Mass

What it is

The Mass is the Holy Sacrifice: Christ's offering on the Cross made present on the altar under the forms of bread and wine, and the banquet of His Body and Blood for the faithful who receive worthily. It is liturgy, not a meeting. Word and SacramentGlossaryOne of seven efficacious signs of grace instituted by Christ: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing, Orders, Matrimony.; priest and people; heaven and earth.

What it is not

Mass is not a concert, TED talk, or parish announcements with optional Communion. It does not require your preferred music style to be valid. It is not the same as AdorationGlossaryPrayer before the Blessed Sacrament—reserved in the tabernacle or exposed in a monstrance—adoring Christ truly present. or BenedictionGlossaryA rite of Eucharistic devotion: the Host exposed, hymns sung, and the priest blessing the people with the Blessed Sacrament.—those honor the Presence; the Mass is the Sacrifice and the sacrament of that Presence given as food.

How a Catholic encounters it

Keep Sunday and holydays. Arrive before it starts. Kneel, stand, and answer as the rite requires. Receive only in a state of grace. Learn the Ordinary; notice the propersGlossaryThe variable prayers and chants of the Mass or Office assigned to a given day—introit, collect, readings, and the like. of the day. The Mass is not something you attend to feel something—it is something you offer, and in which you are offered.