial (Revelation 3:10) and delivered from evil (Luke 21:28).


And then there is Peace. But the Peace that is granted to us by Our Lord is not for us alone. We must show it to others (Matthew 5:23-24; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; Romans 16:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:26) and in this part of the Mass, we reach out to our brothers and sisters in love and friendship. It is also a visible reminder that we must always be at peace with our brothers and sisters before approaching the altar of God (Matthew 5:23)


Here the priest breaks the bread as Jesus did at the Last Supper (Luke 22:19). He also breaks off a small piece of a consecrated host and drops it into the chalice. This is called co-mingling. The bread and wine are consecrated separately representing the death of Our Lord. The co-mingling of the Body and Blood represents the Resurrection and Jesus’ victory over death. It also symbolizes the unity of the Church. In the early Church, a piece the Eucharist was taken from the Pope’s Mass to other churches and mingles with their Eucharistic species to show that all of the churches were one with each other. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed that we would be one as His Father and He were one that the world might believe. (John 17:20-23) Again we see in the Catholic Mass a stark lack of symbolism in that and a headlong plunge into the harsh literalness of Our Lord’s words.

Again I am reminded of the Road to Emmaus where they recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24:31)

Our response is in imitation of the centurion who tells Jesus that he is not worthy to receive him and that Jesus can heal his servant from a distance. (Luke 7:6-7) Jesus praises the centurion’s faith. (Luke 7:9)


Where are the words to describe receiving my Lord in Holy Communion? To a certain extent I can describe why I believe the way that I do. I can even glance off the surface of the mysteries leading to this point. But to receive the Lamb of God, the Bread of Heaven, into my body? There are not words. My Passover Lamb, the sacrifice for my sins, Bread of Heaven…Manna for my time here in the wilderness and I long for the Feast Heaven. For the day when my Savior will welcome me home.

I am further blessed with the privilege of being allowed to serve Holy Communion in my parish. I raise the host for each communicant and declare “The Body of Christ” (or if I am a cup minister “The Blood of Christ”) and after bowing solemnly, the communicant responds with “Amen!” I am often struck in the course of these duties with a sense of Christ’s overwhelming love for each of these precious people and how very different they are. Each face, each set of eyes that meet mine, some devout, some appearing not to be, some with faces shining with joy and others bearing the traces of the stress of difficult lives….Jesus knows them each, the corners of their hearts, the secret places of their being, the very number of hairs on their heads and He meets them precisely where they are. I am humbled that I am allowed to be the tiniest of his servants and that He deigns to use me to serve His Body and Blood to others. Of course, the wonder of it all is that Our Creator uses any of us at all, ever, to accomplish his purposes.


After receiving Holy Communion, we take our places and kneel in a time of intimate prayer while the rest of the congregation receives. There are many, many prayers that have been composed for this time. I personally like the words of Simeon in Luke 2:29-32 "Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel." And then I spend time praying as the Lord leads and like Mary, pondering on these things in my heart. (Luke 2:19)

After Holy Communion has been distributed, the Priest, Deacon, and the Eucharistic ministers (the lay people who help distribute Holy Communion) see to the reposition of the Body and Blood. Because we believe that Our Lord is actually present in the Eucharist, it is treated with great reverence and precautions are taken to make sure that the consecrated hosts are not subject to careless treatment or sacrilege. Any extra consecrated hosts are placed in the Tabernacle where they are used to bring Holy Communion to the sick and homebound of the Parish and local nursing homes and hospitals. If there is remaining Precious Blood in the cup, it is consumed. The vessels used for serving are rinsed and because the rinse water still contains traces of the Body and Blood the rinse water is also consumed. After the Mass, the vessels receive a more thorough purification.

Finally, we reach the point of the Mass from which is derives its name. The blessing and dismissal. In Latin, the Mass ends with ite missa est. which means ‘go, it is sent’ with ‘it’ meaning the church. We have worked through the plan of salvation from sinfulness, to incarnation, to Jesus’ life (in the scriptures), His death, and resurrection. This part of the Mass that recalls Jesus final instructions at the Ascension when the disciples were sent into the world.


