A Biblical Walk Through The Mass does exactly what the title describes – Edward Sri literally walks the reader through the Mass, from the sign of the cross to the final blessing and dismissal. Each step of the way, he explains the origin of the Mass’s prayers, symbols and rituals with specific reference to sacred scripture. Unsurprisingly to faithful Catholics, he is able to connect almost every word and action to something in the Bible.
The biblical connections to the Mass exist both in the words of the Mass being quoted or paraphrased from scripture (eg. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world”), and also in the practices (eg. asking for God’s mercy, or the way the Eucharistic prayers are modelled on Jewish table prayers).
I found this book a fascinating read, packed full of interesting things I had not known about the Mass. Edward Sri’s writing is clear, concise, engaging, and easy to read. It provided much food for thought to help me focus and concentrate a bit better in Mass. Now when I attend Mass, various parts of Mass stand out to me and make me think back to the explanations in this book. The book also has reasonably short sections which made it easy for this busy mum to pick it up, put it down and read bits at a time as life with kids allowed.
Originally posted 2018-04-10 15:00:28.
Wow! Thank you so much for bringing this book to my attention. I was only recently discussing this topic (mass-scripture relation) with someone. Will read! 🙂