In my last article, we saw how the entrance procession sums up the whole Old Testament and focuses especially on the Exodus, which is the central event of the Old Testament. It brings us to the birth of Christ in the “Gloria” and then we have the “Collect” which is the prayer that I say before we start the readings. It is called this as it is intended to gather or collect all our intentions and consciousness and focus us on the readings.

The readings are the living word of God, which we know is effective. Even though in theory we can all read and we could just have a time of silence where everyone could read the readings for themselves, by having them read aloud from the sanctuary they become alive for us. The time of the readings during Mass should call to mind the public life of Jesus, and that is why we have a little procession with the Book of the Gospels, to remind us of how Jesus, the living Word of God, dwelt and moved among us as he taught us the ways of God.

God teaches us through inspired men who wrote down His revelation in the Old Testament and then later in the New Testament. God teaches us through His Son in the Gospel, and through His Church in the homily.

After this we profess our faith and assent to the teaching of God and His Church by proclaiming the Creed out loud and publicly, which is a summary of all the most important teachings that God has revealed to His Church and through His Church. (to be continued).