Biblical Reference for the Catholic Mass - Term Paper Example

Biblical Reference for the Catholic Mass Owing to the number of incidences that the church is facing today, many actions done by worshipers are subject to questions. However, the most valuable thing is that the Holy Scriptures are available for the relevant guidance. They act as a source of accurate and believable information that everyone with doubts needs. The Catholic Mass, for instance, is indeed all Jesus and all Biblical. Believably, the Mass serves as the most common and simplest Biblical way of worshiping God. The history of Christianity is a testimony justifying that fact, as the Catholic Mass has been the same way since the time of the Apostles and the first Christians. Sources opine the Mass as an interesting call as it links Christians to God in the flesh when they go in front for the Holy Communion1. This paper will give a biblical reference for the Catholic Mass. The Catholic Mass involves a ceremony, incense, and golden chalices. The early Christians were men of culture and time. They held ceremonial events because they were descendants of this style of worship. Later, Christians inherited these styles through organic and natural means from their Jewish origins. Before the Constantine legalized Christianity in Certa, Christians used inventories besides the Scriptures. According to the written inventories, Christians used a number of inventories, which included two golden chalices, six silver dishes, six silver chalices, seven silver lamps, and a silver bowl. This was indeed a ceremony! The Bible tells us that Noah prepared burnt offering whereby the scriptures establish that the “odor delighted the Lord” (Gen 8:21)2. This indicates that Catholic Mass has Biblical reference. Most Christians know about the Law of Moses, but remarkably few understand its link to Catholic Mass. A closer outlook shows that God did not come to pick the faithful or abolish the law but rather fulfill it. (Mat 5:17). Facts about the Law of Moses show that it had a heap of vestments and ceremonies involved in it. Jesus liked teaching in temples. In fact, He loved it and named it “My Father’s House” (Luke 2:49 and John 2:16). This shows that Jesus was into ceremony and even the Heaven talks about a ceremony. In Rev 5:8, twenty-four elders floored in front of the lamb, and they all held golden bowls filled with incense and a harp. The book of Revelation reveals that an angel who appeared in golden censer and stood in front of the altar. This angel received a large quantity of incense during prayers at the altar (Rev 8:3). With reference to the Bible, these are some of the reasons as to why Catholics uphold the spirit of ceremonies. In fact, Book of Revelation gives a description with regard to the Catholic Mass. Revelation gives a lot of emphasis and spiritual attachment to the holy Mass. Catholic Church regards Mass as proper and authentic sacrifice, which is the same as Holy Communion. Anglican churches also offer Mass as proper sacrifice to God. In many churches, the sacrifice of Mass starts with thanking the Lord. In this first part of the Mass, Anglicans give thanks to God because of His blessings, which He has bestowed upon them. The second part of the mass according to Anglican Church entails repenting of sins. Christians plead to the Lord to pardon their sins and purify them in order to offer true and clean sacrifice. Lastly, Anglicans offer themselves as a sacrifice to the Lord who created all the creatures in the earth. Christians participate in celebration of Holy Communion in this part of the Mass. This is what Christians call the Eucharistic sacrifice. Eucharistic sacrifice is the true blood and body of Jesus Christ. There is a contention among churches over the sacrifice of Eucharist. Churches have differed over forms of celebrating this sacrifice. For instance, Catholics have a varied form of offering their Mass. There are many scriptural proofs regarding Mass in Old and New Testaments. Melchisedech and Jesus Christ in the last supper are examples that stress the significance of Mass. Melchisedech offered bread and wine when Abraham rescued Lot from Kings, who had stolen a lot of wealth from his nephew in the Old Testament. Melchisedech was a dedicated priest who pleased God. This priest blessed him after the rescue mission of Abraham. Abraham offered many tithes to thank the Lord for enabling him to free Lot from the hands of Hostile Kings. Catholics have argued that Melchisedech did not intent to feed the Abraham’s army, but to offer bread and wine to the Lord. This is because Abraham and his rescue team had enough supply of food and drinks3. The last supper, which Jesus Christ offered, is a precise example of a bloodless and Holy Sacrifice. Jesus Christ gave bloodless sacrifice of His body and blood during the Last Supper. He offered bread and wine, which signified his body and blood. In addition, Christ told his disciples to continue celebrating that sacrifice in order to