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Our Mass |
Our celebration of the liturgy “is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows” [The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Vatican II]. Our liturgical celebrations are those large prayer forms that are done not just as individuals but as a Universal Church. They have established cycles of readings and prayers so that we may be praying in union with one another throughout the world. The Mass is the pinnacle of our liturgical prayer. We are brought, by the Spirit, together to pray in union with the entire Church for the good of the entire world, and the mass should be an experience out of which we can form our lives, and a moment of thankful return in which we offer those lives for the good of all. Here at MPB, we believe that mass should always be an event of the entire community whenever possible. We do not currently have a standard youth mass, a more traditional mass or a family mass. We try as much as possible to have each of our weekend masses provide the same worship experience. While every parish has its own approach to the weekend masses, our liturgical planning is based upon the belief that the mass should be an expression of our communion with one another and not something that nurtures a “faction mentality.” Our musicians work as one large group to prepare the same music for each liturgy that reflects many styles of prayer. They embrace those pieces which have enjoyed a long standing tradition in our faith as well as the offerings of today’s composers. They bring the music of many cultures, many generations and many tastes to the weekly liturgy. As a parish with one priest, the homily remains, by and large, the same at each mass on any given weekend. The prayers of the faithful do not change on any given weekend. The mass is celebrated as something that brings us together as one body and one cup. Many of our sacramental moments are celebrated in the context of the mass. Baptisms and first communions are celebrated during our regular weekend masses on a regular basis, with baptisms the second weekend of each month, and first communions several weeks in a row during the Easter season. The sacrament of the sick is celebrated with the daily mass on the first Friday of each month, and every weekend ministers are sent forth from the Sunday masses to take the Eucharist to those who are homebound, so that they may also experience their connection to the Body of Christ. We believe that the mass should always reflect the tradition of the Church, the meaning of the scriptures and the life experience of the community. We hope that anyone who visits finds a spiritually vibrant, and welcoming community as well as a prayerful experience of Christ working in the midst of the people he has saved.
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