Purpose of the Holy Mass

VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - 2015/10/18: Pope Francis celebrates a Holy Mass for the canonization of four new saints in St. Peter's Square in Vatican. Pope Francis celebrates the canonization of four new saints: Vincenzo Grossi, Mary of the Immaculate Conception and Louis Martin and his wife Zélie Guérin, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux, the first-ever married couple with children to be canonized in the same ceremony. (Photo by Giuseppe Ciccia/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

VATICAN CITY, VATICAN – 2015/10/18: Pope Francis celebrates a Holy Mass for the canonization of four new saints in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican. Pope Francis celebrates the canonization of four new saints: Vincenzo Grossi, Mary of the Immaculate Conception and Louis Martin and his wife Zélie Guérin, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux, the first-ever married couple with children to be canonized in the same ceremony. (Photo by Giuseppe Ciccia/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) 

To praise and worship God

God is infinite, eternal, and all-powerful and His greatness and goodness ought to fill us with amazement and enthusiasm. We should always praise and worship Him before, during and after the Holy Mass. Praising and worshiping God unites us with Him. Always pay special attention to the Gloria and the Sanctus.

Thanksgiving

God is infinitely good with all the good things we have coming from Him: life, family, sanctifying grace, faith, the sacraments, and the gift of his Mother… And so many other natural and supernatural gifts. It is therefore good to give thanks. Unite yourself to our Lord in the Mass, giving thanks, and you will see how you also become more optimistic as a result, because you will become more and more convinced of the goodness of God.

Praying for God’s mercy for our sins

Jesus who is perfect God and perfect Man; All-Holy God as the Holy Scriptures says, took our sins on himself and made up for them. He did penance for us by dying on the cross. If therefore we want to take part properly in the Holy Mass, we must be sorry for our sins because the person, who comes to Mass with real sorrow for his sins, will draw from it great strength to fight against temptations and to realize that, despite his weaknesses, God loves him very much.

presenting our needs to God

Our God is a merciful and a very generous God. He wants to give us what is absolutely the best, what is the greatest gift imaginable: eternal life and all the help we need to make it ours. But He also wants to be asked: “Ask and you shall receive.” That is why we ask with a prayer for petition. The Lord’s Prayer is always effective because it is simply impossible that God the Father should not listen to the prayer of his beloved Son. Jesus prayed for us on the cross. He continues praying for us on the altar. When we pray in the Holy Mass, therefore, and unite our prayers to that of Jesus, we can be sure that our requests will be heard by God the Father.