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Question Title Posted By Question Date
Video or other resource for adult catechesis of the Mass John Sunday, December 28, 2008

Question:

To cut to the chase, I’d like to present to my parish an adult catechesis on the Mass. Here is what I’d like to accomplish with this.
1. I’d like to get them to stop signaling a touchdown after the Lord’s Prayer and start striking their breasts during the I Confess.
2. To know what their own postures mean; genuflecting, profound bowing, head bowing, standing, folding hands in prayer, etc.)
3. To appreciate the role of the priest as our intercessor.
4. To understand that it’s okay if the Commons or Propers are in Latin and not every word is understood (i.e. what “active participation” really means)
5. To deepen their understanding of each section of the mass.
6. To receive the Eucharist with the proper disposition.
7. To learn, as Fr. Edward McNamara once put it, that liturgical worship is not, “something that we do rather than something we enter into and receive as a gift.”
8. To celebrate the feast instead of celebrating our gathering.

My wife is using books like The Mass Explained to Children for our homeschool, and it’s easy to see that most pre-communicants in earlier days were better educated in these matters than we are today. Can I help my parish catch up? Is there an educational tool that can help?

Question Answered by Mr. Jacob Slavek

Dear John,

Actually the best educational tool I can think of is a good priest.  Have your pastor come in for one of the first class sessions and have him go through pretty much all the issues that you just mentioned.

Secondly, make sure everyone has his own hand missal.  Real ones, not the newspaper style ones your parish probably already has with no rubrics and hymns like kum-ba-ya.  They run about $20-$30 at local catholic bookstores, at least in my area.

As for instructional materials, I recommend Msgr. Peter J. Elliott's "Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite", which is, as stated on the cover, a manual for clergy and all involved in liturgical ministries.  It's a step-by-step instruction for the Mass and other public celebration of the Liturgy.  It does NOT address abuses, though.

There are many liturgical books that are very simple to read and appropriate for a class-style setting.  Just check out the Liturgy section at the store or on-line.

Two titles that I have in my own library: The popular "Mass Confusion" (James Akin) and "Liturgical Question Box" (also by Msgr. Elliott)  Both of these titles directly tackle issues with abuses.

Finally, I of course need to mention Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Vatican II document that ordered the revision of the Liturgy.  There's lots of good stuff in there also, it's just a little more difficult to read for the average catholic in the pew.

I can't recommend a video resource because I've never seen one or even heard of one.  You might want to check with your diocese's education department.  Who knows if any would be solid liturgically, I just did a google search and all I got were liturgical DANCE videos.

Mr. Slavek
Footer Notes: (a) A Eucharistic Minister is clergy (Ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion). Laity are Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and should never be called Eucharistic Ministers.

(b) There is no such Mass called the Novus Ordo. The Current Mass is the Roman Missal of 2000, or the Oridinary Form of the Mass. The Tridentine Mass is the Roman Missal of 1962, or the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. Please refrain from using the term, Novus Ordo. Thanks.

(c) The titles of Acolyte and Lector belong exclusively to the Installed Offices of Acolyte and Lector, who are men (only) appointed by the Bishop. These roles performed by others are Altar Servers and Readers, respectively.