The quotes are taken directly from General Instruction on the Roman Missal (GIRM) - found in front of big Roman Missal the priest prays from - which gives instructions and directions to clergy and laity of how the Liturgy (Mass) is to be celebrated.

The purpose of this entire homily series is to help us get more out of Mass. For many years I went to Mass every Sunday growing up, thinking why am I going when it is boring and I don’t get anything out of it. It really wasn’t until seminary, and I read the General Instruction (GIRM) that I realized that there was an instruction of how the priest and people are to celebrate Mass in the first place. I learned that we are to really pray the Mass instead of just be there physically but not always mentally engaged, like I was doing for years. Some things you hear might be different than what you’ve known or seen, as we know there are different ways the Mass has been celebrated, but everything we say will be what the Church instructs. And hopefully understanding more of what and why the Church instructs will help us know and appreciate what is really happening at Mass so that we can get more out of it.

GIRM 27. “At Mass or the Lord’s Supper the People of God is called together, with a Priest presiding and acting in the person of Christ, to celebrate the memorial of the Lord or Eucharistic Sacrifice.[37] In an outstanding way there applies to such a local gathering of the holy Church the promise of Christ: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst” (Mt 18:20). For in the celebration of Mass, in which the Sacrifice of the Cross is perpetuated,[38] Christ is really present in the very assembly gathered in his name, in the person of the minister, in his word, and indeed substantially and uninterruptedly under the Eucharistic species”.

What this means is that the priest does not celebrate the Mass to the people, rather the priest and the people together, as the Mystical Body of Christ, each doing our own parts/roles. So Christ himself is the primary celebrant or acting agent of the Mass, and we the Body of Christ participate in it.

I’m sharing today on the Introductory rites: the Entrance, Greeting, Penitential Act, Gloria, and Collect (or opening prayer). The entrance is not just so the priest can get from point A to point B, the back to the front. Rather, the servers, ministers, and priest come through the people. Like when Moses was going up Mt Sinai to converse with God, he would walk through the people as to gather and unite them to the prayer.

GIRM 47. “When the people are gathered, and as the Priest enters with the Deacon and ministers, the Entrance Chant begins. Its purpose is to open the celebration, foster the unity of those who have been gathered, introduce their thoughts to the mystery of the liturgical time or festivity, and accompany the procession of the Priest and ministers”.

In the Greeting begins with making the Sign of the Cross together. Why? The first word of the Mass, perhaps is the most important- IN. For the entire purpose of the Mass and our lives of faith is for us to be incorporated into God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So that through the Holy Spirit, and with Christ we are (adopted) children of the Father. We make the Sign of Cross is as 2 Pet. 1:4 says, that we ‘become sharers IN God’s divine nature’.

The priest continues: The Lord be with you, and you respond - and with your spirit. This is the first of many dialogues in the Mass.

GIRM 34. “Since the celebration of Mass by its nature has a “communitarian” character,[45] both the dialogues between the Priest and the assembled faithful, and the acclamations are of great significance;[46] for they are not simply outward signs of communal celebration but foster and bring about communion between Priest and people.

35. The acclamations and the responses of the faithful to the Priest’s greetings and prayers constitute that level of active participation that is to be made by the assembled faithful in every form of the Mass, so that the action of the whole community may be clearly expressed and fostered”.

GIRM 51. “After this, the Priest calls upon the whole community to take part in the Penitential Act, which, after a brief pause for silence, it does by means of a formula of general confession. The rite concludes with the Priest’s absolution, which, however, lacks the efficacy of the Sacrament of Penance”.

You and I are to call to mind our sins, those things which are separating us from being fully IN God. I am sorry if Deacon or priest hasn’t allowed enough time to reflect on your sins. We are all called to reflect on those and ask God’s mercy for them so that we can get out of Mass all that we are called to.

GIRM 53. “The Gloria in excelsis (Glory to God in the highest) is a most ancient and venerable hymn by which the Church, gathered in the Holy Spirit, glorifies and entreats God the Father and the Lamb”.

It is only appropriate that after we have called to mind our sins and asked God to have mercy on us, that we join with the Angels and sing Gloria, and give God the glory and praise that He deserves. The final part of the Introductory rites is the Collect, also known as the Opening prayer.

GIRM 54. “Next the Priest calls upon the people to pray and everybody, together with the Priest, observes a brief silence so that they may become aware of being in God’s presence and may call to mind their intentions. Then the Priest pronounces the prayer usually called the “Collect” and through which the character of the celebration finds expression”.

Now I admit to you there were many times the priest would say “Let us pray’ and in the silence I would wonder what he was doing, I was just waiting for him to say the prayer- which I really wouldn’t really listen attentively to. Little did I know that in the silence, all of us are to pray: 1. We become aware of God’s presence, and 2. Call to mind our intentions.

I did not know I was supposed to have my own intentions. That I was supposed to pray and give to God those things weighing on my heart- those things, people, situations I was most anxious and worried about.

Friends, if you are like me and never really learned how to pray the Mass, the next time you come to Mass- tomorrow or next Sunday- recall what we are doing and called to do in the Introductory rites. Because only by doing what we are supposed to do at Mass can we get more out of it.

Next week Fr. David will talk about the Liturgy of the Word.

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