Maximizing the Mass

The liturgy communicates on various levels with symbols, Scripture, prayers, gestures, and rites, and, most importantly, grace. Since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has endeavored to foster "active participation" in Mass so that "the faithful come to it with proper dispositions, that their minds should be attuned to their voices, and that they should cooperate with divine grace" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 11). Pope Benedict XVI took a step further in his post-synodal exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis by saying that "active participation" was not just a matter of doing something during Mass, but of something more profound: achieving "a greater awareness of the mystery being celebrated in the Mass and its relationship to daily life" (cf. n. 52). Mass is not just something to be attended but lived, and the key to letting the spiritual wealth of the liturgy enrich your life is participating actively in the Mass. This book, through a meditative walkthrough of the Mass, from Entrance to Dismissal, as well as meditations on the Eucharistic Prayers and their Prefaces, will prepare you to participate more actively in the Mass by helping you delve deeper spiritually into the prayers you recite and hear every Sunday, every Mass. You will never pray or live the Mass the same way.