St. Mary's Church Elizabeth, IL

Let us pray

Many of us remember the invitation to the prayer in Latin, when the presiding priest called upon everyone present at Mass, saying "OREMUS."  Its was an invitation to make this prayer our own.  The "OREMUS" can be translated to "let us ask."  Let us ask together as the Body of Christ.  It may be that we have become so familiar with this invitation, that we may not pause and reflect on what we are doing at this moment anymore, but it is an act of faith.  An act of faith that God is listening to us.  An act of faith that He is present in our midst, At this moment we express that we believe that God wants to answer our prayers.  At this invitation, it would be good to reflect that God desires only good things for us.

It is also a time when we turn the heaven with all our needs, presenting them before God the Father.  We approach God as sinners in great need.  We may notice that there are four parts to this prayer: calling upon God, recalling of some deeds that God has done, a request, and the prayer that is made through the mediation of the Son.  And, as we close the prayer, the congregation responds with "Amen."  It is our response that we give throughout the Liturgy and it is an important part of our participation in the Mass.  We could say that it is the "seal of approval" or our "signature" under the request being made to God.  It is, in a way, saying that we agree with the request made by the presiding priest, and it is our prayer too.  When we say "AMEN" at the end of the opening prayer, do we really mean it?