Usually a hymn is sung during concluding rites. The priest goes to the altar and kisses it. He joins the others ministers, bows, and then preceded by the cross, they exit the church.

As we leave the church (no chit-chatting) we again genuflect acknowledging the Lorship of Jesus and His presence in the Tabernacle. We bless ourselves again with holy water on the way out, again claiming our place in the family of God by right of our Baptism.


As a Catholic, the Mass completely focuses me on Jesus and the entire plan of salvation. It is the lynchpin of it all and that's where the worship is. The Liturgy explains the Sacred Scripture and Sacred Scripture illuminates the Liturgy and together they give a clearer picture of Jesus than either alone. Every detail....in many cases even the architecture of the Church…serve to show the mysteries of faith. I am in (Although recently we almost had Mass in the First Baptist Church in town when our air conditioner broke down. They are seriously and truly our sister church. We love them and they love us.) points to Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross. And as a Catholic there is much that we to believe to be the literal making present of the mysteries of Salvation. I remember that as a Protestant judging Catholics based on what I knew of the Catholic faith it was always easy for me to see just how "idolatrous" they were. Coming into the Catholic faith I have to say it wasn't education regarding Catholic teaching about "the saints" that made me realize how I had misjudged (although that certainly was also important), it was education about the Mass and the Eucharist that put things into perspective. Say what you will about me as a Catholic, I understand that you probably continue to take issue with lots of things that I believe, but please don’t hastily judge the place of Jesus in my worship or my life based on the words the divisions in Our Lord’s church have made necessary.

Now if any of you ever have a hankering to actually attend a Mass in the Catholic Church, I want to give you fair warning. The above description covers just one variation of The Mass. Some parts are always the same. Some parts have several variations from which to select such as the Eucharistic prayer and the penitential rite. Under some circumstances the celebrant might opt not to recite the creed and there are some portions which might be performed silently by the celebrant such as preparation of the gifts. There are also some small variations based on the liturgical season. For example, the Alleluia that precedes the gospel reading is omitted during Lent. Below I have listed some references that might be helpful to those who want to know what the Roman Catholic Church actually teaches and why:

Searchable Catechism of the Catholic Church: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm

Scripture Catholic: http://www.scripturecatholic.com/

Coming Home Network: http://www.chnetwork.org/

Catholic Bridge: http://www.catholicbridge.com/index.html

Bible Christian Society: http://www.biblechristiansociety.com/

Instruction Concerning Worship Of The Eucharistic Mystery: http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP2INAES.HTM

I will be happy to email this in the form of a Word document to anyone who would like it: redneckwomandesigns*at*yahoo*dot*com

Once again I find myself in theological waters that I am NOT trained to swim in. If in what follows I have made errors of expression or theology, I would beg my brothers and sisters in the Catholic faith to correct my errors. I would ask that these errors be held against me alone and not the Catholic Church as a whole. I have labored to check my understanding against as many official Catholic teachers/documents (and reference them) as possible. I believe that I have represented Catholic teaching on this subject accurately; however, should I be in error please blame ME and not the Catholic Church.

Well I was certainly told that as a Protestant but I have to say after reading primary sources, that the basis for that opinion appears primarily to be mostly what I imagined it to be like and not at all in keeping with the actual historical record. I am certainly open to altering that opinion. Could you point me to some primary sources?

Well Sacred Scripture doesn't say that he didn't use those things but I'm willing to spot you that he didn't. However, we see them ALL in the worship of heaven pictured in Revelation.

Meeting in homes is not necessarily inconsistent with liturgical worship.

