Our prayer has started before Mass even begins. As
we enter the doors of the church, we dip our fingers
into a holy water font, and make the Sign of the Cross.
This action reminds us that we come into the Church
and become part of God’s family through the waters of
Baptism. As we find a place to sit, we also genuflect,
that is, bend our right knee to the floor. We do this to
show God that we recognize and respect the presence
of Jesus in the tabernacle.

The procession can remind us of how we are called to
follow Jesus with every step we take.

God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is alive in our
hearts through Baptism.

Catholics around the world use this response. It comes
from the earliest prayers of the Church. The priest
prays for us, reminding us that we belong to the Lord
through the grace of our Baptism. We pray for the
priest, and remember that he has received the Holy
Spirit in the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Jesus himself 
is offering the Mass through the priest.

Some sins are more serious than others, but all sin 
separates us from God and each other.

Striking the chest over our hearts is a very ancient 
gesture of sorrow and humility.

We take responsibility for the wrong we have chosen to
do, and tell God that we know our sins are our fault, not
someone else’s. When we have hurt someone we love,
we usually say “I’m sorry” more than once.

We ask all who love God to pray for us, and we also
pray for others.

When we ask God for mercy, we are asking him to
be graciously kind to us and to give us more than we
deserve.

When we say, "Lord, have mercy," in Greek we say "Kyrie eleison." The Kyrie is the only part of the Mass that has remained in its original Greek!

Unless it is Advent or Lent, we always sing or say the
Gloria at Sunday Mass. We make the words of the
Christmas angels our own, saying “Glory to God in 
the highest!” Like the angels, the saints, and all who 
share our faith in Jesus, we praise the Most Holy Trinity.
We tell God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—just how
wonderful he is, and how much he means to us. This is
what happens in heaven! Everyone worships God, not
only because of all the wonderful things he has done,
but just because of who he is.

We “bless” God when we express gratitude and 
admiration for him.

We worship God. While we honor the saints and
venerate them, adoration is something we give
to God alone.

Jesus is the Son of God in a unique way. He is from God
without being created by God.

At Mass, we listen to a reader proclaim the word of
God from the Bible. We pay close attention because 
the Bible isn’t just another book. The Scriptures were
written by people long ago, but God inspired them. 
He still uses the Bible to speak his truth to us today. 
We hear God’s Word with our ears, but we can also
learn to listen to his voice speaking in our hearts.

First Reading
The First Reading is usually from the Old Testament.
These are the Scriptures Jesus heard when he worshiped
God during his earthly life. They are the stories of God’s
chosen people, the Jews.

Responsorial Psalm
The Bible contains many songs. Most of them are found
in the Book of Psalms. We respond to God’s word at
Mass by praying or singing a psalm.

Second Reading
The Second Reading is usually taken from one of the
letters written by the apostles to the earliest Christians.
These epistles are part of the New Testament.

Gospel Acclamation
We stand and sing a Gospel Acclamation.
Alleluia means “praise God” in Hebrew, the ancient
language of the Jewish people. During Lent, there are 
no alleluias at Mass and the words of the Gospel 
Acclamation are Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ, King 
of endless glory. In the Easter season, there are even
more alleluias than usual.

By tracing the sign of the cross on our forehead, on our
lips, and over our heart we express our hope
that the Gospel will form our minds, our words,
and our hearts.

Gospel
The Gospel is read by a deacon or priest. The Gospels
tell us who Jesus is, and what he said and did during his
life on earth. The Gospel is also called the “good news”
or the “message” of Jesus Christ. We hope to bring the
news of God’s saving love to everyone we meet. That
happens when we don’t just hear God’s word, but act
on it!

Homily
After the reading of the Gospel, a priest or deacon
talks to us about the word of God we have
heard today. In his homily, he helps us
understand what God might be saying to us, and how
we can live what we have heard more faithfully.

We stand together and say a creed, a statement of what
we believe about God and his Church. These beliefs
aren’t just our ideas, but the faith that has been handed
down from the apostles and through the centuries to us.
We begin the Creed with the words “I believe” because
each one of us is making a statement of our own faith.
But the word “I” is also the voice of the whole Church
speaking together as one.

When we say, "of all things visible and unvisible," we mean
God created everything, all that we can see and even
things that no one can see, like angels.

When we say that Jesus was "born of the
Father before all ages," we are expressing our belief
Jesus is the Son of God from all eternity. There was
never a time when he did not exist.

We express our belief that Jesus is consubstantial
with the Father. Consubstantial (con-sub-STAN-shul)
is a word that describes the relationship between God the
Father and Jesus who is God the Son. We believe that our one
God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—the Holy Trinity.

