April 8 COVID-19 Faith Reflection—Tips for Livestream Mass
Over three thousand peopled viewed Palm Sunday Mass through the parish website nativity.org, and another fifteen hundred views through Facebook. Multiples more people viewed the Mass than normally attend in person. Wow!
You know too well after three Sundays staying at home that viewing Mass is not the same as being at Mass. As much as possible, you do not want to be a spectator but a participant. Here are some tips for reverent participation in the livestream Mass:
Nine Guidelines for Viewing Mass from Home
- Set up a sacred space in your home. Make an act of FAITH—Family Altar In The Home. (Get it?) Place on it a crucifix, candle, Bible, holy water, statue, and other religious items.
- Wear your Sunday clothes. Well, as a minimum, a good shirt. The Mass deserves more respect than pajamas. Really.
- Put aside the coffee cup and save it for your own “coffee and donuts” fellowship after Mass.
- Read the scripture selections before Mass. A little time and attention to the word of the Lord opens up a whole new world with the Word made flesh. Follow along during the Mass with your Bible or daily missal.
- Light a candle and place it in your sight as a reminder of the presence of Christ. Make sure the candle is safe so you don’t have to think about it while it is burning.
- Make a personal Mass intention. The lighted candle, like the votive candles in the church entrance, can serve as your reminder of your prayer intention for a particular person or intention.
- Stand at the beginning of Mass, sit for the Liturgy of the Word, kneel for the consecration, respond “And with your spirit” and sing “Holy, Holy, Holy.” These actions might feel at first out-of-place, but praying with your whole body and voice will transport you to the presence of the Lord.
- During communion, since circumstances prevent you from receiving Holy Communion in your hand, make an act of Spiritual Communion. Spiritual Communion unites you in prayer with Christ’s sacrifice. Acts of Spiritual Communion increase our desire to receive sacramental Communion and help us avoid sin.
- Talk after Mass about something that struck you during the Mass. Was it in the homily? A phrase from one of the prayers? A particular hymn? Call up a friend or tell someone in your household. You may be surprised at the depth of the conversation.
You may have noticed glitches during the livestream Mass. Sometimes the video buffering freezes the frame. We think we have worked out the bugs, but let us know anything we can do to make the livestream almost as easy as being at the Mass. The recorded and archived Masses by the way do not have any of the freeze-frame glitches.
On Good Friday and Holy Saturday, we do not have morning Mass. Instead, we will have 8:30 a.m. morning prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. You can follow along livestream using the ibreviary app https://www.ibreviary.org/en/ . I’ve been using it for years to do my daily prayers. Download the app ahead of time and use the menu bar to find Morning Prayer (aka Lauds). It’s free.
Save the date and block out the times to join Bishop Noonan for Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil. With these Tips for Livestream Mass, make the most of these special liturgies, the radiant center of the mystery of faith.
Blessed Holy Week,
Father David
Nativity Update
When I call you all and check up on you, I make it a point to pray with you. Not just pray for you later in the day, but on the spot on the phone pray with you. Many of you are grateful. I’m glad for the chance to invoke the power of prayer for you.
Many of you have found that staying at home does not mean you have to be isolated. You talk with others and even pray for them. Why not pray with them? Immediately following 10:00 a.m. Easter Sunday Mass, I will hold my first Pastor Chat. Praying with another will be our topic for the next few Sundays. I’ve written a book, “Can I Say A Prayer With You?” It will help guide our conversation. You can get the book online. Or pick up a copy 24/7 on the parish office front porch (include a donation if you wish in your offertory envelope). Or read it online, a chapter at a time, through the parish website www.nativity.org . Easter Sunday after Mass I’ll log into a Facebook video and you can send me live Facebook messages so that there is back and forth. Let us be a people of prayer!