Catholic Massterclass: All About Holy Mass

8. Instructions for Worship

How did the priests know what to say and do? Where did they get their instructions for worship? Surely they wanted to offer something that would be both acceptable and pleasing to God. Indeed they did! Jewish documents reveal that there were necessary parts of the worship, including what to say, what to do, what to wear, etc. Our Catholic documents reveal the same thing about our own worship offered to God.

7. The High Priesthood of Jesus

Jesus offers himself in sacrifice to the Father, which he unites with the bread and wine at the Last Supper. When he tells his Apostles, "Do this in memory of me," he institutes the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which is what the Mass is. We are not offering a new sacrifice day after day, like they did in the Old Covenant, but we are participating anew in the one sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, united with the sacrifice of the Last Supper.

6. A Sacrifice of Thanksgiving

This week we begin the second phase of our Massterclass, which focuses on connections between Old Covenant worship and New Covenant worship. Our first connection is between the Todah sacrifice in the Temple and the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Mass.

5. Why do we have the Mass?

Why do Catholics worship according to this particular structure? This episode looks at the structure of the earliest generations of Christians. We'll notice something very striking: their worship followed a remarkably similar structure to what we have today.

4. Why is structure so important?

Mass is substantially the same each and every time. Why is that so important? Why can't we be creative about how we worship?

3. The Mass is a Sacrifice

This episode looks at the Catholic understanding of the Mass as a sacrifice instituted by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper in union with the Crucifixion.

2 Sunday Worship

This episode looks at the obligation to worship God on Sundays.

1. What is Worship?

The most foundational understanding of Catholic Mass is as an act of worship. This episode begins to explore a deeper understanding of worship from a Catholic-Christian perspective.