The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1921-09-03
"THE GOSPEL"

or Sequence. Today we shall dwell
on the Gospel. Upon the completion
of the Tract or Sequence, the Mass
book Is moved to the other side of
the altar This is done for a two
fold reason, historical and mystical.
To understand the historical reason,
we should bear in mind that the early
Christians contributed to the mainte
nance of divine worship by offer
ing the bread and wine for the
sacrifice. These were placed on
the altar before the Offertory,
on the left hand side. To make
room for these, the book was carried
to- the other side of the altar. Though
this historical reason has ceased to
exist, the custom of moving the book
to the other side of the altar has been
maintained for the following striking
mystical reasons. The first lesson of
scripture, or the Epistle, is read on
the left hand side of the altar, which
represents the Jews, because the word
of God was first preached to the
Jews; the book is then taken to the
right hand side to signify that when
many OF the Jews had failed to &C
cept the message of Christ, that mes
sage was transmitted to the Gentiles.
towards the end of Mass the book is
brought back ito the Epistle side to
signify that, at, the end of the world,
the Jews will recognize Jesus Christ
as the true Messias in accordance with
the prophecies of Isaias (LIX, 2O-21)
and st. Paul (Romans XI, 25-27).
The word Gospel" is used here not
in its broad sense of good tidings,s
but in it's strictest meaning of one
OF the four gospels. These extracts
from the gospels are read, not only
to put before the eyes of our mind
the living picture of the person of
Jesus Christ and to be instructed and
edited by His words and actions, but
also to pay religious veneration and
homage to the truth of God, to God
Himself present in His words.
The priest, about to read or sing
the Gospel, is mindful that God has
said to the sinner: why dost thou
declare my justices, and take my cove
nant in the mouth?' Fearing lest
this reproach of God should fall upon
him, the priest bows deeply before
the middle of the altar and asks God
to cleanse his heart and lips as He
, cleansed the lips of the prophet Isaias
with burning coal. Isaias, indeed,
had protested that he was man of
unclean lips and therefore unworthy
tn, too
Of the Seraphim had flown to him
and had touched his mouth with live
coal, which he had taken with the
tongs from the altar of holocausts
offered for the forgiveness of sins,
saying: !"Beholds this hath touched
thy lips and thy iniquities shall be
taken away and thy sins shall be
cleansed.' The priest then asks God
likewise to cleanse his heart of sin
and inclination to sin, and his lips Of
all the stains of idle, worldly, sinful
talk, that he may be able worthily to
" proclaim the holy gospel. Having
thus prayed for, publication of heart
and lips, the priest now asks God to
bless him, saying: Give me thy
blessing, 0 Lord!" Then, as the rep
resentative of the church, as the
ambassador of God, the priest pro-
nounces on himself personally the
divine blessing saying: "The Lord
be in my heart and on my lips, that
| may worthily and in becoming
manner announce his holy gospel,
Amen The priest having thus pray
ed for JUNCTION of heart and distinctive
ness and power of utterance, proceeds
to the book to read the gospel The
book is placed diagonally towards the
corner of the altar so that the priest
while reading the gospel is half turn
ed towards the people.
The SaIutation.
The opening words comprise the mu-
tuaf salutation and the announcement
of the gospel. The salutation, which
the priest and the faithful address
to one another, is, THE Lord be with
you and with thy spirit" With
these words the priest and the faith
full ask God to enable them to under.
stand the word of God Alright, accept
1t with humble faith and carry it out
in their daily lives. The gospel then
is announced in simple words, ''The
beginning of the holy gospel according
to- st. Matthew" or one of the other
evangelists, or, if an extract be read,
The continuation of the holy gospel,
etc. The server answers, GLORY be to
thee, o Lord" to praise God who has
revealed to us and to millions of 9TH
ers these good tidings. The priest
then imprints with his thumb a cross
on the first words of the gospel, then
on his forehead, mouth and; breast.
The sign of the cross made on the
book expresses that the whole gospel,
the whole doctrine and the whole
work of salvation is contained in the
mystery of the cross. ST. Paul calls
the gospel THE word of the cross
The mystery of the cross is to the
world foolishness, but to us, power
and wisdom. The cross is. our teacher;
from it we learn the Christian virtues
of self-denial, humility, obedience,
faith, patience, hope, love of God and
of our neighbor. The priest and the
faithful also sign themselves with the
sign OF the cross to express that they
wish to preserve the doctrine of the
cross in their minds, on their lips, in
their hearts, and that they are not
aSha med I'm. uroc1aiun III and ara ready