By Wendy Kachermeyer
Director of Religious Education

“Lord you have made us for yourself therefore our heart is restless until we rest in Thee”

Wendy Kachermeyer

St. Augustine: from his book “Confessions” one of the early fathers of the Catholic Church.

Through your daily prayer life you get to know the great love Christ has for you. It is closeness that words cannot give detail. With the great practice of daily prayer there is a spiritual longing and restlessness for so much more. We need a deeper connection, an even more personal desire creeps into our hearts. What can we do to satisfy this spiritual hunger?

The answer is so simple, but yet so beautifully complex. We need to uphold the third commandment, keep holy the Sabbath (the Day of the Lord). Going and fully participating with every sense God gave us to use during this very special gift of love, the Mass.

What I find amazing about attending Mass is everything. We gather from every walk of life to worship the one and only true God and true Man. As we gather we see those we know personally and those that we only see during this time of community. Then the procession begins with a Cross Bearer, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, Altar Servers, and Lector who carries the Book of the Gospels and at the end of the procession is the shepherd (presiding priest) for that particular Mass.

The Mass can be broken down into two main parts: Liturgy of the Word and Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Liturgy of the Word: We hear the word declared by our Lector (reader) usually an Old Testament
reading and part of one of the Letters of Saint Paul then the Holy Gospel is proclaimed by the Celebrant with a Homily that helps us to live the Gospel to its fullest by showing how the Gospel message is still valid today.

Liturgy of the Eucharist: The gifts are brought forward and laid upon the Altar of Sacrifice. We fall to our knees while the words of Consecration are spoken by the Priest and the original sacrifice of Calvary is made present to us in that moment. we process forward with hope and thanksgiving in our hearts as we receive the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ under the form of bread and wine which is no longer bread and wine but Christ. Following a time of contemplation and thanksgiving we are sent out with our community to spread the Gospel, with newness, closeness, oneness and immense love for Christ’s Body and Blood flowing through our body and Soul. We are transformed by Christ Himself.

We need to keep ourselves in the present moment to really live in the Mass. Become alert!! Don’t let a moment go by that you aren’t living with your community and your God while at Mass. LIVE completely at Mass and you will truly LIVE.

I have only glossed over what Mass is but if your prayer life is creating a thirst for an even closer relationship with Jesus, the Mass will quench your longing until the following Sunday.

Wendy Kachermeyer is Director of Religious Education and R.C.I.A (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, Dunkirk, NY.