“Men” as used in the Creed means all humanity.

In the Creed we state that by the Holy Spirit
Jesus was incarnate of the Virgin Mary.
Incarnate (in-CAR-net) means given flesh. Jesus, the
Son of God, became human in the womb of Mary when
she said “yes” to God’s plan of salvation.

We profess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
“Confess” used this way means to express our belief. 
We believe that God forgives our sins through Baptism.

Jesus’s true and only Father is God. He began his earthly
life in the womb of Mary by the power of the Holy
Spirit. We often call Joseph the foster-father of Jesus
because Joseph cared for him as a good earthly 
father would.

Jesus truly died. “Descended into hell” is a way of saying
that Jesus’s death was real, and that he freed those who
had died waiting for God’s salvation.

Jesus rose from the dead and returned to heaven. We
believe that he will come again, not as a baby, but as the
King and Judge of all people.

All those who belong to Christ Jesus, both living and
dead, are one in him. Along with the saints already in
heaven, God makes us one with him and each other.
When we die, our souls are separated from our bodies
and they go to meet God. But someday, we hope to 
share fully in the resurrection of Jesus and have new 
bodies that cannot die.

After we profess our faith we bring our needs to
God in the Prayer of the Faithful. There is nothing too big or
too small to pray about. God cares about all our
concerns because he loves us. We pray for the Pope and
all priests, deacons, religious, and lay people. We pray for
our parish and our country. We ask God to help the sick
and poor, those we know, and those we may never meet.

The priest receives the bread and wine that will become
the real Presence of Jesus. Ushers also collect money to
help the Church and the poor. We bring these gifts to
God at the offertory. But we also offer our hearts, and
our whole lives, to him.

As the bread and wine are prepared, we thank God
for all that he gives us. We are grateful for family and
friends, for teachers and doctors, and all who help us.
We are blessed to have a place to live and food to eat.
But the Mass shows us that God is the best giver and
the best gift. Above everything else God has given us, he
wants to give us himself. He also wants to show us how
to give ourselves to one another. We have asked for
forgiveness, heard the word of God, professed our faith,
and prayed that God will take care of us.

We ask God to accept the sacrifice of bread and
wine the priest will offer for all of us. We pay close attention
to what happens at the altar.

The altar is where Jesus will offer himself to God, and
give himself to us.

The Eucharistic Prayer is the most important part of
the Mass. There are several different Eucharistic Prayers
the priest can use. While the words of each prayer are
not exactly the same, all of them have the same parts.

The Sanctus
We come to Mass to worship God, that is, to show him
both love and respect. But we can and should praise God
always and everywhere, and encourage others to do so,
too. God made us and loves us, so it is only right and fair
for us to worship him.

As we continue, we join the worship that is always going
on in heaven. With all the angels and saints we praise
the Lord, and recognize that only he is holy and mighty.
Here hosts means the invisible, powerful, and countless
angels of God.

Hosanna is a word borrowed from Hebrew. It is an 
exclamation of joy but also means “Please, save us!”
People shouted “hosanna” when Jesus entered Jerusalem
on Palm Sunday. We use the same word as we prepare
for Jesus to enter our sanctuary.

Epiclesis
In the Eucharistic Prayer the priest extends his hand over
the bread and wine. This part of the Eucharistic Prayer
is the “calling upon,” or epiclesis (ep-ih-CLEE-sis).

The priest asks God to send his Holy Spirit so the bread
and wine will become the Body and Blood of Jesus
Christ. With the priest, we call upon the Holy Spirit, too.
We pray that the Holy Spirit will come upon us and
make us holy.

Anamnesis or Consecration
This part of the Eucharistic Prayer is the “remembrance,”
or anamnesis (an-am-NEE-sis). We recall what Jesus
said and did on the night before he died. As the priest
retells the story of Jesus, it becomes present and real for
us today. At his last Passover supper, Jesus took bread
and broke it. Giving it to his friends, he said, “This is my
body, which will be given up for you.” The bread has now
become the Body of Christ. It is consecrated, or made
holy. Jesus gives us himself through the ministry of the
priest. For when a priest celebrates Mass, he stands in the
person of Christ, the Head and Shepherd of the Church.

There are many statues, stained glass windows, and
other images we see in church that look like Jesus. But
the Eucharist actually is Jesus—the real Jesus! While it
still looks and tastes like bread and wine, the Eucharist 
is truly the Body and Blood of Christ!

