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| Encountering Christ in the Mass
Patrick Gorman |
Fourth in a series.
Previously, articles have discussed the encounter we have with Christ at every Mass.
I must admit that I’ve been to some Masses where he has been awfully hard to find!
While it’s easy to put the blame for that on others, the real question I should ask myself is “Did I participate well?”
No spectators
The Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (CSL) called for the people to participate “fully conscious and actively” in liturgical celebrations.
It also refers to the people’s participation as “the aim to be considered before all else” (both quotes from paragraph 14).
This doesn’t mean everyone has a specific ministry (lector, sacristan, etc.) to perform. It means that everyone in the congregation participates fully with heart, mind, and body. There are no spectators!
“But in order that the liturgy may be able to produce its full effects, it is necessary that the faithful come to it with proper dispositions, that their minds should be attuned to their voices, and that they should cooperate with divine grace lest they receive it in vain” (CSL, 11).
While we want each Mass to be as beautiful as possible, in the end the “burden” is on the people praying to allow the liturgy to do its job.
We do the work of the liturgy by being present with a mind and heart open to prayer, and we pay attention to what is said and what we say — by participating!
The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy itself defined active participation for us (CSL 30).
“To promote active participation, the people should be encouraged to take part by means of acclamations, responses, psalmody, antiphons, and songs, as well as by actions, gestures, and bodily attitudes. And at the proper times all should observe a reverent silence.”
Such participation isn’t an option. It is the “right and duty” of the baptized (CSL 14).
Recapturing the meaning of liturgy
In the past, sometimes participation of the people came at the expense of the liturgy of the Church. In the 1970s, people substituted poetry for Scripture readings, prayers were omitted or made up on the spot, music that had questionable value was used to “get people to sing.”
Over time we have recaptured the original meaning of the word liturgy, which is “public work” or a “service done on behalf of the people.” (See the Catechism, nos. 1069 and following). So the people must participate in the actual words and actions of the Church’s liturgy. This “public work” obligates us to offer the best of who we are.
Catholics believe that what we say and do in the Mass not only expresses our beliefs, but also forms them. So, for example, if you always genuflect toward the tabernacle containing the Eucharistic presence of the Lord as you enter and exit church, it expresses our adoration.
It also deepens our adoration as we genuflect over weeks, years, our entire lifetime.
The goal of all participation is praying with the heart, mind, and soul. Any external participation should build up, reinforce, and strengthen the faith in our hearts. If it is merely external, we do not benefit from it.
By praising God with all our heart, mind, and soul day by day or week by week, God gives us an abundance of grace.
He doesn’t just give a little so you can get through the next week. He provides an abundance so that it can change us to become stronger in our faith so that we may go out to the world and proclaim the Good News!
Patrick Gorman is the director of the Office of Worship for the Diocese of Madison.