Dear Friends,
We are coming to the end of the Liturgy of the Word at Holy Mass. After listening to and pondering the readings from Sacred Scripture and homily, we stand for the Profession of Faith. This can be done through a renewal of baptismal promises, but is usually done through reciting the Nicene Creed (the Apostles Creed is also an option). The word “creed” is related the Latin word “credo,” meaning “I believe.” We are reciting, stating, professing what we believe; these are the basic tenets of what Christians believe. The Apostles Creed is older, possibly going back to the age of the Apostles. The Nicene Creed comes from the Council of Nicaea in 325AD, a council upheld and affirmed the divinity of Christ after the heretic Arius was teaching Jesus to be a great human, but not divine.
What do we profess and believe? We profess faith and trust in one God; in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We profess faith and trust in Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, consubstantial—of the same being, same substance—with the Father. We profess belief that the Son of God was incarnate—took on flesh—by the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary. We profess belief that for our salvation Jesus was crucified, suffered, was buried, and rose again on the third day, all of this according to the Scriptures. We profess that Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead and that His kingdom will have no end. We profess faith in the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. We profess belief in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins and in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. These are the “basics” of what we believe; they are the bare minimum of belief in order to be a Christian.
At the words, “...and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man,” we bow. At Christmas and on the Solemnity of the Annunciation, we genuflect at those words; before the liturgical changes of Vatican II, we would genuflect always at those words. Why do we bow or genuflect at those words? We bow or genuflect because those are postures of adoration; we are responding to the incredible mystery that the Son of God would humble Himself to the point of becoming like us in all things but sin.
One last note about the Nicene Creed, specifically professing “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church”: these are known as the Marks of the Church. In other words, to find the true Church, the Church founded by Jesus Christ, we look for these four marks. The Church is one; there is a unity, held together by the Pope. The Church is holy, even if its members in the Church Militant are not holy; it is holy because of Christ, because of Mary and the saints, because of the sacraments and holy things. The Church is catholic, meaning universal: open to all people and with its teachings applying to all people. The Church is apostolic, meaning its roots can be traced to the Apostles and the authority of bishops is traced back to the Apostles.
After the Profession of Faith, we pray petitions called the Universal Prayer or General Intercessions. These are intercessions because we are praying for, interceding for others. The first of these petitions is to pray for the Pope, for bishops, for the Church, and the second petition should be for the country and for national leaders. The last intercession is for the Church Suffering, for the dead. We call these petitions universal or general because we don't pray for specific intentions, such as Uncle Fred's job interview or Aunt Mildred's cat; we pray for general and universal intentions: the sick, the grieving, the persecuted, etc. With the conclusion of the Universal Prayer, we conclude the Liturgy of the Word and will begin the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
We are saints under construction, interceding for others and professing boldly and clearly our faith. Have a great week!
In Christ,
Fr. Matt