Understanding our Faith

Let’s look at the Mass again!

Two or three years back in this series in the newsletter, we went through the Mass and looked at each of its parts.  I would like to propose that we do that again and develop further what was written then.

The Mass is a constant and crucial part of the life of the People of God.  I would like to start this series by looking particularly at the role which the People of God are called to play in the celebration of Mass. 

A good place to start is with the formal description of the Mass given in the official Roman Missal itself.  We find this description in the Introduction to the Missal in no. 27.  It says:

“At Mass or the Lord’s Supper the people of God is called together, with a priest presiding and acting in the person of Christ, to celebrate the memorial of the Lord or Eucharistic Sacrifice.”

Notice that the celebration of the Mass is seen as something done by the whole People of God.  The priest’s role is made explicit, but he is there to fulfil one particular ministry.  He does not celebrate and the People of God join in, rather the whole People of God celebrates and within that celebration, the priest has a crucial part.

I don’t think that this principle has been put into effect sufficiently in the celebrations which take place Sunday by Sunday in Catholic parishes.  It sems to me that both among the people and among priests, the Mass is too often seen as something which the priest does and which the people take part in at a secondary level.  It is still too often “Father’s Mass”! 

This has been a way of thinking among Catholics for a very long time and for that reason has become the spontaneous way in which we tend to think when we are not thinking, so to speak.  It became the mentality with which we Catholics approached and approach the Mass.

To encourage a situation more in line with the actual official description of the Mass, takes time to think about it and to understand it and then to discover the repercussions of this new – but also ancient – way of thinking.  As this series goes on, we will look at the meaning of the various parts of the Mass and what sort of things might be more in line with the above description.

By Fr Frank O’Loughlin

 

 

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