Notes from The Lamb's Supper, the Mass explained

When I first entered the Catholic church, I was most attracted to the Mass. However, I didn't understand much of what was going on during the Mass. So I started to find resources that could help me. Father Ian told me to read the Sacrosanctum Concilium - well, I would say that was a little over my head! But I did learn the importance of Liturgy in the formation of believers who are part of this One Holy Catholic and Apostolic church (from the Nicene Creed).

I then came across this helpful lecture series by the Liturgical Institute (to get the maximum benefit - watch the video along with the Study Guide): http://www.elementsofthecatholicmass.com/episodes

And then in the last couple of weeks, I started reading Scott Hahn's book The Lamb's Supper - The Mass as Heaven on Earth. It is higher readable and I have found it tremendously helpful. When I now attend Mass, these important themes come to my mind to guide me through. How important it is to understand these mysteries since I will be spending eternity enjoying it!!

These notes are primarily taken from the fourth chapter: Taste and See (and Hear and Touch) the Gospel. (pp.40-57)
Part I: Liturgy of the Word
(1) Sign of the Cross - It is the Christian faith summarized in a single gesture. When we cross ourselves, we renew the covenant that began with our baptism. With our words, we proclaim the Trinitarian faith into which we were baptized ("In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"). With our hand, we proclaim our redemption by the cross of Jesus Christ... The cross is the means by which we are saved, by which we become partakers in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4)... By making the Sign of the Cross, we begin the Mass with a reminder that we are children of God. We also renew the solemn oath of our baptism... (it) is like swearing on the Bible in a court of law. We promise that we have come to Mass to offer testimony... we are active participants, we are witnesses, and we swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help us, God.
(2) Penitential Rite - If we're on the witness stand, then who's on trial?... We are...no one rises to accuse us but we ourselves. We have sinned! (1 John 1:9) The Didache says that an act of confession should precede our participation in the Eucharist. So in the Mass, we plead guilty and then throw ourselves on the mercy of heaven's court. In the Kyrie (Kyrie eleison) we ask mercy of each of the three divine persons in the Trinity: "Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy."
(3) Gloria - todah - We praise God for the blessings we just prayed for. That's our testimony of God's power. That's His glory. The Gloria cries out with the joy, confidence, and hope that have always marked believers.
(4) Liturgy of the Word - Faith comes from hearing. Selected passages of scripture are read following the Lectionary - a three-year Bible reading schedule covering almost the entire bible. Listen attentively! Respect Christ's presence in the Gospel the same way we respect His presence in the Host of the Eucharist. Careful! We are bound by what we hear (see the Book of Revelation).
(5) Homily and the Creed - In the homily, the priest or deacon offers us a commentary on God's inspired word. Homilies don't have to entertain us. Just as Jesus comes to us in humble, tasteless wafers, so the holy Spirit sometimes works through the monotone, lackluster preacher. After the homily, we recite the Nicene Creed, which is the faith distilled into just a few lines - here we proclaim doctrines for which Christian citizens of the Roman Empire suffered imprisonment and death.

Part II: Liturgy of the Eucharist
(1) Offertory - We offer ourselves and all that we have... because we know the Lord can take what is temporal and make it eternal, take what is human and make it divine... Everything we have goes on the altar, to be made holy in Christ.
(2) "Lift up your hearts" - Where? To heaven! We see angels and saints and together we sing before heaven's throne "Santus" or "Holy, Holy, Holy". Then comes the climax of the Eucharistic sacrifice, the great Eucharistic Prayer (or Anaphora). This is where it becomes clear that the New Covenant is not a book. It's an action, and that action is the Eucharist:
-The priest calls down the Holy Spirit (Epiklesis).
-The Narrative of Institution is the moment when the Spirit and the Word transform the elements from bread and wine into the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. The priest speaks in the person of Christ by the sacrament of Holy Orders.
-Remembrance: more like Jesus renewing, re-presenting, reenacting His covenant. He makes His New Covenant new once again.
-Offering: it is Jesus in His glorified humanity, and He is our offering.
-Intercessions: with Jesus Himself, we pray to the Father for the living and the dead, for the whole Church and the whole world.
-Doxology: "Through Him, with Him, in Him, all glory and honor is Yours, almighty Father, forever and ever." followed by "The Great Amen."
(3) Our Father - The Mass fulfills the Lord's Prayer, perfectly, word for word.
(4) Communion Rite - With communion (koinonia or fellowship - the supernatural gift - really worth reading) we renew our bond with the eternal family, the Family Who is God, and the God's family on earth, the Church (in the Sign of Peace). "Lamb of God" recalls the Passover sacrifice and the "mercy" and "peace" of the new Passover. We respond in the words of the Roman centurion: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive You, but only say the word..." (Mt 8:8). In the Eucharist we receive what we will be for all eternity, when we are taken up to heaven to join with the heavenly throng in the marriage supper of the Lamb. At Holy Communion, we are already there.
(5) Ite, missa est - literally, "Go, it is sent". The end of the Mass is less of a dismissal and more of a commissioning. We have united ourselves to Christ's sacrifice. We leave Mass now in order to live the mystery, the sacrifice, we have just celebrated, through the splendor of ordinary life in the home and in the world.