It’s Sunday morning and you’re on your way to Mass. You go about your usual morning ritual and arrive at the Church a few seconds before the opening hymn begins and taking your place you fulfil your weekly obligation, watching the clock until this chore is complete. Does this sound like you?
Sadly, we’ve all treated Mass this way at some point or another in our lives. All too often our attendance and participation at Mass is mechanical, obligatory. However, the old adage is true: you only get out what you put in.
We should arrive at Sunday Mass (and indeed, all other Masses as well) hungry for, and anticipating, nourishment for our soul. Continual and regular attendance at Mass should encourage us to hunger and thirst for God, we should be coming closer to him. But how hungry are we for God? Do we realise that from the very Introductory Prayers of the Mass we are catapulted, once again, into a life-giving ritual that has the power to define us?
We invoke the mercy of Jesus Christ through the Penitential Rite, declare our belief in the teachings of the Church through the recitation of the Creed and receive him; consume Him in the Eucharist. We are commissioned, at the end, to go out and spread the Good News.
We cannot come just to pray – we must come to live, to live in Christ. There should be nothing we take for granted in the Mass. And we should not give offence to God by coming to Mass, unprepared to receive the graces He has laid there for us. Mass begins with the gathering of like-minded Christians and it is expected that we have prepared for it. Arriving at the Church as the first hymn begins is not enough.
Our preparation should start as soon as we get out of bed that morning and throughout our normal daily routine we should continue preparing. It is not enough to focus on the destination: Mass, we need to make use of the journey.
Each Sunday should become a pilgrimage to Mass, so much more than an obligation. Perhaps we could arrive fifteen minutes earlier to the Church and join in a parish Rosary, or make use of the Sacrament of Confession.
St Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, teaches us that: ‘Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves.’ (1 Cor 11:27-29)
Therefore it is imperative that we do not receive Holy Communion unless we have the ‘required disposition’ (CCC 1388) and it is not enough to simply turn up to Mass and receive the Eucharist as a sort of right because we have made that Sacrament in our youth.
Further to being in a state of grace, with no unconfessed mortal sins on our soul, we also need to be mindful of the other preparations for our participation at Mass. ‘To prepare for worthy reception of this sacrament, the faithful should observe the fast required in their Church. Bodily demeanour (gestures, clothing) ought to convey the respect, solemnity and joy of this moment when Christ becomes our guest.’ (CCC 1387)
Are we dressed modestly, neatly? Are we participating wholeheartedly in this ritual? Are we acting reverentially and giving our whole attention to God, or are we distracted and bored? Yes, all of these are important factors in our Mass attendance. We can only get out of the Mass, what we put into it. That is, if we are not going to give our very best to God during our celebration of the Eucharist, how can we expect our faith to grow?
So when you next attend Mass, whether it is today, tomorrow or on Sunday, make sure you have prepared well. Go about your usual morning routine with extra emphasis on prayer and preparation for Mass. Wear your Sunday best, if you can dress up to go out on the town, you can dress up for God.
Examine your conscience and travel earlier to the Church if you need to use the Sacrament of Confession. As a general guide, once a month is a good goal for reception of the Sacrament of Confession.
Our journey to Mass is an opportunity for us to acknowledge the people we pass. Perhaps there is someone else on their way to Mass and instead of speeding past them we could offer them a lift. Or we could simply offer our prayers at Mass that day in a special way for those strangers we have driven past that morning.
As a family, perhaps we could pray together in the car, or simply turn the radio off so as to focus on where we are going. And once you enter the Church make sure you are reverent and respectful. Don’t talk and disrupt the prayers of others but kneel down, before and after Mass, and use that time to speak with God and ask him to help you appreciate the awesome experience that is Mass.
From today, resolve to appreciate Mass and treat it with the dignity it deserves. And finally, the following is a quote I heard at a conference on the Mass some years ago. I urge you to think about this before you next attend Mass: ‘CAUTION: entering these rites might be dangerous to your complacency.’
It’s your choice, prepare well and your complacency will be a thing of the past. Lack of preparation will see Mass fall into the category of obligation and receiving the Eucharist will not be the life-giving experience it should be.
Originally posted 2014-12-31 23:56:37.