“Do this in Memory of Me”
The celebration of Mass and the Holy Eucharist is at the very heart of the parish community at Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Patrick’s.
If you require mass times, please visit our Services page.
If you would like to dedicate a mass for someone, details can be found on our Parish Groups page.
The following questions and answers are derived from the Catholic Truth Society CTS Essentials pamphlet “What happens at Mass ?” (All rights reserved copyright 2004).
A big thank you to the CTS. Details of their website can be found on our Links page.
What makes the Mass so important ?
The Catholic Church calls the Mass ‘the source and summit of our Christian lives’ (Catechism, 1324). It is both source and summit because, at Mass, we encounter Jesus in a unique way. There we come into his presence, uniting our lives with his: there we receive Christ himself in Holy Communion, which is truly his Body and Blood.
At Mass our souls are filled with his power and strength and we are given the means to love one another, as Christ commanded (John 13:34). Finally, the Mass is the best way of giving thanks to God for all the gifts he has given us. Another word for the Mass is eucharist, which means ‘thanksgiving’.
Who invented the Mass ?
Jesus himself. The night before he died, Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his apostles. This was the Passover meal, a feast the Jewisg people have always celebrated to remember the night God freed them from slavery to the Egyptians. But Jesus was to give this celebration a whole new meaning. He chose the Last Supper as the way in which he would remain with his disciples for ever.
At the meal, Jesus took some bread, broke it and said : This is my Body, which will be given up for you (Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19). Later, when the meal was ended, he took some wine and said: This is the cup of my Blood, the Blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all – do this in memory of me (Matthew 26:27; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:20).
These are the same words we hear spoken at every Mass. When the priest says them, he is acting in the person of Jesus: the bread and wine really do become the body and blood of Christ. The Church calls this amazing changeTransubstantiation. It is a mystery, beyond our understanding, but accepted in faith. Very simply, it means that when we come to Mass, we are in the presence of Jesus, just as much as his apostles were at the Last Supper.
You said the Last Supper took place just before Jesus died – Why is that significant ?
It was shortly after the Last Supper that Jesus was arrested, tried, tortured and crucified – and he rose again from the dead thre days later. Christians believe that these events brought us salvation – Jesus’ death was a sacrifice to God his Father for the sins of all humanity.
At every Mass the bread and wine are changed into Christ’s body and blood – the body which died on the cross, the blood which was shed. This means that at every Mass we join in a special way with the event of the crucifixion – we offer to God the same sacrifice, which Jesus offered to the Father on the cross.
We also offer our lives along with Jesus, asking the Father to accept everything we have – our joys, our talents, our sorrows, our all. There are many important aspects to the Mass. Another is that the Mass is also a great prayer of thanksgiving and of praise to God, which we make to him through his Son, Jesus Christ.
So at the Mass we offer ourselves to God – don’t we receive anything back ?
What we receive is the greatest gift of all: Holy Communion. As the Catechism says : ‘To receive communions is to receive Christ himself who has offered himself for us’ (1382) When we recive Holy Communion, we truly receive the Body and Blood of the Lord. We will never be more intimately united to Jesus than in Communion, and we will never receive anything so valuable in helping us to model our lives upon his. Communion helps us to become like Christ, because it is Christ himself whom we receive.
It does seen a wonderful gift. Is it given only for ourselves ?
No. Holy Communion is the high point of the Mass, but it is not the end. The strength we receive from the Mass should lead us nearer to God, should spur us on on in our struggles against sin, and should empower us to help others. The Christ we have just received in Holy Communion is the same Christ who asks us to show true love to our neighbour, especially the poorest and most needy: ‘As often as you do these things to the least of ny brothers and sisters, you do them to me’ (Matthew 25:40)
So if sounds as if the Church can’t do without the Mass ?
Exactly, The Church quite literally needs the Mass to survive. Only there can we receive the strength we need to live a truly Christian life. The Mass unites us with our Lord and Saviour on earth, and it prepares us for the heavenly life to come.
The Structure of the Mass
Penetential Rite
We acknowledge our sins and call on the mercy of God
Readings
We listen to God’s word in the Bible – through whish he speaks to us with a promise for our lives
Offertory
The bread and wine are brought to the alter. In spirit we offer our lives as well
Eucharistic Prayer
Jesus is made present, and through him we offer our prayers to the Father for the needs of the world
Communion
We recive Christ’s body and blood, a moment of intimate closes to Jesus
Dismissal
We are sent out ‘to love and serve the Lord’, and to bring his good news to others