Exactly. But the same God that prescribed ceremony and ritual, indeed FILLED the lives of ancient Israel with it, didn't do away with all of that. He transformed it. He made it new! (Revelation 21:5 The one who sat on the throne * said, "Behold, I make all
things new.") The Catholic mass is FULL of Christ, beginning to end. I did a very long explanation of the Mass a while back, may I be so bold as to ask you to read it? The Mass is so much more than "a rule book" Jesus didn't do away with ceremony, He transformed it. Just as the Old Covenant worship prepared the Apostles (and eventually the church) for the Eucharistic celebration of the Church, the Mass prepares us for the final transformation of worship that we see pictured in Revelation.

Before I get to the bulk of my answer I would just like to ask this question (again): Why would meeting in small groups in homes necessarily mean that the early church was not liturgical?

I have to disagree strongly that the Eucharist is not mentioned in Acts. Perhaps the word `Eucharist' is not mentioned but then neither is the `Trinity' or other theological words that describe what is understood from a careful reading of Sacred Scripture.

Verse 42 and 46 both speak of their devotion "to the breaking of the bread." This in a nutshell is the Eucharistic celebration.

This is why I think so.

First, I believe (and the RCC teaches) that Sacred Scripture from beginning to end is unified. The OT is not done away with by the NT.

emphasis added


When I see the Almighty on the throne in heaven in Revelation 21:5 and hear Him declare "Behold, I make all things new." I am left with the expectation that just as the Old Covenant was not done away with by the coming of the Messiah but rather was renewed and transformed, so too will the things of this present age come to a perfect fulfillment in the coming Kingdom that is glimpsed in Revelation. Just as the Liturgy is drawn from Sacred Scripture and serves to explain it, there is a similar relationship between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. I look to the Old Testament/Old Covenant for the prefiguring of what is to come in the New Covenant. It sets the stage and establishes a pattern. It helps to explain what is to come. The New Covenant is understandable ONLY when it is intimately connected to the symbolism, the language and the liturgy of the Old Covenant. Similarly I believe that the perfection of all things as revealed in Revelation is understandable only when it is intimately connected to the symbolism, the ceremony, and the teachings of both Old and New Covenant. The Liturgy of the Eucharist or the Catholic Mass provides the bridge between the symbolism and ceremonies of the Old Covenant and the symbolism and ceremonies depicted in the New Covenant and the perfection of worship in Heaven.

I know that this may seem like a trivial statement but Jesus was a devout Jew. He was steeped in the ceremonies and practices and scriptures of the Jews. His uncle (Zechariah) was a temple priest. His parents were devout and presumably raised Jesus in an atmosphere of Jewish ritual and prayer. Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day (Luke 2:21), presented in the Temple (Luke 2:22), and went annually to Jerusalem for the Passover (Luke 2:41). Jesus was consumed with zeal for His Father's house. (Luke 20:45; Matthew 21:12; Mark 12:15) Yes at times Jesus spoke against the abuse of ritual and legalism but I see no indication that he tossed out the baby with the bathwater so to speak. For example, He healed on the Sabbath. Then declared that He could do so not because the Sabbath wasn't to be properly observed, but because He was the Creator of it and was entitled to care for his charges as were the leaders entitled to care for theirs (animals). The apostles were also observant, devout Jews and they all spoke the same ceremonial and cultural language. They understood the Old Covenant patterns that had been laid down. Everything Jesus said and did and taught would be understood within that framework and where God wanted something radically different (i.e. new Christians were not bound to Jewish dietary and circumcision laws) there needed to be significant new teaching by Jesus or Divine intervention to the contrary (like Peter's vision in Acts 10:9-16).

