WORSHIPING GOD

a) The Mass
b) Parts of the Mass
c) Aim of worshiping
d) The Jewish Sabbath
e) Christian Sunday
f) Sunday resting
g) Sins against worshiping God
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a) The Mass

        God’s third commandment tells us to keep the Christian holidays holy. The most important way to do this and the means to do this is through mass. The Mass is the reproduction (in a mysterious, sacramental way) of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

        It is a mystery similar to a wound which is reopened again and again, although it had happened a very long time ago.

        Of the passion of our Lord, the same entire agony on the cross, and not just a memory or a simulation

        And of the resurrection, giving us all his strength (communion), joy (peace) and missionary courage ("ite, missa est").

b) Parts of the Mass

        The way in which the Mass is celebrated is written in the general ordination of the Roman Missal, approved by the Holy Headquarters, and never improvised by any priest in any tribe or region.

        The 3 parts of the Mass are:

-initial Rituals: act of contrition, glory be, and collective praying;
-the Word of God: readings from the old and the new Testament, the gospel, homily and petitions;
-the Eucharist: off
ertory, consecration, communion and mission.

        Special mention should be given to the trans-sustanciacion, the moment of the consecration when the bread and wine are converted into the body and blood of our Lord. We may not take Holy Communion if we have not taken part in a penitential act, having all of our sins taken away.

c) Aim of worshiping

        One of the characteristics of people is that we relate with each other. The way which we relate to God is called worship, and can be done 3 ways:

-internal worship: adoration, prayer, sacrifices, fasting, vows, promises… all done in private, only before God;
-external worship: liturgy, songs, lights, colors, readings, genuflecting… done publicly for God;
-communal worship: holy
hours, ceremonies, processions, offerings… we all do this together for God.

        The main place for Christian worship is in the temple, God’s house on earth. And the main figure we worship is Jesus Christ, although the holy Virgin Mary and the saints are also worshipped.

d) The Jewish Sabbath

        This is the most important day and feast for the Jewish people, our forefathers in faith. They celebrate the day of the creation, when God "had finished heaven and earth and on the seventh day, He rested".

        There are four main feast days for them:

-the Sabbath, a weekly celebration which remembers the day of the creation;

-the Passover, the annual celebration which commemorates the exodus from Egypt, God’s passage through the world; It must coincide with the first full moon in spring, and must be celebrated with bitter herbs (because of their sins), unleavened bread (because of the desert) and the sacrificial lamb (because of great joy);

-Yom Kippur, the annual feast day of the tabernacles or the shops; Nowadays this coincides with the 2nd Thursday of autumn. On this day people give thanks to God for the first fruits on the land (thanksgiving);

-Pentecost, annual feast day 50 days after Easter, when in Jerusalem the coming of the Holy Spirit was invoked. Parthians, Medians, Elamites, Jews from Pontus, Phrygia, Armenia and Mesopotamia, from Cyrene, Pamphylia, Greece, Crete and Arabia… all went to the holy city to hear the wonders of God.

        Other holidays, such as Rosh Hashanah (the New Year celebration)… are merely socio-cultural in significance.

e) Christian Sunday

        This was the day when Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead, the day after Easter Saturday, and goes way beyond all of the Jewish feast days and events, and thus, it divided history in two.

        The Christian Sunday (Dominus in Latin, the day of the Lord) is the day in which Christians and the whole world celebrate the resurrection of the Lord, and the day of precept and sanctification.

        Nonetheless, there are also other holy days of obligation:

1 January: holy Mary, mother of God;
6 January: the Epiphany of our Lord;
2 February: the presentation of the Lord in the temple;
19 March: saint Joseph, husband of Mary;
Holy Thursday: body and blood of the Lord;
Holy Friday: the Passion and death of our Lord;
Holy Saturday: resurrection Vigil;
29 June: saints Peter and Paul;
15 August: the assumption of Mary to Heaven;
1 November: all Saints Day;
2 November: all Souls Day;
8 December: the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary;
25 December: birth of our Lord.

f) Sunday rest

        The book of Genesis says that upon finishing the creation, on the seventh day, God rested. God, who knows what is best for us, passed this precept to mankind. Resting on Sunday includes:

-keeping holy Sunday, thanking God for the week which we have lived, praying and spiritualizing our personal lives, doing works of charity for the neediest (sick or old people…);

-stopping work, neither a day for making money, nor for doing business while others aren’t doing it. On this day, people should know that they are above work and money;

-enjoying ourselves doing other activities with our families, friends, hobbies, sports, nature, entertainment… and many more things.

 

Mercaba Eds 
Diocese of Cartagena-Murcia 
General Diagram of Mercaba's Youth Catechism