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!
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?
I went to Catholic school nearly my whole life. Being a child who enjoyed school and wanted to do well, I generally viewed my faith in the context of a religion class in which I tried to excel. It wasn’t until I was preparing to enter college that I started to feel called to take my faith seriously as a real relationship with a loving God who knew and loved me. The Catholic community at the Naval Academy was the biggest blessing in my life. It provided me with invaluable virtuous friendships and the resources to understand the Mass as a beautiful feast filled with intimacy and joy. As I began to understand why we practiced certain rites and rituals at Mass, I began to love it more deeply and find beauty in what was previously just an hour of sit, stand, kneel, and sit again. It also helps when you get to go to Mass with your best friends and get brunch at McGarvey’s after.
Describe a parish community and/or church that feels like home to you. What about this place makes Mass extra special for you?
The Naval Academy Chapel, specifically the small St. Andrew’s Chapel near the crypt, holds a special place in my heart. It was there that I developed my love of the Eucharist. It was there that God called me to know him more deeply through the FOCUS missionaries and other students with whom I worshiped at daily mass after lunch. It was there that I found myself accepting the abundant mercy of Christ in the sacrament of reconciliation after yet another expression of my broken human nature. I am forever grateful to the people with whom I’d speed-walk to class across campus after experiencing the creator of the universe in the Eucharist. They constantly showed me how to live in the world but not of it.
When you pray the Mass, what internal prayers, postures, or meditations are helpful to you? What goes through your mind?
Being Mexican and having spent a few months attending mass while in Chile, I find so much beauty and comfort in the Spanish prayers and customs of Mass. Even when going to mass in English, I bring a few practices with me from Spanish mass. After the consecration as the priest holds up the Eucharist in the form of bread and wine, the congregation echoes the words of Thomas in the upper room: “Señor mio, Dios mio.” These four words help to remind me that “My Lord and my God” is actually and truly present in front of me. I also love the Spanish version of this response which literally translates to, “Lord I am not dignified enough that you should enter my house, but one word of yours is enough to heal me.” Whispering these small responses helps me to intimately enter into the prayer of the mass.
What advice would you give our readers who struggle to enter into the Mass?
I would encourage anyone who goes to Catholic Mass to study it. There is so much depth behind every aspect of the liturgy which helps to reveal the beauty of the Mass. I’ve hardly even scratched the surface and I’ve found the Mass a much more interesting and powerful prayer. If the intellectual side of Mass isn’t your thing, try to really put the priest in persona christi and remember that the liturgy is a supernatural and transcendent occasion where Christ is in your midst. When the priest says “This is my Body…” try to imagine that instead of one human saying this to a congregation of people it is the literal Son of God intimately sacrificing his body out of love for you alone. When listening to the readings, just as Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, remember that he is also truly present in the scriptures. Let Jesus in the Word of God wash over you and change you as it has changed millions before you. The worship of God in the Mass is for God and not for you, but you can receive a multitude of blessings through entering fully into the prayer of the Liturgy.
How does ESS help you prepare, engage, and reflect on the Mass? How does the ESS Mass Journal fit into your prayer routine?
I’ve been inspired by the ESS book to lead a small bible study on Thursday nights in all the places I’ve lived since graduating college: Quantico, VA; Jacksonville, NC; and currently Okinawa, Japan. Using the mass readings for the upcoming week, I gather with a small group of believers and we eat and prepare for mass using the ESS book through a form of communal lectio divina; each sharing what stuck out to us in each reading. This small get-together helps me grow in fellowship with others, allows me to practice inviting people into relationship with Christ, and helps all of us grow in our love of Christ as the logos or Word of God. It also is an awesome resource to take notes on the homily which is a bonus if you’re easily distracted like me.
Check out this month’s freebie!
Let’s celebrate All Saints Day with a printable prayer card!
Tomás Aguilar is a Marine Corps Officer from Pennsylvania living just north of Jacksonville, Florida. When not in uniform you can find him on a mountain hiking, under the sea snorkeling, in the car singing, or in the kitchen cooking. Check out his Instagram to see his world travels, his love of Catholic Meme dealing, and his attempts to find the face of Christ in his everyday life.
Did you miss last month’s interview with Valerie Delgado? Click here to check it out!