A Tour through the Mass!

The Sign of Peace

Following the Lord’s Prayer at Mass, we have the Rite of Peace.  This consists of the prayer prayed by the priest, the greeting of peace and the invitation to give each other the sign of peace and then the Sign of Peace itself.

In Christian liturgies, apart from the Roman Liturgy, the Sign of Peace occurs before the Presentation of the Gifts.  This is based on the Gospel verse which suggests that we should be reconciled with our brothers and sisters before we make our sacrifice.  The Roman Liturgy makes a different point which is that the Sign of Peace leads us into and expresses the meaning of communion.

The prayer for peace is as follows: “Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your apostles: Peace I leave you, my peace I give you, look not on our sins, but on the faith of your church, and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will.  Who live and reign forever and ever.”  To which all reply “Amen”.

Notice that it is Christ’s peace that we are talking about.  This is not to be a sign of friendship, but of a peace which goes beyond friendship.  It is not just about who we like, but about all of those to whom Christ calls us to be at peace.  So, a sign of peace with someone we do not like may be more significant than with someone we like or love.  The sign of peace is a call to us to be taken up into the peace and love of Christ.  We seek to be open to whoever might be with us at Mass.  The praying for peace is important because that peace is something we have to pray; it comes to us from God.

So, the greeting is not just ‘Peace be with you’ but ‘The peace of CHRIST be with you always’.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to go beyond the natural ties of family and friendship and to seek peace and unity with all human beings.  Obviously, this is not something which comes naturally but something we seek to open ourselves to God to receive.

We then offer to each other the sign of peace, preferably in the form of a handshake, a movement towards each other.  The concreteness of this gesture is important!

By Fr Frank O’Loughlin