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Hi, Dan —
Great to hear from you again!
You said:
The other day
during Mass my daughter leaned over
and told me that the prayer was for
the one reading the Gospel, normally
the priest.
- Is that the original
intent of the prayer?
No, the intent is for (the priest
and the whole congregation) who do
it. As the posting below says:
All priests and the faithful, should
be saying to themselves internally, in prayer:
May the Word of God be:
- on my mind, (as we cross our forehead),
- on my mouth, (as we cross our lips) and
- in my heart [or soul], and (as we
cross our chest.)
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The questioner Aaron, in the posting above asked:
- Why did he do
it three times?
As a sign of the Trinity into which
all Christians are baptized.
At Mass we:
- listen to the Word of God and
ask that it stays with us in mind,
mouth, and in heart.
- hopefully we receive a good
homily based on the Gospel and
the readings, and
- receive the Blessed Sacrament, the Body of Christ, so, in a real sense, the Lord can work through us for that week.
This prepares the Catholic Christian
(you and your daughter) for the coming
week and
assists them in making good, holy
choices for that week.
Only the priest or deacon can read
the Gospel because in the Gospel
consists of the words of Jesus, the
Man, personified in the priest, a
man. (Both men and women
though can read from both the Old
Testament and New Testament.) The
Words of the Gospel and New Testament
readings are meant for all the faithful
to listen to and put into action.
The word Mass is derived
from the final words of the Mass,
in Latin: Ite, Missa Est.
Literally, Go, [the assembly] is dismissed,
so just as the Apostles were sent,
so we are sent every Sunday to share
the Gospel in word and deed.
Hope this answers your question.
If not, just follow up.
Mike
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