Living THE
Word
HELPING TO PREPARE HEARTS AND MINDS FOR THE SUNDAY MASS
I
n a world full of distractions, it can often be difficult to focus on the things that truly matter. How many times have we arrived at Mass after a hectic morning of preparing breakfast for the family, dressing everyone in their Sunday best, and searching for coats and keys before rushing out the door? Anything we can do to better focus our hearts and minds on the liturgy before we walk through the doors of Our Lady of Assumption will bring us one step closer to a deeper relation-
ship with the Lord. With this in mind, our Living the Word group provides parishioners with a valuable opportunity to learn more about the weekly Scripture passages before coming to the weekend Mass. As Deacon Michael Tateishi points out, the more we can prepare ourselves for the celebration of Mass, the more meaningful our experience of the liturgy becomes. “We know that the Mass sometimes becomes perfunctory, and people
come because they have to,” Deacon Michael says. “Even myself from time to time, after I receive Communion I’ll realize, ‘Oh my goodness, I just did that but wasn’t thinking about it.’ We want people to come to Mass prepared for it, thinking about the Word. I think Living the Word helps them in that way. Then the homily prepares us for receiving Communion, and after that, we are sent off to live the Gospel.” Parishioners Jeff and Rachel Holmes and their daughter, Jordan, continued on page 5
“When we go to Mass, we get much more out of it. We’re not having to read along. We can just sit there and listen to what Father is saying about the reading — and that is often different than what he tells us at Living the Word. It helps me become more in touch with things, because I’m getting the message multiple times a week.” 4
Jeff Holmes
