Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “Mass is boring?” Many of us remember feeling that way at some point in our lives. But the truth is that the Holy Mass is anything but boring. Often, the challenge is not the Mass itself, but that we may not yet know how to fully enter into the experience of the Mass.

In this first homily of a Lenten series exploring the structure and meaning of the Catholic Mass, we begin by looking at the Introductory Rites. These opening moments of the liturgy are not just the “beginning” of Mass—they are meant to prepare our hearts, minds, and souls to encounter God.

The Mass is traditionally divided into four main parts:

• The Introductory Rites

• The Liturgy of the Word

• The Liturgy of the Eucharist

• The Concluding Rite

This week’s homily focuses on the Introductory Rites, which help us move from the busyness of our week into a sacred encounter with the Lord.

Entering into the Mass

The Introductory Rites begin with the Entrance Procession and Opening Hymn. This moment symbolizes the entire community moving toward God together. As the priest processes to the altar, we are invited to bring our intentions, struggles, joys, and prayers with us into the Mass and place them before the Lord.

Next comes the Sign of the Cross, a powerful reminder of our baptism and our identity as followers of Christ. When we say “Amen,” we are boldly affirming our faith and our commitment to God.

The priest then greets the congregation with a blessing, and the people respond “And with your spirit.” This back-and-forth dialogue reminds us that we are not passive spectators at Mass. We are active participants in worship.

The Penitential Act follows, inviting us to acknowledge our sins and ask for God’s mercy. By humbly admitting our need for God’s help, we prepare our hearts to receive His grace more deeply.

During most of the year, the Gloria follows as a joyful hymn of praise to God. However, during the season of Lent, the Gloria is intentionally omitted as the Church prepares in anticipation for the joy of Easter.

Finally, the Collect (Opening Prayer) gathers together the prayers and intentions of the entire community. In the brief moment of silence before the prayer, each person is invited to lift their own petitions to God.

A Deeper Encounter with God

God speaks to each of us personally at every Mass. Learning to enter more intentionally into the different parts of the liturgy can help deepen our experience of worship and our relationship with Him.

As you reflect on this homily, consider this question: What part of the beginning of Mass is God inviting you to enter into more intentionally?

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Listen to More Homilies

We post recent and available homilies on our website:
https://haywardcatholic.org/homilies 

Father David’s Last Homily:

Other Helpful Links:

• https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/order-of-mass

• https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_INDEX.HTM (Catechism on the Mass)

5th Sunday of Lent

“Then Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you.  Go, and from now on do not sin any more.’”

“Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new!”

“forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead,”

2nd Sunday of Lent

In our Gospel today, Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a mountain, and He is transfigured before them, they get a glimpse of the dazzling bright white glory of Jesus’ divinity, a foretaste of heaven and of who we are called to be!

But our Gospel today says, “Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory!”  Jesus was already in conversation with Moses and Elijah and showing forth his tremendous glory…before Peter, James and John woke up and realized what had already been happening even as they were sleeping, “missing out on it,” as it were.  What if Peter, James and John had slept through all of it?  Would we even know about this event?

What will it take for us to become “fully awake”?  Fully awake to the presence of God already alive, active and at work around us, within us, and through us?!

1st Sunday of Lent

On this Safe Haven Sunday, we are asked to to, first and foremost, make the home a safe haven for our kids by taking practical steps to help our kids engage technology in holy and virtuous ways and, inasmuch as possible, protect them from exposure to explicit content.

This is also an opportunity for individuals of all ages, young and old, to not only ask whether our media use is healthy in regards to explicit content, but also in regards to where it encourages our focus, energy and attention.  Satan doesn’t care how good our motivations are so long as we are concerned about things we can’t change (politics, national happenings, world happenings) and don’t see the real, down-to-earth, practical things that we can!

4th Sunday of Lent

We were created in love by God (white), then we fell into and were captured by sin (black), but “even when we were dead in our transgressions” “God, who is rich in mercy…brought us to life with Christ…raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus” (white).   And now, all throughout each day, in so many ways, we are making choices — about what we say, what we do, what we think about, what we listen to, what we watch, what we read.  We are either choosing black or choosing white; choosing to let a little more darkness into our life and world, or choosing to let a little more light into our life and world.

Black and white.  Black and white.  There will be a final day, when we stand before the Lord, and for the final verdict “gray” is not an option, it will be black or white.

2nd Sunday of Lent

The Birkie is an incredible yearly event!  So many people, come from all over the country (and the world) to make this experience possible — whether it’s the skiers, the many volunteers, the family members, the friends, the staff, all our business owners — everyone comes together, preps, and plays their part to make this week happen.  Could the Birkie be a lens, a window, an analogy, into how God wants us to live the entirety of our lives?!

Palm Sunday

Everything Jesus did, He did for individual people; everything He did was personal.  His life, his preaching, his healings, his interactions, his suffering, his death, his resurrection – Jesus did all of this for individual people; it was personal.  He didn’t do it to “do right” or to “be good”; he didn’t do it for a moral code; Jesus wasn’t an impersonal “do-gooder”.  Jesus did everything we celebrate this Holy Week for us: it was personal.   And everything Jesus still does in our world and in our lives is personal.

4th Sunday of Lent

This weekend I am speaking on the Third Mark of a Disciple – what it means to be Intentional in Relationship!

Last weekend Deacon Brian gave a great homily on the First Mark: Quick to Pray.   That can be found on our Hayward Catholic website in text format (https://haywardcatholic.org/recent-homilies) or, as he sings a couple verses from country songs, you may want to listen to him preach: click into the live stream section, select the 3/11 recording, and fast forward to his homily! (https://haywardcatholic.org/ecatholic-live)

1st Sunday of Lent

In this first Sunday of Lent I unpack the second mark of a disciple of Jesus Christ: being Joyfully Sacramental!

Ash Wednesday

Here is my homily from Ash Wednesday, introducing our Lenten themes of Fasting and the Four Marks of a Disciple!