liturgy of the Word

Frankie Cicero, and we are so glad that you are here with us as we continue our Lenten journey through the Mass.

Last week, we reflected on the Liturgy of the Word, particularly the moment of the Gospel when we make three small signs of the Cross over our minds, our lips, and our heart, asking God's Word to shape our thinking, our speaking, and our living.

Now, at this point in the Mass, things begin to shift, moving from the Word of God to now preparing for the Word to become flesh in the Holy Eucharist.

This begins with the Offertory.

It is the highest form of prayer and the highest liturgical celebration within the church.

And of course, many of us go to Mass and we go to enter into the Liturgy of the Word, which moves us into the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

But have we ever wondered to ourselves, like, exactly what does each significant part of the Mass mean? What is the point of our genuflections, our Our gestures of greeting the priest, the making the sign of the cross, the holy water, the fire, the incense, the altar, the bread, the wine, the vestments and the music.

What is it all about? Why do we do what we do as Catholics? It's so intentional.

Dang, that sounded like a movie.

What we're going to touch on today is the four parts of the Mass.

And that will be the Introductory Rites, the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and the Communion Rite, and of course, the Concluding Rites.

And of course, we can't explain in depth every single part of the Mass.