remember him. Christians under the leadership of priest observe the Last Supper through Holy Mass. Therefore, mass is a repetition of what Christ commanded his disciples to do. Moreover, the Mass is also a fulfillment of the prophecies of Melchisedech in the Old Testament. Catholic Church observes and conducts Holy Mass virtually every day. There are many parts of the Mass, which have biblical reference according to the Catholics. The introductory rites entail people rising up and singing entrance song. The Christians perform the sign of the cross after the priest enters the altar. Revelation 7:3-4, 11:1, 14:1, and 22:4 emphasizes on the importance of the sign of the cross. The scriptures from Revelation argue that this sign protects the believers from any danger or evil4. The priest wishes love, grace, and fellowship of Holy Spirit to accompany the congregation. On top of this, singing praise songs appears in Revelation 5:8, 8:3, 8:4 and in Luke 1:10. Revelation and Luke allude this is incense at the place of worship. Revelation argues that there are many types of incense at the Mass in Heaven. Moreover, in Exodus 28:33, the Lord orders bells to be part of the praise hymns5. The priest has to be in priestly uniforms. This is according to the scriptures from Exodus 40:13-14, Leviticus 8:7-9, Revelation 3:5, 18, 4:4, 7:13, 14 and 22:14. These books depict the significance of the priestly uniform in their work. A uniform is a mark or identity of a profession and priesthood is not an exception. Priesthood is a calling from God and priests perform it with decorum. Revelation 3:5, 3:18, 4:4, and 7:13 sees people with white robes in heaven serving God in His temple. In addition, these people have golden bowls and praying for the other people. This means that priestly garments have an enormous significance in the place of worship. Moreover, Catholic light candles during the celebration of Holy Mass. This signifies the place of worship is pure and full of light but not darkness. Lighting of candles is contained in scriptures from the book of Revelation. John reveals that seven lamps are burning in heaven in Revelation 4:5. Therefore, the biblical foundation of introductory rites is in Mathew 28:19, 1 Chronicles 16:36, and 2 Corinthians 13:13. Introductory rites mark the beginning of the celebration of Holy Mass. The second part of the Mass encompasses repentance of sins. Christians repent their sins in order to set themselves ready and pure to conduct the Holy Mass. All Christians confess their sins and plead to the Lord to forgive them. On top of this, the believers call the name of Christ to take away their sins. This prepares Christians to take the body of Christ. Paul calls the people to confess their sins before eating the body of Jesus Christ in the first Corinthians 11:27. Paul cautions the believers that they should not take the body of the Lord in a sinful manner6. Confession is significant in order to receive full blessings that are in the celebration of Holy Communion through Mass. After the section of repentance, the priest says a prayer that ushers in the readings from the bible. Christians stand during the introductory and repentance section of the Mass. The biblical foundation of repentance section appears in James 3:6, 5:16, Romans 12:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:25, Revelation 5:11, 6:9, and Psalms 51. Revelation of John 2:5, 16, 3:3, 16:11 reminds believers to obey and confess to the Lord what they have heard and received. Catholics also pray to saints such as the Mary mother of Christ. This prayer has a biblical foundation contained in Revelation 12:1-17. John portrays a woman who gave birth to the son and later taken to the throne in these scriptures. The dragon, which the book of Revelation mentions surrounding Mary shows that she is holy and unbeatable. This indicates that Catholics are right in asking Mary the mother of Jesus to pray for them when performing the Holy Mass. Therefore, the soul of Mary magnifies Jesus Christ and Lord the father. The third section of Mass involves readings from the Holy Bible. There are three readings from different books in the Holy Bible according to the Catholic Church. The first reading comes from the Old Testament and the second reading from the New Testament, but not the gospel books. One member from the congregation reads out verses from the Bible while Christians are on their seats. However, the third reading comes from the gospel. Priest reads the sermon either from Mathew, Mark, Luke, or John. All Christians rise while the priest is reading from the gospel. Christians resume to their seats after the reading of the gospel and the priest explains the readings of the day. This section has the biblical reference from Acts of Apostles, Psalms, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Deuteronomy 6:4, Genesis 14:19, 1:1, Luke 1:35, Acts 2:16, Mathew 1:22-23, and 1 Timothy 2:1-27. The fourth part of Mass entails collection of gifts and prayers of the