Michael Dubruiel: How-to Book of the Mass (1)

    The How-to Book of the Mass by Michael Dubruiel not only provides the who, what, where, when, and why of the most time-honored traditions of the Catholic Church, but also the how. All in an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand format.

From the introduction:

There is more contained within these pages than just the mechanics of the celebration of the Mass; also described is how to attend Mass in a way that makes it truly an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ every time. 

Lifelong Catholics may have grown so used to the ritual that they aimlessly go through the motions and find that their minds often wander. Novices, on the other hand. may feel so overwhelmed by all that is unknown to them that they fail to recognize Christ in the process.

 Every encounter with Jesus is unique.

A sample page:

Understanding the Catholic Mass

    Maybe you are a recent convert, or perhaps you've attended Mass your whole life, but there are still things that puzzle you, like: when you should genuflect and when you should bow; what the different books used at Mass are and what they contain; the meaning of words like "Amen," "Alleluia," or "Hosanna"; what to do during the sign of peace.

You aren't alone.

The How-to Book of the Mass by Michael Dubruiel  not only provides the who, what, where, when, and why of the most time-honored traditions of the Catholic Church, but also the how. All in an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand format.

In this complete guide to the celebration of the Eucharist you get: Step-by-step guidelines to walk you through the Mass

Biblical background of the prayers of the Mass. 

Insights from the Tradition and teaching of the Church

Practical aid to overcoming distractions

Concrete ways to grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ at every Mass

A handy study guide for individual or group use

A sample:

WHERE DOES THE TERM "MASS" COME FROM?

It is very possible that you may not know what "Mass" means. After all, you probably have always heard the Mass said in your own language. But "Mass" is derived from the way the Mass was ended in Latin.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

"Mass" is an English rendering of the Latin term "missa.” In Latin the Mass ends with "Ite missa est,” which translated into English means "Go, it is sent" the "it" being the Church.

From the Latin word "missa" comes the English word "dismiss." So "Mass" means "dismissal." The celebration takes its name from the sending forth that occurs at the end of every Mass.

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Michael Dubruiel Meditation

     

From Michael Dubruiel. Find his books here. 

A recent visit to a large Midwestern city was filled with moments where I paused to think about the tragedies of September 11, 2001 and what could happen again or as the United States government often relates-something worst. One of the buildings in this city, that towers over all the rest is especially impressive and the thought of it tumbling like the World Trade Centers was almost incomprehensible. Milling around the streets with thousands of others it was hard to envision some nuclear attack suddenly wiping out a million people in an instance.



Although the sun shone and it was a beautiful day there was a hint of an impending storm that post-9/11 seemed to hang heavy in the air. It made me think of the words of Our Lord when his disciples marveled at the size of the Temple in Jerusalem and its beauty (it was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World), "As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down," (Luke 21:7).

Free Catholic Book

   

    

Free Today:  Be Vigilant: Daily Meditations for Advent

A Sample: 

Thursday of the Third Week of Advent

O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation.

Today we have the tale of two sons. Both are commanded by the Father to go and work in the vineyard. The first says he won't, the other says he will. But guess what, the one who refuses relents and does what the Father asked him to do. Yet the one who originally said he would go, in fact doesn't. Jesus asks the chief priests and the elders of the people to tell him which of the two sons did the will of the Father...of course the answer is the one who vocally refused but relented and did it.

Jesus uses the story to illustrate why harlots and tax collectors who repented at the preaching of John the Baptist are headed to the pearly gates, while the "religious" likely are headed in the other direction.

Road to Emmaus

   

    I'm going to share with you excerpts from my books related to the Mass readings from today.

The Gospel is the narrative of the Road to Emmaus. From The Loyola Kids Book of Bible Stories by Amy Welborn . Remember, the stories are organized according to when we generally hear them in the context of the liturgy:

Michael Dubruiel: Book on Catholic Social Teaching

      

To help emphasize the role of the Works of Mercy in the Life of the Christian!

  Here are Michael Dubruiel's comments on the genesis of the book, which he edited:

While the Bishop and Father Benedict were working on the written text of the book I came across a stunning work of iconography one day while visiting an Eastern Catholic church. On the back wall of the church was an icon of the Last Judgment taken from Matthew 25. I found that the great iconographer Mila Mina had written the icon. I immediately contacted Mila and asked if the icon might be used as an illustration for this book, her response was "anything to make the Gospel known!" Thanks to Mila and her son Father John Mina for allowing Joyce Duriga and David Renz to photograph the icon at Ascension of Our Lord Byzantine Catholic Church, Clairton, PA.

Fr. Groeschel has written the introductory text that begins each section as well as the final "What Should I Do?" at the end of the book, and Bishop Baker has written the individual meditations and prayers contained in each of the six sections.

Michael Dubruiel: Free Catholic Book

        Eucharist means..."thanksgiving"

Michael Dubruiel wrote a book to help people deepen their experience of the Mass.  He titled it, How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist.  You can read about it here. It is available free today (4/17/2-26)

The following is an excerpt:

From Chapter 3 - Adore. Part 6

“ T R U S T I N G  I N G O D    I N A LL C I R C U M S TA N C E S ”

When Our Lord spoke about his Second Coming, an event that every celebration of the Eucharist looks forward to and prays for in a joyful manner,he laid out the signs that will precede that coming, and indeed they are all rather horrible — that is, if all your hope is invested in your 401K.Yet notice the contrast between the unbeliever and the believer:

And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
— LUKE 2 1 : 2 5 – 2 8 ( EMPHASIS ADDED )

While one crowd is dying of fear because everything seems to be crumbling around them the other crowd, the believers, stand up and look to the heavens. Why?
If we truly place our faith in God,we will trust in him no matter what happens. In fact, the way that we see will be completely different. Jesus referred to unbelievers as blind and believers as those who truly see. Seeing that God is the “one thing needful” keeps us from putting our trust in anything else.

St. Benedict, in his Rule, counsels those who want to follow Christ “to prefer nothing to the love of Christ.” This means that we must love Christ above everything else, and that being loved by Christ must be our first priority in life.