Introductory Rites

Let’s begin with coming into the church. Most Catholic churches will have a holy water font. That’s the first clue that this building we are entering is different than any other building. We don’t find holy water fonts in our work places, grocery stores, or restaurants. We pass by the holy water font in order to enter the church. The Israelites passed through the Red Sea when they left Egypt, and slavery behind, and they crossed the Jordan River after 40 years in the desert to enter the Promised Land. We pass by the holy water font as we cross from the usual world we live in, and enter into holy ground. Yes, the ground here has been blessed, and when this church was dedicated, the walls of this church were blessed with Sacred Chrism oil. This building has been set aside for prayer and worship.

Before we enter our pews we genuflect to show that there is something remarkably special about this building. No other building, other than a Catholic Church, has Jesus truly present in it like we do. We genuflect toward the tabernacle in recognition that God literally dwells here. We keep the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle, so we genuflect toward the tabernacle. With our bodies we are saying that God is greater than I. By genuflecting, we make ourselves smaller; we lower ourselves in an act of humility before God. He is great, and I am small. Now, if your knees no longer work, then instead of genuflecting, bow from the waist toward the tabernacle.

Now that you are in your pew, what should you do next? Pray. This building is set aside for prayer and worship. It is polite to greet the person you are sitting next to, but it isn’t polite to enter into conversation with the people next to you. Remember, people are praying, and to talk while people are praying isn’t polite. That especially means that we should not be talking while the rosary is being prayed before mass. If it has been a week since you’ve seen the person sitting next to you, catch up after mass. Go to dinner or breakfast together, or chat outside. Remember, this building is different than any other building. Our blessing ourselves from the holy water font and genuflecting before entering our pews should remind us that we behave differently here. This isn’t the social hall, this is the church. The holy water font and genuflecting are good reminders of that.