The Mass: A Sinner’s Prayer & An Altar Call

Several times in recent months, I have found myself in Protestant churches where the Good News of salvation and the Christian life have been proclaimed with sincerity and fervor. In each of those moments, at the end of the proclamation, the gathered assembly was informed of the path to a redemptive relationship with the Savior, Jesus Christ.

According to a standard formula, the various pastors and speakers offered hearers the opportunity to recite a Sinner’s Prayer for salvation. Most frequently, this prayer is presented in an A-B-C formula. “Admit” that you are a sinner; “Believe” in Jesus as God’s Son and every person’s Savior; and “Confess” that Jesus is Lord. An altar call (even though there is usually no altar present) often follows the prayer. It is an invitation to make a physical expression of interior conversion by kneeling near the front of the venue.

Perhaps many (even most), especially those of us who live in the southern and midwestern United States, have experienced friends, co-workers, neighbors, or Jehovah’s Witnesses at our doors asking about our salvation status and if we are aware of the way to receive the gift offered by the Heavenly Father. Over my years in parish ministry, I have met many children, teens, and adults who do not know how to respond to such a query. In the most unfortunate cases, some have been enticed to stray from the Catholic Faith because they are attracted by the simplicity of the Sinner’s Prayer and because they appreciate an intimate conversation with Jesus.

As I reflected on all this, I was reminded that every Mass is, in fact, both a Sinner’s Prayer and an altar call par excellence. Each of the elements of the Sinner’s Prayer and the altar call is present multiple times through the Mass. We have been praying them regularly, sometimes for decades, perhaps without realizing just what we proclaim. Thus, it is appropriate to trace the ways that each Mass fits and, in fact, defined the formula described.

Admit that you are a sinner. Near the very beginning of every Mass, the celebrant invites the assembly, “Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins.” The assembly responds, “I confess to almighty God . . . that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words . . .” “Confess” and “acknowledge” are close synonyms of “admit.” Later in every Mass, we admit our sinfulness when we exclaim, in unison, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof . . .” Sin, moral and spiritual brokenness, is what makes us unworthy to approach the Divine. And so, we humbly admit that it is a part of our lives.

Believe in Jesus as God’s Son and every person’s Savior. After each penitential act, worshipers recite the Gloria (sometimes in song, sometimes in simple speech). The middle of that prayer is directed toward Jesus, who is identified as the Father’s “Only Begotten Son” and “Son of the Father” who “take[s] away the sins of the world.” Because of His exalted position, and because of our status as sinners, we plead for His mercy multiple times in that one prayer.

Later, the assembly recites a statement of belief (either the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed). There, we profess belief in “one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God”; and the belief that Jesus “came down from heaven” for humanity and “for our salvation.” A few lines later, we recount the Paschal Mystery, Jesus’ Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension into Heaven, by which we have the opportunity for forgiveness of sins and a life of enduring blessedness in relationship with God.

During the Eucharistic Prayer, the assembly is invited to respond by professing and proclaiming the Mystery of Faith. One of the options for the assembly’s response is, “Save us, Savior of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.” It could not be clearer throughout the Mass that the community and the individuals therein believe that Jesus is God’s Son and every person’s Savior.

Confess that Jesus is Lord. In the Penitential Rite, twice, we call out to Jesus as Lord, beseeching His mercy: “Lord, have mercy! Christ, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!” In the Gloria, we call Him “Lord, Jesus Christ,” and express, “you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High.” After the Gospel has been read aloud, the deacon or priest proclaims, “The Gospel of the Lord,” and the assembly responds, “Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.” In another version of the Mystery of Faith, the assembly exclaims, “We proclaim your Death, O Lord . . .” All of this and more redounds to the fact that we confess Jesus as our Lord.

The altar call. After all the prayers and Scripture readings, each baptized Catholic in good standing is invited to approach the altar and receive the gifts that have just been consecrated thereon. Each worshiper is presented with the Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus, truly present under the sacramental signs. Before receiving Jesus onto the tongue or into the hand, each worshiper must assent to all the Lord teaches and all the Christian life requires. Each of us says “Amen,” meaning “I believe, and I would stake my life on this.” Following reception of the Eucharist, each person is invited into an intimate moment of prayer and reflection, begging the Lord to pour out the graces necessary for personal transformation and commitment.

One of the most beautiful and appropriate prayers in this moment is the Anima Christi. It has been part of common devotional practice since the late-Middle Ages, and it makes supplication for the transformative grace offered only by Jesus.

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within thy wounds, hide me.
Suffer me not to be separated from thee.
From the malignant enemy, defend me.
In the hour of my death, call me,
And bid me come to thee,
That with thy saints I may praise thee
Forever and ever. Amen.

All of this takes what is available in a Sinner’s Prayer and a common altar call to a higher level, a supernatural level. When Catholics engage fully in the movements and responses of the Sacred Liturgy, we receive the sanctifying grace that fosters our redemption, and we have the opportunity to meet Jesus in the most intimate way possible.

Receiving from this rich font ought to make us ready to live as committed disciples, and to answer quickly and charitably when neighbors, co-workers, or door-knockers inquire about our salvation and personal relationship with Jesus.

Author’s Note: “Anima Christ: A Mystical Prayer,” from Franciscan Media, offers a line-by-line commentary which applies the prayer to the daily life of discipleship.

Photo by Anuja Tilj on Unsplash