So when I read the Old Testament what patterns do I see? First, I see that worship was to be sacrificial and that God was very particular about the guidelines given to men. Abel's sacrifice was accepted and Cain's was not (Genesis 4:1-7). The theme of sacrifice is repeated in the Passover. The pattern of seriousness in ceremony and observance is repeated and amplified by the numerous instructions and warnings given in Sacred Scripture and evidenced in Jewish culture by the seriousness with which even modern observant Jews approach the Passover. While in the desert, God gives the law and instructions regarding the sacrifices that are expected as acts of worship from His people. And even though the instructions are copious with specific instructions regarding garments, furniture, furniture placement, decorations, construction, etc. there is still much that isn't written in Sacred Scripture (traditional knowledge….and a parallel to Liturgies) regarding ceremonial procedures and prayers used in the actual Temple rituals. God made it clear that His rules and not man's personal ideas were to be foremost. [Nadab and Abihu being killed by fire from heaven for offering strange incense is mentioned four times in Leviticus 10:1-2, Numbers 3:2-4a, Numbers 26:60-61, and 1 Chronicles 24:1-2; Saul loses kingship because he failed to wait for Samuel before offering a sacrifice in 1 Samuel 13: 1-13; an additional altar nearly causes civil war in Joshua 22:13-16; and God threatened to kill Moses for failing to circumcise his son in Exodus 4:24-26]

These are the scriptures and the culture and the life that formed the men that met in the Upper Room on the night before Jesus' crucifixion. These are the men that Jesus specifically commissioned to form and lead His Church. On that evening Jesus, in the middle of an old and ancient and established Jewish Liturgy, takes the ceremony and transforms it in preparation for its fulfillment the following day. He instructs them to prepare for the ceremony (Matthew 26:18-19) and at the outset, He marks this ceremony as something special and different. He says to them "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I shall not eat it [again] until there is fulfillment in the kingdom of God." (Luke 22:15) Then comes the transformation of all of the teaching of Melchizedek, of Passover, of manna, and the sin sacrifice into the Sacrament that would sustain the new Church in the years until the Second Coming just as Manna did in the wilderness for the Jews. It is clear both from Sacred Scripture (I won't reiterate that part here because I have already done much of it previously in this thread) and from the earliest church writings that these men believed that the Eucharist was the Real Presence of Jesus.

St. Ignatius, a disciple of the Apostle John wrote this in 110 AD:

and

St. Justin Martyr wrote in 150AD

St. Iraneus wrote in 190 AD

and

I won't belabor this particular point. It isn't hard to find quotes from the Early Church Fathers to support the universality of the belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. I have sometimes said that one of the reasons one sees such depth of reverence in Catholic Churches and Orthodox Churches is that we believe that Jesus is really and truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. I do not wish to imply that churches which do not believe and teach this are not reverent but rather that the reverence somehow seems qualitatively different. I say this not of only from my own experience in Orthodox, Protestant, and Catholic churches but from what I have been told by many friends in relatives of various faith traditions as being true from their own experiences. Is it logical to believe that these Apostles, so steeped in a culture of ceremony and ritual who clearly taught their students that Jesus, the Lord and Savior, the Perfect Sin Sacrifice was truly and actually present in the Eucharist would then treat it without ceremony and ritual? To believe that even the earliest Eucharistic celebrations were not adaptations of the Liturgy that Jesus used to institute the Sacrament in the first place staggers the imagination! The pattern was set in the Old Testament and reinforced by the culture in which the Apostles lived, learned and taught. There is no teaching or evidence of Divine Revelation to the contrary. Sacred Scripture indicates that the early Church was centered around and took Eucharistic celebrations seriously (they were DEVOTED to the breaking of the bread) and that failure to do so was the equivalent of profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord!! (1 Corinthians 11:27)

Additionally, the Eucharistic Liturgies of the present are themselves prefiguring worship in Heaven as pictured in the Book of Revelation. Now I'd like to take credit for my deep theological study and say that I put this list together myself but I didn't. Scott Hahn in The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth discusses in detail how the Revelation is best understood through the Liturgy. He made this list (which I found very interesting) of the parts of your average Catholic Mass and where they are found in the picture of Heaven found in the Book of Revelation.

