I have compiled the following list of scriptural references to
illustrate how biblically saturated the Catholic Mass really is. Virtually everything we say and do has a
scriptural basis.
The Catholic Church
is the universal church that encircles the world.
Revelation 7:9, After this I had a vision of a great
multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and
tongue. They stood before the throne and
before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
The Catholic Mass is
a biblical prayer to God and is offered on a daily basis in every time
zone. Therefore every moment of every
day there is a Catholic Mass being celebrated somewhere in the world.
Matthew 28:20, “teaching them to observe all that I have
commanded you. And behold, I am with you
always, until the end of the age.”
Luke 24:52-53, They did him homage and then returned to
Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.
Psalm 1:2, Rather, the law of the Lord is their joy; God’s
law they study day and night.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-17, Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing.
In the Gospel of Luke
we read about Anna who prayed in the temple day and night
Luke 2:37, and then as a widow until she was
eighty-four. She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
Also in the Book of
Acts we read about the early apostles who met daily at the temple
Acts 2:46, Every day they devoted themselves to meeting
together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their home. They ate their meals with exultation and
sincerity of heart.
We come together as a
faith community on Sunday morning, the day of the Lord.
Acts 20:7-8, On the first day of the week when we gathered
to break bread, Paul spoke to them because he was going to leave on the next
day, and he kept on speaking until midnight.
There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were gathered,
Exodus 20:11, In six days the Lord made the heavens and the
earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord has blessed the Sabbath
day and made it holy,
For Jesus is truly
present in Word and Flesh.
Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
John 6:48, “I am the bread of life.”
We gather at our
local parish church.
Matthew 16:18, “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon
this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not
prevail against it.”
Luke 16:27, “He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to
my father’s house,’
John 2:16-17, and to those who sold doves he said, “Take
these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” His disciples recalled the words of
scripture, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
As we walk into the
sacred space the first thing we may notice is the sweet aroma of incense.
Luke 1:9, according to the practice of the priestly service,
he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense.
Revelations 8:3-4, Another angel came and stood at the
altar, holding a gold censer. He was
given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the
holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne. The smoke of the incense along with the
prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel.
Genesis 8:21, When the Lord smelled the sweet odor, he said
to himself: “Never again will I doom the earth because of man, since the
desires of man’s heart are evil from the start; nor will I ever again strike
down all living beings, as I have done.”
And we will cross
ourselves with holy water which reminds us of our baptism.
John 3:5, Jesus answered, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one
can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”
We are greeted by the
parish priest and deacon.
Genesis 14:18, Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread
and wine, and being a priest of God Most High, he blessed Abram with these
words:
1 Timothy 3:10, Moreover, they should be tested first; then,
if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons
The priest and deacon
will be wearing their vestments for the celebration of the Mass.
Exodus 28:4, These are the vestments they shall make: a
breast piece, an ephod, a robe, a brocaded tunic, a miter and a sash. In making these sacred vestments which your
brother Aaron and his sons are to wear in serving as my priests,
Exodus 40:13-14, Clothe Aaron with the sacred vestments and
anoint him, thus consecrating him as my priest.
Bring forward his sons also, and clothe them with the tunics.
Leviticus 8:7-9,Then he put the tunic on Aaron, girded him
with the sash, clothed him with the robe, placed the ephod on him, and girded
him with the embroidered belt of the ephod, fastening it around him. He then set the breastpiece on him, with the
Urim and Thummim in it, and put the miter on his head, attaching the gold
plate, the sacred diadem, over the front of the miter, at his forehead, as the
Lord had commanded him to do.
As we enter the
sanctuary we see the altar.
Revelation 11:1, Then I was given a measuring rod like a
staff and I was told, “Come and measure the temple of God and the altar, and
count those who are worshiping in it.
Revelation 14:18, Then another angel [came] from the altar,
[who] was in charge of the fire, and cried out in a loud voice to the one who
had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and cut the clusters from the
earth’s vines, for its grapes are ripe.”
We will see the
tabernacle where the Blessed Sacrament is preserved.
Hebrews 9:2, For a tabernacle was constructed, the outer
one, in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of offering; this is
called the Holy Place.
Revelation 21:3, I heard a loud voice from the throne
saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his
people and God himself will always be with them [as their God].
And a candle will
always be burning near the tabernacle.
Leviticus 24:3-4, In the meeting tent, outside the veil that
hangs in front of the commandments, Aaron shall set up the lamps to burn before
the Lord regularly, from evening till morning.
Thus, a perpetual statute for you and your descendants, the lamps shall
be set up on the pure gold lampstand, to burn regularly before the Lord.
We genuflect before
the altar and the Blessed Sacrament.
Romans 14:11, for it is written: “As I live, says the Lord,
every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.”
Philippians 2:10, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Upon the altar will
be burning candles.
Revelation 4:5, From the throne came flashes of lightning,
rumblings, and peals of thunder. Seven
flaming torches burned in front of the throne, which are the seven spirits of
God.
Revelation 1:12-13, Then I turned to see whose voice it was
that spoke to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands and in the
midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, wearing an ankle-length robe,
with a gold sash around his chest.
And below the altar
in some churches there may be a relic of a saint.
Revelation 6:9, When he broke open the fifth seal, I saw
underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the
witness they bore to the word of God.
We will also see the
holy oils used in the sacraments.
Exodus 31;11, the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense
for the sanctuary. All these things they
shall make just as I have commanded you.
James 5:14, Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the
presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint [him] with
oil in the name of the Lord,
We hear the choir and
people singing hymns of praise.
Ephesians 5:19, addressing one another [in] psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts.
Colossians 3:16, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and
spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
As the Mass is to
begin we hear bells briefly rung.
Zechariah 14:20, On that day there shall be upon the bells
of the horses, “Holy to the Lord.” The
pots in the house of the Lord shall be as the libation bowls before the altar.
Exodus 28:33-35, All around the hem at the bottom you shall
make pomegranates, woven of violet, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen
twined, with gold bells between them; first a gold bell, then a pomegranate,
and thus alternating all around the hem of the robe. Aaron shall wear it when ministering, that
its tinkling may be heard as he enters and leaves the Lord’s presence in the
sanctuary; else he will die.
The Catholic Mass is permeated with sacred scripture and is
truly a biblical form of prayer. The
first part of the Mass we talk to God through our prayers and then God speaks
to us through his Word. The second part
of the Mass we offer God our gifts in the form of bread and wine and then God
gives us the gift of the Eucharist; the body, blood, soul, and divinity of his
Son, Jesus Christ.
Now it is our turn to actively participate in the greatest
prayer offered to God, the Almighty Father.
Matthew 16:24, Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever
wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”
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