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Going deeper with the Word: Fr. Otto Week of July 5th:

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The Holy Spirit wants to work with us and in us preparing us for entering into more deeply every Mass. For a grade A food for thought read the following paragraphs from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) and pray about and share what strikes you, and what is inspired in you.

In the liturgy, the Holy Spirit is teacher of the faith of the People of God and artisan of "God's masterpieces," the sacraments of the New Covenant. The desire and work of the Spirit in the heart of the Church is that we may live from the life of the risen Christ. When the Spirit encounters in us the response of faith, which he has aroused in us, he brings about genuine cooperation. Through it, the liturgy becomes the common work of the Holy Spirit and the Church.

In this sacramental dispensation of Christ's mystery, the Holy Spirit acts in the same way as at other times in the economy of salvation: he prepares the Church to encounter her Lord; he recalls and makes Christ manifest to the faith of the assembly. By his transforming power, he makes the mystery of Christ present here and now. Finally, the Spirit of communion unites the Church to the life and mission of Christ.

In the liturgy, the Holy Spirit is teacher of the faith of the People of God and artisan of "God's masterpieces," the sacraments of the New Covenant. The desire and work of the Spirit in the heart of the Church is that we may live from the life of the risen Christ. When the Spirit encounters in us the response of faith, which he has aroused in us, he brings about genuine cooperation. Through it, the liturgy becomes the common work of the Holy Spirit and the Church.

I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned through my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do. Following this prayer, the priest prays a prayer or absolution, which forgives venial sins. For the prayer to be effective you have to be conscious of what you are asking for forgiveness for. So to properly prepare for Mass you should at least once in your week prior to Mass look at where you thoughts, words, actions and deeds fell short of the full glory of God.

The Gloria is a beautiful prayer of praise the church has us sing in the introductory rites. Read what paragraph 2639 in the CCC says about praise.



Praise is the form of prayer, which recognizes most immediately that God is God. It lauds God for his own sake and gives him glory, quite beyond what he does, but simply because HE IS. It shares in the blessed happiness of the pure of heart who love God in faith before seeing him in glory. By praise, the Spirit is joined to our spirits to bear witness that we are children of God, testifying to the only Son in whom we are adopted and by whom we glorify the Father. Praise embraces the other forms of prayer and carries them toward him who is its source and goal: the "one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist.

Think and share your thoughts about this paragraph and let it really enter into the Gloria at Mass. A great preparation would be to pray enliven your prayer life with more praise this week.