Sunday worship: Revelation 1:10
A high priest: Revelation 1:13
An altar: Revelation 8:3-4; 11:1; 14:18
Priests (presbyteroi): Revelation 4:4; 11:15; 14:3; 19:4
Vestments: Revelation 1:13; 4:4; 6:11; 7:9; 15:6; 19:13-14
Consecrated celibacy: Revelation 14:4
Lamp stands, or Menorah: Revelation 1:12; 2:5
Penitence: Revelation 2 and 3
Incense: Revelation 5:8; and 8:3-5
The book, or the scroll: Revelation 5:1
The Eucharistic Host: Revelation 2:17
Chalices: Revelation 15:7; ch 16; 21:9
The Sign of the Cross (the tau) Revelation 7:3; 14:1; 22:4
The Gloria: Revelation 15:3-4
The Alleluia: Revelation 19:1, 3, 4, 6
Lift up your hearts: Revelation 11:12
The "Holy, Holy, Holy": Revelation 4:8
The Amen: Revelation 19:4; 22:21
The "Lamb of God": Revelation 5:6 and throughout
The Prominence of the Virgin Mary: Revelation 12:1-6; 13-17
Intercession of angels and saints: Revelation 5:8; 6:9-10; 8:3-4
Devotion to St. Michael, archangel: Revelation 12:7
Antiphonal chant: Revelation 4:8-11; 5:9-14; 7:10-12; 18:1-8
Readings from Scripture: Revelation ch 2-3; 5; 8:2-11
The priesthood of the faithful: Revelation 1:6; 20:6
Catholicity or universality: Revelation 7:9
Silent contemplation: Revelation 8:1
The marriage supper of the Lamb: Revelation 19:9, 17

Not only are these things found in the Catholic Liturgy most of them are found and/or prefigured in the Old Testament. Scott Hahn also points out that the Liturgy is not just in the details of Revelation but in the overall scheme as well. The first half of Revelation has an emphasis on readings which closely parallels the first half of the Catholic Mass known as the Liturgy of the Word. The first three chapters form a sort of penitential rite, which Hahn points out, echoes the words of the Didache "First confess your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure." The words of the Revelation itself assumes that it will be read aloud in the liturgical assembly. (Revelation 1:3) The last half of Revelation (beginning in chapter 11) describes the pouring of the seven chalices and the marriage supper of the Lamb which parallels the second half of the Catholic Mass known as the Liturgy of the Eucharist. And notice too, that the Apostle John who many scholars believe was the disciple that reclined on Jesus breast at the Last Supper falls on his face in reverence and worship at the Lamb of God. The same Lamb of God that is present in the Eucharist as the Catholic priest holds up the consecrated host and says:

The reverence and seriousness with which we are to approach the Lamb of God in the liturgy of the Eucharist are all modeled for us by the Apostle John himself in the worship shown to us in Revelation. Should we have any expectation that the other Apostles took the "breaking of the bread" as described in Acts and Corinthians any less seriously than the Apostle John did in Revelation?

Worship is established in the Old Covenant, fulfilled in the New; and perfected in Heaven and liturgy is intimately tied into it all at every step along the way. The Old Testament prepared the way both in theology and in the culture that embraced it. The Apostles moved forward to establish the new liturgy and teach its significance and meaning the new church. It is reflected in Sacred Scripture and it shows up early in the historical record as left to us by the ECF's.

Justin Martyr writing at approximately 150 CE describes the liturgy which already bears a remarkable resemblance to the liturgy as it exists today.

The Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus of Rome (circa 215 AD) also describes early Christian liturgical practices. From the same time period as Hippolytus are other formal liturgies (St James used in the Jerusalem church, St. Mark, and St. Peter) claiming Apostolic lineage.

Taken all together, the unified picture of Sacred Scripture alone leads me to expect to find liturgical worship centered about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist in the early church. It doesn't matter if they worshipped in homes, in catacombs, under a tree, or in the wilderness while traveling to a new unreached place; the liturgy was an intimate part of that worship. When you add in the historical record, the picture only becomes clearer and more convincing.

If I may round this out with a few book recommendations?

The Lamb's Supper: The Mass a Heaven on Earth by Scott Hahn: This is the book to read if you want to learn more about what ancient theologians believed was contained in the Book of Revelation.

The Mass of the Early Christians by Mike Aquilina: This is kind of a dry book but full of good information and a good jumping off point for further historical research about worship in the early church.

