Dear friends, Good morning/afternoon and thank you again for being here to share in the gift of our celebration. The theme for my homily this week is "Preparing Ourselves for Mass." How can we best do this? We have gathered as thankful people. Now what? I believe the first important thing to remember as we enter through these doors is that we have not just gathered in any ordinary place. We have gathered on Holy Ground. We are in God's House. We are surrounded by His loving presence. Because of this, our response needs to be one of reverence. This reverence can be expressed in many ways. The first way is by blessing ourselves with holy water when we are able to use Holy Water again as we enter into the church. A blessing that should be done with great belief in what we are saying and praying: "In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit." (Demonstrate) It is an acknowledgment of in whose name we gather as brothers and sisters in Christ. From the Sanctuary I have a great view of many people making the Sign of the Cross. Some of them do not like the Sign of the Cross. A reverent Sign of the Cross only takes a few seconds but to make the Sign of the Cross with a prayerful heart is a good reminder to ourselves and others of why we are here. It reminds us of the treasure that we have found in our Faith. The second thing that we can do to show reverence is to recognize that we are gathering with our parish family. It is time to gather before God as a community. Because of this, we need to welcome one another to our celebration. We need to show people that we are glad that they have joined us even if we have to do it while social distancing. At the same time, we need to respect the time people are spending in prayer before our celebration begins. I believe that this prayer time is vital to how we are able to experience the whole celebration; thus, in our welcoming of others, we need to make sure that we do not disturb those who have begun this final preparation. It is a fine line, but a line that we need to keep an eye on. Smile, wave, and make room for them in the pew. Another way that we can show reverence is by genuflecting to the Tabernacle before we enter into our pew. Like the Sign of the Cross I have a great view of how people are entering into their pew. I see a lot of these. (demonstrate) This is a sign that one knows that they are supposed to do something, but they are not quite sure of what or why. We need to be very intentional as we make a real genuflection as we look at the Tabernacle and make a reverent Sign of the Cross. A genuflection which speaks of our awareness that we are on Holy Ground, in the Presence of God. (Demonstrate) Again this only takes a few seconds but it is a few seconds to humbly come before the Lord and kneel before him. Now what.. .. we have entered into Holy Ground, we have blessed ourselves with Holy Water, been welcomed, welcomed others, chosen our seat, genuflected with great reverence, and knelt down in our pew. My friends, as I mentioned a moment ago, I believe that this time that we spend in prayer before our Mass begins is extremely important. It is important because it can help us place ourselves in God's presence after a busy day or week. How do we do this? We do this by spending time reflecting on our busy week and placing these experiences at the feet of the Loving Lord. We reflect on the joys of the week. The time spent with family, with friends, and in prayer. The times when we have been able to experience God's love and goodness in our day-to-day lives. And we thank the Lord for these graces. We also reflect on the struggles of the week. Maybe we were not as kind as we should have been with those around us, those who love us. Maybe we were selfish, stubborn, or maybe we did not set a good example. Maybe we did not pray as often as we should have. We then ask God to forgive us and to give us the grace that we need to improve, to be better able to follow Jesus' example. This is also an important time to remember that we are not alone in our struggles because WE DO belong to a faith community. We look around and we realize that AS WE have our struggles, others have theirs. It is a good opportunity to pray for them; for children, single people, for young families, for the elderly. It is always easier to carry our cross and be faithful to the Lord if we know that we are not the only one who is trying to do so. There is indeed power in numbers; power in the prayers of the community. Alone, change is not always possible, but with God's grace and the prayers of the community, it is. Thus, we are to use this time to pray for ourselves and others, and others are praying for us. We have placed ourselves in God's presence, and we are ready to begin our celebration. Hopefully we are open to everything that God has to offer us in this Mass. Let us ask the Lord to give us open hearts as He promised to Solomon in today’s first reading There are only a couple of more points that I would like to mention. The first is the importance of appreciating the fact that, in our Mass, God has come to offer to us the Grace and strength that we need to live a faith filled life. Just think about it for a minute. Who here doesn't need the forgiveness that God offers to us. In our Mass we seek that forgiveness when, as part of the introductory rite, we pray: Lord have Mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy. May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and brings us to everlasting life. Secondly, who here doesn't have a desire to better know God's will and guidance. This is what the Scripture readings are offering to us. And finally, who here doesn't want to be renewed by God's love. This is what the Eucharist is all about. So yes, we have real needs and Our Mass offers us the answers. The second point is the importance of our posture and participation. Both of these are an important part of showing our thankfulness and our attitude. As I mentioned last week, our Mass is meant to be seen as a celebration - a celebration that we should be happy to be able to share in. We are invited to participate in several ways. The first way is by entering into the mystery and wonder of our celebration. In our celebration, Jesus is revealing Himself to us. We need to reveal ourselves to Him. We are also called to participate by following in the Mass and responding when appropriate from the heart. Doing this is another way of showing that we gather as thankful people. Our responses need to be loud and clear, and an expression of our belief. Another way that we can participate is by joining in the singing to the best of our ability. Even if we do not sing well, the words that are being sung are important because they are a way of praising God. It is said that one who sings prays twice. So even if you are not a singer it is good to follow along in the missalette to reflect on the words in your heart. The more that you participate the more meaningful the Mass is going to be for you. Our posture is also important for two reasons. First, proper posture helps ensure that we are as receptive as we can be to what is being prayed. (Cross arms) Do you think that this posture helps us to be as receptive as we can be? Secondly, our posture is important because it tells others if what we are about in our celebration is important to us. If you are not paying attention and are fooling around, what is this saying to others? Are we listening attentively and paying attention to the prayers and readings, and songs, and are we standing, kneeling, and sitting as people who are aware that we are on Holy Ground, in God's House. All of these things are important for ourselves and others. I asked last week why we come to Mass. If you answered to yourself that you come because you realize a need to spend some time with God and others, then I am going to ask you to recognize your opportunity to be role models in our community. I need you to role model for those around you, through your participation and posture, that what we are about in our celebration is indeed important to you and that it should be important to them. We all need people to be positive role models: people who give us the encouragement that we need to do what is right; people to show us that getting excited about our faith is OK. I, and the community, thank you for accepting this important role. I trust that you will be amazed at the difference. It will add life to our celebration. I will end here. Again, I thank you and hope that our reflection on the Gift of the Eucharist helps all of us to recognize the Grace that is offered to us as we gather here as a faith community in God's house. Next week I am going to focus on how we can better appreciate the first half of our Mass, the Liturgy of the Word. However, before I conclude, I would like to once again leave you with some questions. Again these questions may be found in today's bulletin. The questions are: • Do you see the Church as Holy Ground, as the House of God? • Do you use the Mass as a time to ask God to help you and others? ‘Do you do as well as you can when it comes to your posture and participation?

