This entry is part 2 of 10 in the series Divine Service.

Divine Service

Last night’s post ran a little long, so let’s summarize:

  • Worship exists to teach and to relieve consciences once people realize their sinfulness.
  • The Divine Service, or Mass, isn’t the only appropriate worship. Rites and ceremonies of man need not be alike.
  • The Invocation identifies the god we worship.
  • We draw near to Christ who grants us forgiveness through our Baptism.
  • God’s holiness demands his rejection of sin.
  • We are sinful in this world, and we ask God to forgive us.
  • The pastor forgives our sins because he is commanded to either forgive our sins or retain them.

This is what we get out of the Confession and Absolution: the holiness of God, the condemnation of our sin, and God’s forgiveness which brings us back to him.

Introit

The part of the service that doesn’t change is called the ordinary (from ordo, “order”). The parts that do change are called the proper (from proprium, “special”). The proper gives each worship service a new focus, one that is transcendent of government and language.

The Introit is part of the proper. It is usually a psalm or a short text from Proverbs. The singing of psalms has always been present in worship. The psalms are ancient poetry that tell us of God.

There is interesting debate (See New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, Section IX, Theological Value) as to whether the Psalms directly tell of Christ, save for Psalm 110, “the LORD says to my Lord”. Nevertheless the Psalms do describe the attributes of the triune God. One doesn’t read Psalm 23 without hearing Christ’s reference in John 10:1-18. The scriptures testify of Christ (John 5:39).

Gloria Patri

“Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.”

Like the Invocation we get the trinity again, this time in a short hymn of praise. God is unchanging in his power, love, holiness, and most importantly to us, mercy.

Kyrie

“Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us.”

This is an old phrase from the Greek, “Kyrie eleison” and “Christe eleison.”

The hymnal lists the scriptural reference as Mark 10:48. Expanding this to v. 46-52, we see that it comes from the story of Jesus healing a blind man. Bartimaeus cries for mercy repeatedly, and Jesus heals him. We are the ones who need mercy in this life and the next. We cannot give anything to God on our own until we receive his mercy.

So we add two more references and a theological point for a total of 7 scriptural references, and we haven’t gotten to the scriptural readings yet. We hear about the qualities of God, his glory, and his mercy for us.

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