By Dennis Kellogg
Director of Communications
In sports, preparation and execution are two important keys to success. A team that prepares well before the game, and then executes what it has learned in the game, increases its chance of success.
Preparation and execution can also relate to the Mass. As part of our work with the nationwide Compelling Preaching Initiative, we held a series of focus groups with priests, parishioners and students last spring. Those listening sessions laid the foundation for an effort underway in our diocese we call “Prepare and Proclaim: Enriching our Mass Experience.”
The goal is to increase our focus on Mass – and our Catholic faith – even before we sit in a pew on Sunday morning. One of the ways to do that is to read and reflect on the Sunday Mass readings ahead of time. The experts at the Emmaus Institute for Biblical Studies have made that easier to do now.
Each week in the Southern Nebraska Register, the staff at Emmaus provide a section called “Opening the Word: Meditation Prompts on the Sunday Readings.” They let you know where you can find the upcoming Sunday Mass readings and offer insight into what to look for and think about as you reflect on those passages.
That’s a simple way to prepare and also a way to make your heart, mind and soul fertile soil to receive the seeds of wisdom from your parish priest’s homily. Hopefully, you will then take that message and proclaim it by sharing it with those you encounter throughout the week; preparation and execution in action.
Another opportunity to grow in your faith will come later this month in Lincoln. Several excellent and knowledgeable Catholic speakers from the McGrath Institute for Church Life at Notre Dame will be coming to our diocese to speak to students, priests and parishioners Nov. 18 and 19.
Everyone in the diocese is invited to a free presentation Monday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. at St. Mary Church in Lincoln. Dr. Joshua McManaway, program director for the “Savoring the Mystery” homiletics project our diocese is involved with, will give a talk, “Reading Scripture as a Christian: Finding Christ on Every Page.” It will focus on how the New Testament and the early Church read the Old Testament and how Jesus Christ is at the center of the Bible’s story.
Also that night, Carolyn Pirtle, the program director for the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy, will speak on how the beauty of art can help you not only encounter the Scriptures in a new way, but also deepen your relationship with God. Pirtle speaks regularly on the theology and practice of liturgical music, the importance of the arts in Catholic life, and formation in liturgical and devotional prayer, particularly for the domestic Church.
Both speakers will offer great insight into understanding the Scriptures from different perspectives. It will be a thought-provoking evening and a great way to get ready for the Advent season ahead.
The diocese has also created a new web page that will provide articles and resources for priests, religious and laity to better prepare and proclaim. It also includes the opportunity to sign up for “Holy Heroes Mass Prep” through Flocknote. The program helps children better prepare for Sunday Mass through videos and activity sheets based on the Sunday readings. To view our new web page and to sign up for Holy Heroes Mass Prep, go to lincolndiocese.org/prepareandproclaim. You can also sign up for Holy Heroes Mass Prep through Flocknote with the diocese. More than 200 parishioners have done so in just the first week!
All faithful Catholics should have the desire to get the most out of Mass and their faith. These resources are designed to help you do that. Just like a winning sports team, it’s about preparing and executing. Legendary college football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant said it this way: “It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.”
Our Prepare and Proclaim program aims to help with that “will to prepare.” Preparation for Mass is a great way to experience a winning Sunday – and every other day of the week as well!
