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The Joy of The Mass

© Kathryn Morse

I was confirmed a Catholic in July 1997 at the age of 40. Until April, 1997, most of my experiences at Catholic Mass were during my college years when I attended a few Saturday evening Masses with other students. I only went as a courtesy to Catholic friends or relatives who had often attended Baptist functions with me. I did not like Mass. I never had a clue what was going on. I did not know what was expected of visitors. And the homilies were very shallow compared to the Baptist expository preaching I was used to.

Now, I love to go to Mass. I am writing this a few days after Ephiphany Sunday. That weekend I attended my first High Mass. The church was still decorated for Christmas and had the entire creche scene arranged in front of the altar. We sat on the fourth row from the front on the left. Kneeling to pray before Mass, I said some prayers for personal intentions and sometime later realized that I was just kneeling there not praying, but enjoying the decorations - some seasonal and some specific to that parish.

Many of the pieces of the beautiful scene had a special meaning in the holy scriptures and others have meaning in tradition. I was at one of the area churches that have statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph arranged so that the crucified Jesus is in the middle. I love to view the family scene and think of the support Mary and Joseph offered each other and then to their son and lord, Jesus.

In this parish, the tabernacle is located on an altar in the center of the front of the sanctuary, not off to the side as is the modern fashion. So I can view the tabernacle with the Blessed Sacrament as I view the statue of our crucified Lord. Herein is the message of the Mass in a picture: Christ crucified and Christ present. In this parish also are two golden angels, one of either side of the tabernacle. These are intended to emulate the description of the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament and, I think, remind us of the thousands of angels present at each tabernacle, and therefore, with us at Mass.

There are many things about Mass that I did not learn in instruction and I am quite certain that there are others in the same "almost ignorant" boat I was in. Instruction at some parishes consists mainly in reading the new Catechism of the Catholic Church or studying other sources about doctrine. Doctrine studies fail to discuss traditions and "etiquette" concerning the use of holy water, when to stand or sit, genuflexion, etc. An older catechism, The Baltimore Catechism, has a greater detailed explanation of the Catholic Mass.

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