Welcome to our My Mass Encounter series! Our mission at Every Sacred Sunday is to invite each person into deeper relationship with Christ by creating spiritual resources inspired by the beauty of the Catholic Church. In this monthly Q&A we will interview various Catholic individuals to share more about their personal prayer life and how they engage with the Mass. Our goal is to provide our community with beautiful insights that draw us into a deeper relationship with God. We’re so glad you’re here and welcome to the ESS fam!
Images taken by Frankie Garcia.
Tell us a little bit about yourself. What has your faith journey been like? What has your relationship to the Mass been throughout your life?
It all started with 7 kids, 2 parents, 1 God. As you probably could guess — yes, I was home-schooled. I grew up in a Catholic, military family with Christ at the center. Each Sunday without fail my family would roll in and fill up the pew. And almost every 2 years, my family would be in a new pew, in a new state, after another move. As with most journeys, there have been many course corrections, bathroom breaks, and most definitely McDonald's stops, but the one constant in my life was my faith—with the holy Mass at the center.
Fast forward to today when you're reading this, my relationship with the Mass continues to be transformed and made more pure every day. I've had so many different attitudes towards mass (both good and bad)—and maybe one of these sound familiar: “Mass is just my Sunday obligation. It's 45 minutes of a necessary evil, so I can receive Jesus in the Eucharist. It is the fulfillment of my heart both theologically and practically. It is a place where I want to take the pew in front of me and chuck it 50 feet in front of me out of anger towards God. It is a deep intimate, contemplative experience. It is a heart-warming, tear-jerking emotional experience.” I could go on—because in some sense it is always all of these—yet none of these.
Throughout this journey, I continue to learn how the Father wants me to fully worship Him. Not just through my theological understanding. Not just through my emotions. Not just through my reason. Not just how I say the responses (and with your Spirit y'all). All in all, the sacrifice of the mass is an invitation to become Christ. Not to just be like Christ—but to become the very thing we behold through the Liturgy of the Eucharist. It's a love story that I don't understand—yet I'm so glad to be a part of.
What has helped you stay rooted in prayer this past year?
Strangely, the past 8 months have been filled with the most travel I've ever had (thank you Slack, Zoom, and Google Docs for making remote life a reality). However, I was able to create more stability in my life by being part of a bible study, a small group, and setting up a well thought-out rule of life. In addition to that, I also have created a setup of different mentors (similar to that of seminary formation) to help me in every aspect of life so that I may be fully the man God called me to be. By finding a Spiritual Director, Psychologist, Professional Mentor and Workout Partner, I was able to ensure that I was growing myself in every aspect and also integrating it all with my spiritual life.
When you pray the Mass, what internal prayers, postures, or meditations are helpful to you? What goes through your mind?
While I was in the seminary I had plenty of opportunities for prayer, both through liturgy and personal prayer. At some point I had decided to experiment with trying to maintain the same posture each time I prayed. I found that when I sat up with a good posture, placed my hands flat on my legs, and closed my eyes, I was more at peace and engaged with the readings and homily at mass. The more I did it, the more my body got used to it and the easier it was to enter into prayer. (It may have also been the case that there was a seminarian sitting right across from me and I had to close my eyes so that I wouldn't be staring at them).
50% - 100% of the time I find that I am distracted when I go to mass. So, in addition to a prayer posture, I usually also try to determine why I am distracted. Many times I am subconsciously searching for a solution for something and can't focus. Am I hungry, tired, anxious, angry, etc. Usually it comes down to something. Is there a negative thought that keeps coming back, is there something that I need to surrender to the Lord?, Is there a lie that I am believing about myself or of God?
Sometimes it is difficult to even know why I am distracted. When that happens, you can ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what is making you anxious/distracted. Listen and see what the Lord reveals to your mind, heart, or emotions. Don't overthink it. Just trust in the Father that He is good and receive what he has to say—you can then discern what you heard.
I generally find that with distractions, I either need to forgive someone, renounce something, or surrender something in the name of Jesus.
If it is a lie or spirit I usually handle it this way:
In the name of Jesus, I renounce the lie that I am _____ (or — renounce the spirit of ________), I ask Jesus to bind this lie (spirit) with His most precious blood. I ask Jesus to command this lie (spirit) to go to the foot of the cross to be judged by Jesus as he wills.
(If I am renouncing a lie, I will proclaim the opposite of the lie (which is the truth) all in the name of Jesus.) In the name of Jesus, i proclaim that I am ________(Opposite of the lie)
If I need to forgive someone:
In the name of Jesus, I forgive ________ (person’s name) for _______ (specific thing they did). Lord I ask you to bless _______(person’s name) with _________ (something Holy such as peace, greater discernment, etc).
If I need to surrender something:
In the name of Jesus, I surrender _______ (thing) to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
I also like to pray that the Lord cover me and all my wounds with His most precious, sacred blood from my head to my toes.
What advice would you give our readers who struggle to enter into the Mass?
Through our baptism, we are each priest, prophet, and king. This means that at each mass, we can participate in the mass through the common priesthood made possible through our baptism. How might we do that without actually being ordained priests (ordained means you are participating in the ministerial priesthood)? During the time of the offertory and the bringing up of gifts, we each can offer ourselves on the altar to the Father. We can offer our whole being, our sufferings, our sins, everything as a gift to The Father--knowing that the Father will make all our sacrifices perfect and unite us to His heart. I try to give The Father whatever I can give Him, no matter how big or how small the gift is, because whenever we give freely, we are able to accept even more of the Father's endless love. Think about it differently, we can enjoy the Father’s gift more freely and thoroughly if we hold every gift with open hands—not tightly and with a spirit of control and fear.
How does ESS help you prepare, engage, and reflect on the Mass? How does the ESS Mass Journal fit into your prayer routine?
Every Wednesday, my bible study meets to do Lectio Divina for the next Sunday gospel. Because of its format, the ESS Mass Journal makes it super simple to find the next Gospel and start praying through it. Before my bible study, I like to read the Gospel a few times and each time, underline specific phrases or words that stick out to me or that I feel the Lord wants to speak to me through. I will then sit in silence and ask the Father, why he has revealed these words or phrases and listen to what he has to say. Whatever the Father reveals, I will write and then share with my study when Wednesday comes around. Inevitably, the Father always works through what He speaks and our study is able to dive in deeper to sharing our hearts with and amongst The Father. Then, equipped with my personal and then group reflection, I am able to dive even deeper into the upcoming Sunday's liturgy and see what the Lord shares with me and see how it compares to what I received previously.
Check out this month’s freebie!
Keep the focus on gratitude and Sunday rest with these two free printable weekly calendars
Frankie Garcia is a missionary at Damascus Catholic Mission Campus with the goal of bringing revival to the Catholic Church. When he is not helping lead retreats in socks and chacos, you can find him hiking, skateboarding, or talking to strangers. He would love it if you joined him on mission through ongoing prayer and emailed him your favorite flavor of ice cream or your favorite Myspace song from back in the day. You can reach him at frankie.garcia77@gmail.com or visit FrankieLuisGarcia.com to stay connected.
Did you miss last month’s interview with Perpetua Charles? Click here to check it out!