Our Mass is organized into two main sections, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, bookended by the Introductory Rites and the Concluding Rites. The Introductory Rites consist of the Sign of the Cross, Greeting, Penitential Act, Gloria (except during Lent and Advent) and the Collect or Opening Prayer. As soon as we begin Mass with the Sign of the Cross, we are already expressing our faith in the Trinity – God who is Father, Son and Spirit – reminding ourselves once again of our baptism when we were bathed in those transforming waters in the name of the Trinity. The formal greeting is based on several of St. Paul’s letters in which he greets the community with “grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Then we move into the Penitential Act which expresses our trust in the mercy of God. There are three forms of the Penitential Act to choose from. The first, the Confiteor (I confess…) expressly confesses our sorrow for our sins even as we place our trust in God’s mercy and asks the prayers of one another, the angels and saints. A more simplified second form, “Have mercy on us O Lord, for we have sinned against you...” is also an option. These two options are followed by the simple three-part “Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy, Lord, have mercy” commonly referred to as the “Kyrie” – the Greek word for “Lord” from which this part of the Mass is translated. This is the only part of the Mass that survived in its original Greek language even after the rest of the Mass had been translated into Latin, the language of our Rite. Occasionally, we may say or sing this text in the original Greek: “Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison.” The third option is the one we most often use: three invocations referring to various aspects of Jesus’ lordship, followed by the “Lord, have mercy, etc.” On Sundays, especially during the Easter season, the Penitential Act may be replaced with a blessing and sprinkling of holy water to recall our baptism.