A Tour through the Mass!

The Readings at Mass

In the last article, published before Easter, we looked at the Liturgy of the Word in general.  Now let us look at some of the particulars of the Liturgy of the Word.

The First Reading

The first reading at Sunday Masses is usually taken from the Old Testament.  The exception to this is during Eastertime (from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday) when the first reading is taken from the Acts of the Apostles.

Why do we keep reading from the Old Testament?  Well, there are at least two reasons for doing so.  Firstly, the New Testament understands the coming of Jesus the Messiah in terms of movement within the writings of the Old Testament towards his coming.  We need it to understand him.

Secondly, the Old Testament gives us a long and very varied account of the doings of human beings and of the emotions – positive and negative – which arose within human beings over that long time.  If we look at all that is recounted in the books of the Old Testament we will see that they reflect what is still going on within the human race today.  The psalms, for instance, embody a huge range of human feelings and actions; they recount not only the good but the evil.  The Scriptures are realistic about all that goes on in human history.

The Christian faith sees all of that humanity as being relevant to the redeeming work of Jesus Christ.

The Responsorial Psalm

Following the first reading, we have the Responsorial Psalm which not only in its placement, but in its theme, follows on from the first reading.  And we need to remember that the first reading has been chosen to align with the gospel, so the psalm should have some link to the gospel.

The psalm is prayed by listening and responding; this is deliberate.  The verses of the psalm are sung by a cantor or said by another minister, and then the Congregation responds by singing the refrain or saying it if it is not sung.  The psalms are prayers; they address God.  They invite us to join with their praying, their explicit coming before God. 

It is not right that the Congregation should say the whole psalm together as it would lose the listening and responding rhythm that is intended.  It would also make the liturgy over-active.  Pondering and silence are supposed to have their part in the liturgy.

By Fr Frank O’Loughlin