Eucharist. Christians present their gifts to the Lord and the priest prays to the Lord to accept the offering from His people. Christians stand up to proclaim the glory of the Lord after the priest collects and blesses the offering. All Christians praise the Lord for his holiness and mercies He has over his people. Catholics kneel down and the priest prays to the Lord to send his Holy Spirit to bless the offerings. The priest then lifts the bread and wine and thanks the Lord. He pleads to the Lord to convert the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The priest utters the words, which Jesus Christ used during the Last Supper, that allude to receive the bread and wine because it is His body and blood. The offerings are different from those, which Noah offered to the Lord in Genesis 8:12. The priest reminds Christians in this prayer to proclaim their faith in Jesus Christ. Catholics give a lot of attachment to this section because the bread and wine became the body and blood of their savior. This section signifies the unity of Christians and Jesus Christ through the strong bond of the Holy Spirit. The section of breaking of blood has biblical reference in Mark 14:22-25, Mathew 14:22-25, Luke 22:19-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-25, Acts 2:23-24, and Ephesians 6:18. Other biblical foundations of this section include Revelations 7:9-15, 22:17, 22:20, 7:12, and Hebrews 9:158. The fifth section of Catholic Holy Mass composes of the rite of Communion. This section opens with the Lord's Prayer. Christians pray to the Lord to rescue them from the bondage of sin. In addition, they pray for the protection in order to wait joyfully for the return of their savior. Furthermore, Christians exchange greetings in a humble way signifying peace among them. This is in reference to the Mathew 6:9-13 when Christ told the disciples that peace should prevail among them forever. Revelations 5:12-13, John 17:15, 14:27 and Romans 16:16 contain verses that explain the significance of this section. The priest prays to Christ to take away the sins of the believers after the sign of peace. This prayer appears in John 20:19, Romans 16:16, and John 1:29. Christians then proceed to receive the Holy Communion, which is the body of Christ inform of bread. Second Corinthians 1:2 and Luke 24:51 in the New Testament of the Holy Bible capture this part explicitly9. The people who participate in Eucharist have everlasting lives according to the belief of Catholics. This is because they have faith and deep belief in Jesus Christ. The fifth part of Mass is an allusion to the dialogue between Christ and Samaritan woman in the well of Jacob. According to John 4:21, Jesus Christ told the woman to believe in Him because He was the source of everlasting life. John in Revelation 19:9 argues that there is a lot of joy and happiness for those people who participate in the ceremony of taking the Holy Communion. There is a brief silent of prayer after the receipt of Holy Communion. This is contained in Revelation 8:1. John observes that there is a brief moment of silence in paradise that lasts for thirty minutes in this scripure. Therefore, Holy Communion signifies the feast and revelation of Christ to his people10. John 6:48, 51 portrays Christ is the bread from heaven that lives forever and anyone who consumes him has eternal life. It was the intention of Christ to live among his believers so that they may have an everlasting life. Mathew 8:8 reveals that the Lord’s words have an immense power to heal. Therefore, those believers who take the blood of Jesus Christ receive an instant healing. Christ does not have to descend from heaven to the earth to bring healing to His people11. This signifies the condition of Christ does not change whether in heaven or the Holy Mass. Jesus Christ is one in soul and body. In conclusion, dismissal of the congregation is the last part of the Catholic Mass. The priest prays to the Lord the, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to bless and give peace to His people. This section is contained in Luke 24:51, 7:50, 2 Chronicles 35:3, 2 Corinthians 9:15, and Ruth 2:412. The congregation disperses after the priest gives the final benediction and wishes peace to prevail among the believers. The priest or the deacon reminds Christians that they should go out to spread, praise, and do the righteous works of the Lord. The priest bows and kisses the altar to show high respect to the holy place of worship. Bibliography CatholicBridge. Bible references for the Catholic Mass. Accessed 13 Sep 2012 http://www.catholicbridge.com/catholic/catholic_mass_bible_references_full_text.php . CatholicBridge. The Mass. Accessed 13 Sep 2012 http://www.catholicbridge.com/catholic/mass.php . Catholic Bible 101. Scripture in the Mass. Accessed 13 Sep 2012 http://www.catholicbible101.com/scriptureinthemass.htm . New Advent. Sacrifice of the Mass. Accessed 13 Sep 2012 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10006a.htm. Read More