Adult Series on the Mass

https://watch.formed.org/videos/why-can-t-non-catholics-receive-the-eucharist
 
https://watch.formed.org/videos/thesearchcontinues-35-frriley-themass
 
https://watch.formed.org/videos/what-are-the-sacraments

Discussion questions: 

1. Are you able to recite all 7 sacraments from memory?
2. What is the significance of the Mass in Catholic worship, and why is it considered the "source and summit" of Christian life?
3. How do the different parts of the Mass (Introductory Rites, Liturgy of the Word, Liturgy of the Eucharist, and Concluding Rites) help guide the faithful in their spiritual journey?
4. Why is the Mass seen as both a sacrifice and a celebration? How do these aspects complement each other?
5. How does the belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist affect the way Catholics approach and participate in the Mass?
6. What is the significance of the consecration of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus, and why is it considered the most important moment of the Mass?
7. How can we deepen our understanding and appreciation of receiving the Eucharist?
8. Why is the Mass meant to be a communal experience, and how does it unite the congregation as the Body of Christ?
9. In what ways can active participation in the Mass enhance one’s faith journey?
10. How does the Mass encourage us to live out our faith beyond the church walls?
11. What part of the Mass do you find most meaningful, and why?
12. How can attending Mass regularly impact your spiritual growth and relationship with God?
13. What challenges do you face in staying fully present during the Mass, and how can you address them?
14. How would you express to a friend or relative the need to be a practicing Catholic to receive communion?

https://watch.formed.org/presence/season:1/videos/god-is-with-us

Discussion questions:

1. Would you have the courage to save Jesus from the fires?
2. Would you be willing to be Tarcisius back then?
   1. Would you be willing to be a modern day Tarcisius?
3. Thinking of the Elizabethan era and St. Edmund Campion, would you have faith and courage that God’s law is more important than human law?
4. Do you think atrocities against the Eucharist are still happening today like the story from China in the video?
5. Would you have been able to consume the Blessed Lord even when He is covered in dirt and mud?
6. What is a sacrament?
7. What did the video say about the Eucharist as a sacrament?
8. Is Jesus really present in the Eucharist?
9. What is Transubstantiation?
10. What does it mean to have a meal and how is the Eucharist a saving meal?
11. What does it mean to you that God says, “I am who is”?
12. What do you think about Jesus coming to us under the appearance of bread and wine?
13. What do you think of what Chris said, “I consume Him because I want Him to consume me?”
14. Practically speaking, how can you grow in love of Jesus in the Eucharist today?

Elements of the Mass: https://watch.formed.org/the-elements-of-the-catholic-mass

Video 1
1. What does the triple nuance of "liturgy" add to our understanding of participation in the Mass?
2. "Sing the Mass!" was a favorite phrase of Saint Pius X. What do singing the Mass and participation in the work of God have in common?
3. If the liturgy is the work that Christ accomplishes on our behalf, what are some instances in the Mass where this is made explicit?
4. Why is it important to know that Christ is the principal liturgist and the foundational minister of every sacrament?
Video 2
1. How can we use our intellects to participate more fully in the Mass?
2. What prayers of the Mass would you like to understand more deeply?
3. What do our minds tell us about our dependence on God?
4. If every heartbeat is a gift from God, if God holds us in existence even at this moment, what should be our response?
Video 3
1. What prayers of the Mass remind you of the Christian's status as exiles?
2. How can we become more aware in our daily lives of the importance of longing for heaven?
3. Reflect on John 17:9-19. How can we be "present in this world and yet not at home in it"?
Video 4
1. In what ways are created things used in the Mass?
2. What events or images from the Sacred Scriptures can you recognize in the celebration of the Mass?
3. What are some of the signs in the liturgy that you would like to better understand? How do the words the Church uses manifest the meaning of these signs?
Video 5
1. What sacramental signs are most visible to you at the celebration of Mass?
2. How can you attune yourself to recognizing the sacramental signs?
Video 6
1. What can you do to remind yourself that participation at Mass is meant, principally, to praise God and pray for sanctification of the world?
2. How is authentic praise of God the source of care for our neighbor?
3. How can prayer at Mass be connected to our everyday life?
Video 7
1. Read I Samuel 15:22. Why does the prophet say that “obedience is better than sacrifice”?
2. How can we become more aware of our internal participation in the Mass?
3. What words or prayers in the Mass find an echo in your heart and remain with you throughout the day?
Video 8
1. How does the regular structure of the Mass provide an environment conducive to prayer?
2. What can repetition in Mass or in the liturgical cycle teach us about our faith?
3. How do authentic prayer and meditation on the mysteries of our salvation help us to be engaged in Mass?
Video 9
1. How does our singing at Mass represent the song of heaven?
2. Since singing combines word and breath. What biblical images does this combination bring to mind?
Video 10
1. What distinguishes "sung dialogues" from the singing of hymnody?
2. What is the difference between "singing the Mass" and "singing at Mass"?
3. Why does the Church give "the main place" to Gregorian Chant?

Bread of Life discourse and discussion questions:

The Bread of Life Discourse. ^22 [a]The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat, but only his disciples had left. ^23 [b]Other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread when the Lord gave thanks. ²⁴ When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. ²⁵ And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” ²⁶ Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. ²⁷ Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life,^[c] which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” ²⁸ So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” ³⁰ So they said to him, “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? ^31 [d]Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:
‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
³² So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
³⁴ So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” ^35 [e]Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. ³⁶ But I told you that although you have seen [me], you do not believe. ³⁷ Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, ³⁸ because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it [on] the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him [on] the last day.”
⁴¹ The Jews murmured about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” ⁴² and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³ Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring^[f] among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the prophets:
‘They shall all be taught by God.’
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. ⁴⁶ Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; ⁵⁰ this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
⁵² The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?” ⁵³ Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats^[g] my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹ These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
The Words of Eternal Life.^{[h] 60} Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” ⁶¹ Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you? ⁶² What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?^{[i] 63} It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh^[j] is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴ But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. ⁶⁵ And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.”
⁶⁶ As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. ⁶⁷ Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” ⁷⁰ Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you twelve? Yet is not one of you a devil?” ⁷¹ He was referring to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot; it was he who would betray him, one of the Twelve.
 
 
 
·   What was the context in which Jesus gave the Bread of Life Discourse? Why is it significant that this happened after the feeding of the 5,000?
·   What does Jesus mean when He says, “Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life” (John 6:27)?
·   How did the crowd react when Jesus said, “I am the bread of life”? Why were they confused?
·   How does this discourse connect to the Old Testament story of manna in the desert (Exodus 16)?
·   What does Jesus mean when He says, “The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (John 6:51)?
·   In John 6:53, Jesus says, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” Why is this such a radical statement?
·   Some of Jesus’ followers found this teaching difficult and left Him. What does this say about the importance of taking His words literally?
·   How does this passage relate to the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist?
·   What are the differences between a symbolic interpretation of Jesus’ words and the Catholic understanding of the Real Presence?
 
·   How does believing in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist impact your faith and daily life?
·   Have you ever struggled with understanding or accepting the Church’s teaching on the Eucharist? What helped you grow in faith?
·   How does regularly receiving the Eucharist transform a person spiritually?
·   What can we learn from Peter’s response in John 6:68: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”?
·   How can we better share and explain the Catholic belief in the Eucharist to others, especially those who struggle with it?
If you could ask Jesus one question about the Eucharist, what would it be?