Why Do We Spread At Mass On Sunday?

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Imagine the miraculous for a moment if early Christians suddenly appeared at Mass on Sunday. Would the followers of Christ, Jews at the time, recognize the liturgical events taking place? Catholics celebrate the Mass with a liturgy full of mystery and rich in rites and rubrics. These liturgical movements consist of divine realities, not created by an ancient liturgy committee, but given by God to His people in both the Old and New Testament. Christ Jesus entrusted the liturgy and sacred mysteries to his apostles, and through apostolic tradition, to his clergy for two thousand years. In modern times, the extravagance of such services and ceremonies appear ritualistic, repetitious, or even boring to the uninformed observer. A deep understanding …show more content…

Initially, God desired a relationship with individuals, such as Abraham and Noah, and later with the unified nation of Israel. Through covenants, God instructed his people on the ways to live and be in communion with Him. God called the community together for the first time at Mt. Sinai. At this gathering, God spoke to His people through Moses and gave them the Ten Commandments and ordinances. With praise, adoration and supplication, the people responded with one voice that they would “do everything that the Lord has told us.” [Exodus 24:3] A sacrificial offering, that included the splashing of blood, ratified the contract between God and mankind. These four elements—(1) answering God’s call, (2) hearing God’s Word proclaimed, (3) responding to God’s Word, and (4) consummating the deal with a sacrificial offering—bound the people to God and His promises in what the Hebrews called a “Qahal,” one of the earliest forms of worship. After Mt. Sinai, and each time the covenant was broken by His people, God used a Qahal to reconnect with them. Each of these events, the dedication at the temple, the Passover reformed under Hezekiah, the covenant renewal under Josiah, and later, the rededication of the Temple, renewed the

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