Priest in prayer

Praying the Mass Like A Pro

by Father Brian J. Soliven on Sunday September 5, 2021

If you want to pray the Mass like a pro, all it takes is your "heart". I'm not talking about the English connotation of the word, which is easily reduced to mere emotions or superficiality. I'm speaking of the biblical and profound idea of "heart". In Hebrew, heart can be translated to "leb". It means the deepest core of who we are. It is the depth of our innermost soul, with no masks or self-delusion. You can say, Leb is the brutal honesty of who we truly are. It is precisely from this heart that God wants us to pray from. In the beginning of Mass, the drama immediately unfolds when the priest asks:  "To prepare ourselves to celebrate these sacred mysteries, let us call to mind our sins." At that moment, God wants us to vomit out the sins that we pretend are not there. Then right before we begin the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the priest will again say to you, "Lift up your hearts!" In other words, STOP HIDING! Pray with your whole mind, body, and soul. Once we do that, God can enter in and begin to heal this wicked, wounded heart of mine.