God is Near Us: The Eucharist, The Heart of Life by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger A collection of Pope Benedict XVI's homilies, letters, and lectures about the Eucharist. It's full of insight into what Catholics believe about Holy Communion but it is written by a Catholic (get it? The Pope's Catholic?) for Catholics. He doesn't spend any time at all explaining the roots of the belief only the upper branches.

The Teachings of the Church Fathers John R. Willis S.J. (ed.) What the Early Church Fathers said about all kinds of things and referenced to the work that they are found in so you can go read it in context if you'd like.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church Don't let someone tell you what Catholics believe. Read it for yourself. A searchable on-line copy is available here.

The Apostolic Fathers volume I and II from the Loeb Classical Library. It contains both the work in the original language and the translation. Look smart….underline the Greek.

And the Ancient Christian Writers series….multiple volumes.

Also the writing of the Early Church Fathers are widely available on the internet. I have found that Googling a phrase from most quotations will pull up the document itself.

Originally Posted by HouseMouse Anyone else here ever take this as literally as we do, here? And please, my orthidox friends....I'll try to word this as respectfully as I can....and I -do- respect your great love of Our Great Lord Jesus. I really do! I only wish, like children of the perfect King that we are, we could stop trying to pressure everyone else to copy our own patterns of worship.

John 4:19-24 19 The woman said to him, "Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem." 21 Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth."

I wish we could accept the variations, within the truth, that God HIMSELF accepts, and quit fretting over it. Why do we, like bickering siblings, insist that unless you 'look like me', you are totally wrong? God doesn't. He has accepted true worship from both extremes, and I'll get to that in a minute, below.

But back to one form of worship - Communion: Could it be this simple? After all, Jesus praised childlike faith....We are instructed not to follow after vain traditions. Could this tradition have become something other than what Christ intended?

When Jesus said, 'as often as you take this cup....', we take that for, every time we literally drink or eat. The early believers are the one who took this and idolized it (for lack of a better word to make my point - I am not referring to any particular body of believers - just mankind in general,) and made it a sacrament.

Eyes get on the 'stuff' instead of on the Savior.

When I read the words of Christ, it simply says, from now on, every time I pause to take refreshment, to drink or eat, I should also recall, that every cell in my body is sustained by God.

It is the supreme sacrifice of God Himself that keeps me in existance, to His Glory.

Do I participate in the sacrament of Communion in church? Sure. But I also commune with Christ daily, every time I put food or drink in my mouth....it is yet another opportunity to make sure I am not holding offense against another, and to acknowledge my total, complete dependance on my Savior.

I've had very sweet communion experiences in the past....sans the official Bread and Wine, and not in the official Church Building. I recall a group of college friends who had just experienced a wonderful time of praise and prayer, and we desired communion. All we could come up with was Pepsi and Ritz crackers, there in the dorm. We deliberated....would it be 'wrong' to share communion together with 'unofficial' foods? The young man (grad student) who seemed most mature in the Lord assured us that with pure hearts, God would be pleased with our desire to commune with Him and each other, in forgiveness and purity of heart. 20 some years later...that was a precious evening of fellowship. And I have at times, had communion with a bit of drink and food, just myself, with Christ. Is that sacriligious?

When Jesus said, man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God....should we 'eat' literal Bibles or books of doctrine? No. He refers to our utter dependance on Him, who is THE Word of God.

This is my best understanding....to revert to thinking that the bread and wine 'become flesh and blood' -literally-, in my thinking, for ME, is idoltry. (I realize that this has an entirely different meaning to others!) It again takes something that can only be understood in the Spirit and brings it down to the earthly. The spirit of communion is staying fresh, pure, dependant and forgiven with Christ.

I'm no theologian, however. Please don't attack me - I just didn't see this particular understanding of this passage represented on this thread, and had the nerve to go ahead and post. I know how very strongly many feel about the preciousness of the Blood and the Body....and I share that with you - we feel called to express it differently.