The Worshiping Assembly at Mass
The celebration of Mass is a corporate
act, an act of the whole assembly gathered for worship.
All the particular ministries serve this corporate function
(GIRM, no. 27). In the Mass, the Church is joined to the
action of Christ, the high point both of the action by
which God sanctifies the world in Christ and of the worship
that the human race offers to the Father, adoring him
through Christ, the Son of God, in the Holy Spirit (no.
16). We are joined to this divine action through baptism,
which incorporates us into the risen Christ. This action,
which lies at the center of the whole Christian life (no.
16) is not initiated by us but by God acting in and through
the Church as the body of the risen Christ. It becomes
our action only to the extent that we give ourselves to
this mystery of redemptive worship. The liturgy is designed
to bring about in all those who make up the worshiping
assembly a participation of the faithful both in body
and mind, a participation burning with faithful, hope,
and charity (no. 18). To the extent that we are able to
participate in this way, the work of redemption becomes
personally effective for each of us. By such participation,
the General Instruction says, we make the actions and
prayers of the liturgy our own; we enter more fully into
our personal communion with Christ's redeeming act and
perfect worship (see no. 54, 55, etc.).
In the celebration of Mass the faithful
are a holy people, a chosen people, a royal priesthood:
they give thanks to God and offer the Victim not only
through the hands of the priest but also together with
him and learn to offer themselves. They should endeavor
to make this clear by their deep sense of reverence for
God and their charity toward brothers and sisters who
share with them in the celebration (no. 95). They should
become one body, whether by hearing the word of God, or
joining in prayers and liturgical song, or above all by
offering the sacrifice together and sharing together in
the Lord's table (no. 96).
Because the whole liturgy is a corporate
act of the gathered assembly (GIRM no. 34; Catechism of
the Catholic Church no. 1144), there are certain parts
of the Mass that are to be done by the whole assembly,
the congregation of the faithful and all the ministers,
in order to express the corporate nature of this act.
Through these actions, the entire congregation of the
faithful joins itself to Christ in acknowledging the great
things that God has done and in offering the sacrifice
(no. 78). These acts include:
Listening with reverence to the readings
of God's word (GIRM no. 29);
Engaging in the dialogue of prayer through acclamations,
greetings, and responses to spoken and sung prayers (no.
34-37) in a tone suitable to the text (no. 38);
Joining in an action through common postures and gestures
(no. 42);
Participating in communal silence (no. 45);
Because of their baptismal dignity, letting themselves
be included in the offering symbolized by incensation
(no. 75);
Participating in the greeting of peace as a sign of ecclesial
communion and love for each other (no. 82);
Participating in specific spoken prayers and other texts,
namely:
the formula of general confession during the penitential
rite (no. 51);
the profession of faith (no. 67-68);
the general intercessions (no. 69);
the Lord's Prayer (no. 81);
the prayer of humility before sacramental communion (no.
84);
Participating in the offering during the Eucharistic Prayer,
which is spoken or chanted by the priest, but in which
all should join as the Church to offer the "spotless
Victim to the Father in the Holy Spirit" and "offer
themselves and so day by day to surrender themselves,
through Christ the Mediator, to an ever more complete
union with God and with each other, so that at last God
may be all in all" (no. 79f);
Participating in liturgical song, because singing is a
way of expressing both the corporate nature of the act
of worship and the intense union to be achieved between
God and the Church in Christ through the Holy Spirit.
It is a union so intense and total that it is described
as a union between lovers whose nature is best expressed
vocally in song (no. 39). Singing is also an act which
unifies and focuses the individual (no. 39), thus encouraging
that "participation in body and spirit that is conscious,
active, full, and motivated by faith, hope, and charity"
(no. 18). These songs and acclamations are normally to
be sung, in whole or in part, by all the participants:
opening liturgical song (no. 48);
Kyrie (no. 52);
Gloria (no. 53);
Responsorial psalm (no. 61);
Gospel acclamation (no. 62);
Song at the preparation of gifts (no. 74);
Sanctus, memorial acclamation, and Amen (no. 79, 151);
The Lord's Prayer (no. 81);
Lamb of God (no. 83);
the optional psalm, canticle of praise, or hymn after
communion (no. 88).
For those who are properly disposed (no. 80), full, active,
and conscious participation is expressed in partaking
in the Holy Communion of the Lord, receiving in the one
bread consecrated at this Mass the Lord's body and blood,
in the same way that the apostles received them from Christ's
own hands (no. 72.3).
