1. What is the Mass?
The Mass is the unbloody sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
2. What is a sacrifice?
A sacrifice is
a) the offering of a gift to God
b) by a Priest
c) the destruction of the gift
d) to show forth our total dependence on God.
3. Can there be true religion without sacrifice?
No, there cannot be true religion without sacrifice because it is necessary to true religion to have some external, public act by which men can show forth their worship of God and their total dependence on Him.
4. Were there sacrifices and Priests before the coming of Jesus?
Yes, before the coming of Jesus, God made Aaron and his sons Priests of the Old Testament and commanded them to offer Sacrifices to Him.
God said to Aaron: “Thou and thy sons look ye to the Priesthood; and all things that pertain to the service of the altar … shall be executed by the Priests” (Numbers 18:7).
5. How were sacrifices offered by the Priests of the Old Testament?
Usually the Priest would take an animal, offer it to God, kill it and then burn it on an altar.
6. Why were the sacrifices of the Old Testament imperfect?
The sacrifices of the Old Testament were imperfect because of the imperfections of the Old Testament Priesthood and of the victims themselves, because “it is impossible that sins should be taken away with the blood of bulls and goats” (Hebrews 10:4).
“Heavenly realities require better sacrifices than these” (Hebrews 9:23).
7. What was the Perfect Sacrifice?
Jesus offered the Perfect Sacrifice when He died on the cross.
Jesus, “having offered one sacrifice for sins has taken His seat forever on the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12).
8. How was the death of Jesus a real sacrifice?
The death of Jesus was a real sacrifice because
1) the gift was Jesus
2) the Priest was Jesus
3) the destruction consisted in His death
4) His death showed forth our total dependence on God.
“He has appeared for the destruction of sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26).
9. Did Jesus want His Perfect Sacrifice to be continued?
Yes, Jesus made it possible for us to offer the Perfect Sacrifice by giving us the Sacrifice of the Mass.
10. Who offered the first Mass?
Jesus offered the first Mass at the Last Supper when He changed bread and wine into His Body and Blood.
11. How is the Mass a Perfect Sacrifice?
a) the gift is Jesus
b) the Priest is Jesus
c) the destruction consists in the consecration of bread and wine into His Body and Blood.
d) the Mass shows forth our total dependence on God.
12. How is the Sacrifice of the Mass the same as the Sacrificeof the Cross?
The Sacrifice of the Mass is the same as the Sacrifice of the Cross because the gift and the Priest are the same, namely, Jesus Christ.
“For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink the chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord, until He come” (1st Corinthians 11:26).
13. What is the difference between the Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacrifice of the Cross?
The difference is that the Sacrifice of the Cross was a bloody sacrifice while the Sacrifice of the Mass is an unbloody sacrifice.
14. Did Jesus give the power to offer Mass to anyone?
Yes, Jesus gave the power of offering the Sacrifice of the Mass to His twelve Apostles.
“Do this for a commemoration of Me” (Luke 22:19).
15. Did the Apostles say Mass?
Yes, the Apostles and their successors said Mass. (See Acts 2:42).
16. Are there men on earth today who have the power to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass?
Yes, the power of offering Mass has been handed down during the past two thousand years from the Apostles through the Bishops of the Catholic Church.
17. Do all Catholic Priests have the power to offer Mass?
Yes, all Catholic Priests have this power which they received from the Bishop who made them Priests.
The Sacrifice of the Mass is offered by Catholic Priests all over the world, so that the prophecy of Malachias is fulfilled: “From the rising of the sun even to the going down, My name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is a sacrifice and there is offered to My Name a clean oblation’ (Malachias 1:11).
18. Who is the real Priest at every Mass?
Jesus is the principal Priest at Mass. The human Priest at the altar stands in the place of Jesus and speaks the words of Jesus.
19. At what part of the Mass does the sacrifice itself take place?
The sacrifice itself takes place when the Priest repeats the words of Jesus: “This is My Body; this is the Chalice of My Blood” This is called the Consecration.
20. What prayers does the Priest say from the beginning of Mass up to the Consecration?
The prayers said before the Consecration are preparatory prayers, which ask God to forgive our sins and make us worthy to offer Him the Sacrifice of the Mass.
21. What prayers are said after the Consecration?
The prayers said after the Consecration are mainly a preparation for those who are going to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus in Holy Communion.
22. How can I offer God the Perfect Sacrifice?
I can offer God the Perfect Sacrifice by uniting myself with the Priest at the altar; for example, by reading the prayers of the Mass in a missal or prayerbook, or by saying other prayers.
23. Why is the Mass the holiest action I can do?
The Mass is the holiest action I can do because through the Priest at the altar I am offering to God the most perfect gift possible, the Body and Blood of His own Son, Jesus Christ.
Thus, going to church on Sunday morning does not mean just singing a few hymns and listening to a sermon. Occasionally one hears non-Catholics say that they do not get much enjoyment from attending the Catholic Mass. What I get out of the Mass is not important, as far as feelings and emotions are concerned. I must remember that at Mass I am giving God something more precious than all the prayers I could ever say..
24. When must I go to Mass?
I must go to Mass every Sunday and on the six Holy Days of obligation.
25. When are the six Holy Days of Obligation?
1) Dec. 25, the feast of Christmas
2) Jan. 1, the feast of the Circumcision of Jesus (New Year’s Day)
3) the 40th day after Easter, the feast of the Ascension of
Jesus into heaven (Ascension Thursday)
4) Aug. 15, the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven
5) Nov. 1, the feast of All Saints
6) Dec. 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
26. What kind of a sin is it to miss Mass on Sunday or on a Holy Day of Obligation?
To miss Mass on Sunday or on a Holy Day of Obligation through my own fault is a mortal sin.
27. Am I allowed to go to Mass every day?
Yes, I should try to go to Mass every day although I am obliged to go only on Sundays and on the six Holy Days.
28. For whom may the Priest offer Mass?
The Priest may offer Mass for the intentions of the living and for the benefit of the Souls in Purgatory.
It is a custom among Catholics to have Masses said for their dead relatives and friends, instead of buying flowers for the funeral. A spiritual bouquet of Masses not only helps the soul of the dead person but gives greater consolation to that person’s relatives than flowers.
29. Why is money offered to Priests to say Mass?
The offering of money is made in order to provide for the support of the Priests. In the early days of the Church the people used to give bread and wine to the Priest, but it is more convenient today to give money. However, this must not in any way be considered the price of the Mass.
“Know you not, that they who work in the holy place, eat the things that are of the holy place; and they that serve the altar, partake with the altar? So also, the Lord ordained that they who preach the gospel, should live by the gospel” (1st Corinthians 9:13 & 14).