Saint Matthew the Apostle Parish

The color green in the Church tells us that we are back in Ordinary Time. Actually the word “ordinary” does not mean routine but “counted” or ordinal” time. We enter into these 2nd, 3rd and 4th Sundays…all counted one after another. Winter Ordinary Time is just a few short weeks until we into the [...]

It seems that fewer and fewer people take the opportunity to share in the fullness of the Eucharistic banquet each week due to fear of germs and contamination. Yes, in our Catholic teaching the Lord Jesus is present equally under both the e form of the hose and the cup at the Liturgy. However, the Church does encourage all of the faithful to drink of the Blood of Christ as well as to eat of His body when we gather at the Table of the Lord. Continue reading Why Drink From The Cup?

This part of the Mass begins with the Lord’s prayer in which we pray the words Jesus Himself taught us to pray to our Father. It is an honor and privilege to address God as father. The Lord’s Prayer contains all the elements of prayer: praise, petition, thanksgiving and asking for forgiveness and deliverance. [...]

Following the words of consecration the priest invites us to join in song in the Eucharistic Acclamation in some form of “Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again.” In this acclamation we acknowledge that our lives are always a sharing in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We acknowledge that as we celebrate the Eucharist we are being swept up over and over again in this paschal mystery of Christ. Life is not just an endless series of events or a constant progress to a richer lifestyle as our culture tries to convince us, life is but rather a sharing in life, death and resurrection, ups an downs, joys and sorrows all leading us to a fuller life and finally to the gift of eternal life with the Father in heaven. Continue reading Eucharistic Prayer (continued)

After our gifts are presented and offered by the priest-celebrant we move into the Eucharistic prayer of the Mass. The word Eucharist is the Greek word for “Thanksgiving” and presents us with the opportunity to join with the perfect prayer and offering of Jesus to the Father as he offered his life on the cross for all of the human family to restore us to unity with our God. The priest offers this prayer with arms outstretched as a sign that he lifts up all our prayers to God the Father in unison with the Universal Church. Continue reading The Eucharistic Prayer

Following the Prayer of the Faithful we move into the Presentation of the Gifts, the first part of the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The ushers (Ministers of Welcome) receive our sacrificial offerings (our treasure) which hopefully expresses our giving back to God some of which God has so generously given to us. We give not out of what is left over or what is the spare change in our pocket or purse but out of our scarcity. We hopefully plan our donation before we leave the house for mass as a part of our own financial planning. Continue reading The Presentation of the Gifts

As we continue to explain the various parts of the Liturgy, I would like to devote some time to the conclusion of the Liturgy of the Word and the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist. We know the Mass is divided into two parts: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Continue reading Liturgy of the Word

We believe that Christ is present at the Eucharistic celebration in four ways:

1. the congregation gathered in prayer;
2. the Word of God (Holy Scriptures);
3. the Body and Blood of Christ;
4. the priest-Presider.

The Liturgy is divided into two parts; the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist: equal in stature and reverence. We place candles, which signify the presence of God in our midst both at the Ambo (the table from which the Scriptures are proclaimed, also known as the pulpit) and at the altar where we encounter the risen Christ in His Body and Blood in which we share.

If the deacon is present he carries in procession and recession the Book of the Gospels. The lector proclaims the Word of God from the Lectionary, the Book of Scripture readings of the Church, which is composed universally to offer us in a 3-year cycle a rich variety of Scriptures from the Old and New Testaments. Every Catholic community hears the same readings each time we gather for worship. Many Protestant communities make use of the same lectionary and also are proclaiming the same Scriptures weekly. Continue reading Christ’s Presence in the Eucharist