As a lay person who “goes to mass”, it is easy for me to think that the priest prays the mass and that I am there to cooperate, say the right responses, fulfill my weekend obligation, stand, sit, and kneel at appropriate times, put my envelope into the basket, and go to communion. That was my way of participating most of my life. Not bad!
Gradually, over the years, I have begun to participate in a different way with greater understanding, even if it still looks so much the same. For example, I’ve noticed the conversational nature of the mass. The priest says something and we, the laity respond. In that way we are drawn deeper into participation. It is not just the priest praying the prayers up front, but we pray the prayers together with him. Like in every healthy relationship, there is a listening and speaking, and in this dialogue the mass unfolds. In this reciprocating action, Jesus becomes real.
We learned as children that the priest spoke “in persona Christe”, in the person of Jesus. How true. Yet, how many times do we hear the priest use the pronouns we and us and our, speaking for us all. The priest is also praying in the name of those attending. He is representing us! We all pray and celebrate the mass, together.
What does it mean when we put our money in the collection basket? Ever notice that the money is placed at the foot of the altar before consecration? While I don’t think anyone would say the money is being consecrated, it does represent the givers, their hard work, their charity, even themselves. Are we not offering ourselves as gifts to be blessed? “Through Your goodness we have these gifts to offer.” The priest not only prays in the name of Jesus, but for all of us, together.
When I was in middle school, I served as an altar boy in the chapel of a convent. Later that day a nun asked me what I had done that morning, and I replied that I had said mass. I was quickly corrected, “You did not say mass! Only the priest can say mass.” Yet in my current way of thinking, I prayed the mass along with the priest. That’s part of the communal nature of mass.
With “Participation Plus” we all pray the mass together. Mass is not something we attend like going to an event. It is something we do. By means of the mass we express our individual and communal intimacy with God and become a holier people, the living Body of Christ. We do it together, with each other, and with the priest.
My hope is that when we go to mass that we don’t go out of obligation or just go through the motions because it makes us feel good. My hope is that we will join together, with the priest, to pray the mass and be renewed. In celebrating the mass together we are made into the Church, becoming living stones. It is not only the gifts we offer that are blessed, but our very selves. We are made new-even if just a little bit.
“May the Lord bless and keep you. May he let his face shine upon you, be gracious to you and give you his peace.”