Dear friends today I am going to begin a 5 week reflection on our Mass. It is my hope that the time that we spend reflecting on what we are doing as we gather to celebrate God's love for us during these trying times will help all of us have a better understanding of the importance of what is happening and therefore a better appreciation of this wonderful gift. I want to begin this reflection on: "Rediscovering the Gift of Our Eucharist" by saying Thank You. I thank you for being here today. For taking time during your busy schedule to reflect on what the Lord is offering to us as we gather as a Eucharistic community. I know that it is not always easy. I know that your lives are busy and that there is very little free time to spend with family or just to relax. I hear this from members of my family and many others, but it still saddens me when people do not put coming to Mass or spending time nourishing their relationship with God- on top - of their priority list. It saddens me because it might be a sign that the Eucharistic Celebration - is becoming less and less important - to a greater number of people. And at the same time, I am not always sure that the importance of what we are about in our Mass is fully understood and appreciated. My personal relationship with God helps me to face each day with the realization that regardless of what happens, even during this pandemic, that God is there, and that I am loved. All that I want for you - is to know and experience - the goodness of this same God. I believe that our participation in our Eucharistic Celebration is an important part of the equation. I also believe that taking this time out during our busy day and week is vital. We need to take this time to assess where we have been and where we are going in light of our faith. I would like you to keep these points in mind as we spend this time reflecting on our Mass. The topic of my first reflection is: "Seeing our Mass as a Gift." As I mentioned earlier I am not always sure that we see our Mass in this light. This being the case, I think that at times we approach the Mass more out of duty than out of desire. It is a question of how we prepare ourselves for this important celebration. As the old saying goes: "We only get out of something what we put into it." The same is true with Mass. I know that our reasons for being here today are many but is our main reason for being here today because that is what we were told we have to do? Or do we come because we realize that we have a need and a desire to gather with others before God? (*** Repeat* **) Our answer to this question will make a world of difference on how we value what we are about as we gather to celebrate the Eucharist or to watch it livestreamed. If we come only because we have been told that we have to, then I am going to ask you, from the bottom of my heart, to be open to looking at our celebration differently, seeing it as a Gift. Jesus wants to share himself with us. This is something that is worth getting excited about. Now going back to our attitude, I believe that the main feelings that we should have as we gather is of thankfulness with the realization that we need what God has come to offer to us. I know that a lot of people may wonder what they have to be thankful for and that our world is pretty divided. I also know that there is a lot of painful things that people are carrying around. This could even be you, however this is one more reason that we need to be united as One with God. I also believe that if you reflect on your whole life, and not just on the difficult parts, you will realize God's goodness and the goodness of the people around you. No this does not mean that our life is perfect, but it recognizes the fact that God has not abandoned us and that God continues to help us through our difficult situations. It recognizes that we know that God has accepted us where we are. As we gather to celebrate the Eucharist we need to do so recognizing that we are gathering with our best friend. When we get together with a best friend, we are excited about being able to see each other again. The same is true with our friend Jesus. We should be excited. As I have mentioned before our relationship with Jesus needs to be like our relationship with our best friend. We need to spend time sharing and listening to one another. If we do not, then the relationship will not be all that it can be. Jesus wants us to be a part of our daily lives. I believe that we have a great need to experience this kind of intimate friendship. In our Eucharistic Celebration we are celebrating God's love for us. In many ways we are reminded of the ultimate act of love that God shares with us, the death and resurrection of his Son, and we are reminded that God has come to offer us forgiveness. Because God has accepted us and because he continues to help us, we need to respond with thankfulness. Gathering as a parish community for our Mass is one of the best ways to do this. I truly believe that if our attitude was one of thankfulness as we walked through our church doors, then our celebration would take on a totally different flavor. I challenge each one of us to make this a reality. The Lord be with you — And with your Spirit. Lift up your hearts — we lift them up to the Lord Let us give thanks to the Lord our God — It is right and just. May we all see our celebration as a way of giving God thanks and praise. I am going to end here for today, but I would like to leave you with some questions to reflect on: What is your attitude about attending Mass? What are you thankful about? Do you show God that you are thankful? (These questions can be found in today's bulletin) ? Next week we will reflect on preparing our hearts and minds for the gifts that our Mass offers to us.