The Mass and your marriage
Listening as one to God’s word
Listening as one to God’s word
Sometimes in our haste to gather our family for Mass, I don’t arrive feeling prepared or prayerful. But I also can’t remember ever leaving Mass without the certainty that the liturgy has brought me closer to Christ, to my husband and to each of our children.
Sometimes in our haste to gather our family for Mass, I don’t arrive feeling prepared or prayerful. But I also can’t remember ever leaving Mass without the certainty that the liturgy has brought me closer to Christ, to my husband and to each of our children.
As a married couple, attending Mass is not just one other thing we do on the weekend together; rather, it is and can be so much more when we are attentive to what God is doing for us and to what we are doing there. If we approach the Mass with the understanding that it is a source of grace for our marriage, we will see the fruits of the Mass more evidently in our daily lives.
The first part of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Word, is a time in which we prepare ourselves to worship God by lifting our hearts to him in prayer, asking his pardon and praising him. Each of these fruits of the Mass can also bear fruit in our marriages.
Introductory Rites
The Introductory Rites are an opportunity to transition from the hustle of our everyday lives to the sacred atmosphere of the Holy Mass. They help us get out of ourselves and focus on Christ – and, in so doing, they prepare us to love and serve one another.
The Penitential Rite invites us to reflect intentionally on the ways we have fallen short in our love of God and each other. We should consider times we have not lived up to our marriage promises, ask God’s pardon and commit ourselves to being better for God and for each other. This habit of acknowledging our shortcomings and asking for forgiveness is not only necessary in our relationship with God; it is essential for our married life.
As the priest gathers our individual prayers and offers them to God in the Collect, we unite our intentions for our spouse, our families and ourselves to the prayer of the whole Church. We should join our hearts to this prayer and ask for graces for our spouse and for our marriage.
Liturgy of the Word
The readings proclaimed at Mass are offered to praise God and to facilitate our encounter with him. During the Liturgy of the Word, we reflect deeply on God’s work in salvation history and his continued presence with us. We also receive spiritual nourishment for the work of marriage and family life. Attentive listening to the homily can shed light on the readings and on our relationship to one another, to Christ, to the entire Christian community and to the world.
After the homily, we profess our faith together. As spouses, we can recognize in the creed an invitation to reaffirm our shared confidence in Christ. It is a reminder that we are united to each other not only physically but also by a mutual love for God that strengthens us for our mission as spouses and parents.
Finally, in the Prayers of the Faithful, we bring to mind our own intentions while also looking beyond ourselves and our marriage to the needs of the world.
Allow this opening part of the Mass to orient us toward God, unite us to each other and teach us so that we might be prepared to receive Jesus in the Eucharist and to share his love with each other.
Tracy Rodenborn lives in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, with her husband, Steve, and four children. Having had ministry positions in Catholic parishes and high schools throughout the county, she now works with the University of Notre Dame’s Satellite Theological Education Program.
