A friend of mine's daughter had to do a project for her sociology class in which she had to observe a religious practice. She went to a Catholic Mass and had some questions for me, figured I would share the answers for those who read my blog and aren't Catholic and for those that do as a refresher (smile). Why do Catholic's do that? My first Q & A enjoy...
1) What does making the cross motion from your head to the
left/right side of your chest signify?
It’s a prayer, an invocation to our
triune God: Father (forehead) Son (middle of chest) and Holy Spirit (Left and
Right shoulder). It’s a really powerful prayer that can even be a type of exorcism
because evil hates God’s name. I've read that at one time the early, persecuted church used
the sign of the cross as a password to identify themselves as Christians.
2) Why do people dip their finger in water and do that cross
motion before entering the church? Is this required?
The water serves as a
reminder of our baptism, and also we bless ourselves with it. These are
traditions and keeping tradition alive is a huge part of being Catholic.
3) Why do some people kneel at the aisle before taking a seat in
a pew?
We all are supposed to genuflect (kneeling bow) in recognition of the
tabernacle and the altar, it’s a sign of reverence. Sort of how one would
courtesy in front of royalty. Catholic's show respect, honor, and worship to Jesus by
doing so. We do this because we believe our King of kings is really present.
4) What are a few of the terms that a priest will say that evoke
a recitation from people? (ex: the priest said “the word of the Lord” and
people recited something back that I couldn’t understand)
Our liturgical
worship is meant to unite people and invite active participation. We pray
together many times in one voice throughout the service. Usually after a
biblical reading, we respond. Like when the priest reads the Gospel reading he
always concludes with, “The Gospel of the Lord.” And the community responds,
“Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.”
5) Why does the priest walk off the stage and back on holding
the Bible over his head? And why do people in the pews bow when the Bible
passes them?
As a sign to indicate to the community that something BIG is about
to take place and we bow in recognition of God actively present in His Word.
The Book of Gospels (not the bible) contains all four gospels (Matthew, Mark,
Luke, John) and we believe that God is truly present in four ways in the Mass:
One through his Word (the readings), through the priest, through the people,
and through the Eucharist (the consecrated bread and wine).
6) Are the people who receive the bread and wine for communion
first and then distribute it to the rest of the church, elders of the parish?
The
people that go up to the front are the people that will help distribute
communion. They are the first to receive the Body and Blood of Christ because
they will be helping the priest give communion to the community. They are
regular members of our congregation, anyone who is a fully initiated,
practicing Catholic can become a Eucharistic Minister. During our service a lot
of people in the community help in the service. Some help with the readings,
others greeting at the door, some taking up collection, some singing in the
choir… And some distributing the Body and Blood of our Lord.
6) Why do people open their hands, palms up, during certain
prayers or after the priest says something?
Our worship is all encompassing, we
use all our being body, mind, soul. So, at times we kneel together, other times
we lift our hands to the Lord as a sign of receptiveness. We are open to the
will of God. We also do it as a sign of honor and praise.
Our faith is beautiful, full of meaning and tradition passed throughout generations.
No comments:
Post a Comment