Click on the numbers above to learn more about the key moments of the Mass.
At Mass we gather as the friends of Jesus coming together. We listen to the story about Jesus, told to us from the scripture. We give thanks to God the Father for all that Jesus did for us.
We go from Mass with Jesus as part of our lives. We now try to live as he did. The Mass is made up of twelve key moments. The ‘Greeting’ is the beginning of the celebration of Mass. Next is the ‘Penitential Act’ when we tell God we are sorry for the times we have not loved as we should have.
Following this are the ‘Scripture Readings’ read by people from the assembly, after which the Priest reads the Gospel. The First and Second Readings, and the Gospel are explained by the Priest and he talks about what we can learn from them in the ‘Homily’. The ‘Creed’ is when everybody in the Church stands up and says what they believe as a group. The ‘Prayer of the Faithful’ is when we offer prayers for people in need. People from the assembly lead us in this.
The gifts of bread and wine are brought to the altar during the ‘Preparation of the Gifts’. The ‘Consecration of the bread and wine’ is when the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus. We then speak the ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ which Jesus taught us.
We say it together to praise God for all that we have been given and to ask God to forgive us the things that we have done wrong. Next we shake hands with the people around us to share the peace that Christ gives. This is called the ‘Sign of Peace’. At ‘Communion’ those of us who have made our First Holy Communion, can now move forward to the altar to receive of Body and Blood of Jesus. This brings us closer to God.
To finish Mass the ‘Final Blessing’ is spoken. The Priest blesses us and sends us from the church to bring Jesus to the people we meet by being loving and kind.
For Reflection and Discussion
1
Name the 12 key moments in the Mass.
2
Take it in turns to role-play the different parts of the Mass with one of you being the Priest and another small group practising the responses.
3
Ask a Priest to talk about the parts of the Mass listed here.
4
Choose one key moment in each of the four parts of the Mass and explain what happens.
5
Make a mobile of the 12 key moments in the Mass and hang it in your classroom.
6
Put all the parts of the Mass in order and number them. Then jumble them up and see if you can put them.
7
Visit a church and discuss where each part of the Mass takes place.