Mystery of Faith
Our faith is full of mystery—not mysteries to be solved,
but the kind that ought to amaze us. God is great and
powerful. He created everything: mountains, oceans,
plants, animals, and us. And God loves us, even when we
wander away from him. In fact, God loved us enough to
send his Son Jesus into our world. Jesus came to teach,
heal, and save us by dying on the cross. He calls us to
follow him, and gives us the Holy Spirit to help us reach
heaven. But in the meantime, Jesus gives us his Body and
Blood. In the Eucharist, Jesus remains with us always.

As the Eucharistic Prayer continues we ask
God to strengthen the faith and love of his Church,
and make us all a gift to him. The Eucharist is 
the real presence of Jesus, a loving sacrifice, a holy 
communion, that is, becoming one with God and others.
Although the priest leads the Eucharistic Prayer, it 
belongs to the whole Church. The whole Church isn’t
just everyone here on earth, but also Christians who
have died, and all the saints in heaven.

The Eucharistic Prayer ends with the doxology. 
Together with the priest, we give honor and glory 
to God, through Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Spirit.

Amen comes from Hebrew, and means “so be it,”
“truly,” or “I agree.” We say amen at the end of many
prayers, but when we sing or say this Great Amen, we
join ourselves with the whole Eucharistic Prayer that 
the priest has prayed.

We call God our Father, because we have become his
children through Baptism. We recognize that everything
about God is holy, even his name. We pray that God’s
kingdom will come, and that everyone on earth will 
love and obey him just as everyone in heaven does. 
We ask God for what we need today. We also ask him
to forgive our sins, just as we forgive others who have
hurt us. We pray that he will guard us from temptation
and protect us from all evil.

The priest offers us peace. Then he or a deacon invites
us to share that peace with one another. Because we
are all children of the same heavenly Father, we are
called to peace. Peace doesn’t just mean not fighting.
Peace is God’s gift of reconciliation, friendship, and 
assurance. Peace is a holy growing together in love.

When we greet people with the peace of Christ, we 
are giving others what Jesus left to his friends: a deep
and lasting peace we can’t find anywhere else. God
loves each of us, and he wants us to love one another,
too. We prepare to receive Jesus by showing that we
want to be united to all God’s children.
We wish the peace of Jesus to others. The sign of
peace is not really the time to catch up on news
or start a conversation. It is a chance for us to share
something our world really needs—peace.

Now we say or sing the Lamb of God. We remember
the first Passover, and how God saved his people from
slavery in Egypt. Then, God told Moses and the Jewish
people to sacrifice a lamb and sprinkle its blood on the
doorposts of their homes. He promised that if they did
that, death would “pass over” them, and they would be
free. But Jesus is our sacrifice. He is our Passover “Lamb.”
Because of his blood shed on the cross, death has no
power over us, and we are freed from sin. We hear
the priest say the words of John the Baptist, “Here is
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”
(John 1:29). The Eucharist is the Lamb of God broken
for us here and now.

In Revelation, the last book of the Bible, heaven is called
the wedding supper of the Lamb. We, the Church, are
the Bride of Christ. We live our lives here on earth with
the hope that we will live with Jesus in heaven forever.

We tell God that we are unworthy to receive him. That
is, we admit that we can’t do anything to earn God’s 
love. We also recognize that God has the power to heal
us. These are the words of a Roman soldier who once
came to Jesus. His story is told in Matthew 8 and Luke 7.
The commander’s servant was very sick, even dying.
When Jesus began walking to his house, the soldier 
asked that he simply “say the word.” The soldier believed
that Jesus’s word would be enough to heal his servant. 
It was.

“Enter under my roof ” here means come inside of me.

Merely “saying the word” isn’t all that God wants to
do for us. He wants to be not only with us, but within us.
God wants to live in our hearts and change our lives.
Communion means becoming one.

As human beings created in the image of God, each of
us has a body and a soul. Our souls need to be healed
from sin. Only Jesus can heal us in this way.

In Holy Communion, we receive the Body and Blood
of Christ. But we, the Church, are also called to be the
Body of Christ in the world. After receiving Jesus in Holy
Communion, we talk to him in our hearts. We can tell
Jesus how much we love him, or ask his help. We may
use our own words, a favorite prayer, or just be silent.

When we receive Communion we bow. 
We do this to honor Jesus and to show that we believe
he is really present in the Eucharist.

The word Mass comes from the Latin word which
means “sent.” We are sent to bring the presence of
Jesus into the world.

As we get ready to go home, our hearts are filled with
the love of Jesus. We are happy to go out and bring
that love to everyone we meet in the coming week.