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Post by summerflood on Aug 2, 2011 12:18:06 GMT
We had an excellent homily last Sunday.
A visiting priest preached on How to Make the Most of the Mass. Pointing out that for many of us the Mass was a thing of habit rather than the heart, he offered a few suggestions for increasing our devotion in the Mass and making it matter more. The suggestions included: Offering our part in the Mass for a specific intention. Scouring the readings for God's 'word of life' to me today. Keeping silence before and after Mass. Being punctilious about our participation, posture etc.
There were other ideas as well and people were talking about the sermon afterwards, remarking how they'd been helped by it.
So here's the question: if you were preaching the homily, what would your suggestions be for 'Making the Most of the Mass'?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2011 19:14:23 GMT
Look up the readings before Mass and look at some commentary (Boadt for the OT readings and Johnson or Wright or whoever you like for the NT.) I get a lot more out of the Mass now that I understand what St. Paul was getting at in his Letters or can see the fulfillment in the NT of the promises to Israel. I see how problems repeat themselves now and that what Scripture was dealing with was real life, real living history that is still pertinent and vital today, still speaking to us today. We need more Scripture study groups to reveal the depths of the Bible. If not, buy a companion guide and know what you're listening to!
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Post by hibernicus on Aug 2, 2011 21:00:21 GMT
Trying to read the Divine Office and attend Mass daily really does give a sense of its being a perpetual cycle rather than a disconnected event we go to on Sundays - the offices for the saints' lives also have carefully chosen scriptural passages which highlight how the saint's life relates to the overall story of redemption. One problem for those who attend OF and EF Masses intermittently as I do is that the two forms have different liturgical calendars - the feasts don't coincide - and the EF office is not easy to get hold of
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