One Sunday at a Time: Prepare for Sunday Mass

Deanna Bartalini reviews an excellent resource to help you prepare yourself and others for Sunday Mass!  

One Sunday at a Time: Preparing Your Heart for Weekly Mass (Cycle C) 

By Mark Hart 

Published by Ave Maria Press 

Years ago, we belonged to a parish with a family catechesis program that focused on using Scripture to learn about our faith. We took part in this program for a few years. Each week we gathered and read the upcoming Sunday Mass readings, and we asked questions after each reading. Our son, the funny child that he was, always answered in this order: God, Moses, John the Baptist, Jesus. The questions were irrelevant; he was certain those people were the answer. Thankfully, he has outgrown this.  

Why read ahead? 

But I have not outgrown reading the Sunday Mass readings ahead of time. It is one of the best things we can do for our faith life. Repetition helps the Word move from our heads into our souls. It helps us live as Catholics, informing us how to live each day. Scripture becomes a part of us. 

Mark Hart, AKA The Bible Geek, has written an excellent book to help you prepare for Sunday Mass, One Sunday at a Time; Preparing Your Heart for Weekly Mass. This is his third volume, written for Cycle C — which begins on December 1, 2024. The other two volumes are for Cycle A and Cycle B. All are published by Ave Maria Press.  

This book gives you great information that helps you better understand the readings. Each week has the same elements: Opening Prayer, Beyond Words, Related Fact, Behind the Scenes, Word Play, Journal, and a Challenge for the Week.  

The readings are listed under the Opening Prayer. You can use your Bible to read them. Then in Beyond Words, Hart explains what is happening in the readings while Related Fact gives a bit of extra information. Behind the Scenes gives historical or background information that helps you better understand what you are reading. Word Play chooses one word or phrase from the readings and explains where it comes from and how it is used. The Journal questions encourage you to ponder and apply what you read. Hart closes it up with a Challenge for the Week, a way to live out your faith based on the scriptures. 

Who can use this book 

No matter how old or young, no matter how many or few, no matter how wiggly or giggly — everyone will benefit from preparing for Mass using this resource. The sections are concise, and the journal questions and challenges are relevant to your life and can work with various age groups.  

I highly encourage you to use this book. I was excited to use it when Mark Hart began with Cycle A and glad all three cycles are complete. If you serve in ministry, need to prepare Children’s Liturgy of the Word, or are a catechist, parent, or lover of Scripture, this is an excellent tool to help you learn more about what is in the Scriptures and develop a love of the Word.  

Is this a book you'd like to read? Share your thoughts with the Catholic Mom community! You'll find the comment box below the author's bio and list of recommended articles.

Copyright 2024 Deanna Bartalini
Images: Canva
This article contains Amazon affiliate links, which provide a small compensation to the author of this piece when purchases are made through the links, at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting our Catholic Mom writers in this way.