Taking A Closer Look At The Mass

In 2015, Mark’s Gospel was proclaimed at Sunday Masses.  Since his Gospel has only 16 chapters, five weeks during the summer are devoted to John’s Gospel Chapter 6 about Jesus as the Bread of Life.  The Sunday prior to John’s Gospel was the multiplication of the loaves and fish providing sustenance for the hungry crowd who had spent their day listening to Jesus’ teaching.

Although this miracle stands on its own merit signifying God’s mercy for us in Jesus, the multiplication of the loaves and fish also refers to the Last Supper – where Jesus took bread and wine, blessed them and shared them proclaiming “This is my Body…this is my Blood.”  The miracle of the loaves and fish project us into our present day, reminding us that the risen Christ is present in our Eucharistic gatherings nourishing us with His Word and His Body and Blood. 

The bread also symbolizes God’s Word nurturing our spirits as “God’s agenda” is placed before us for reflection and carrying out during the coming week.  Remember how Satan tempted Jesus in the desert to change the stones into bread?  For someone keeping a 40-day fast, this was a very human need.  However, Jesus responds, “We do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from God’s mouth.”  The Psalms often refer to God’s Word as bread.  So the multiplication of the loaves and fishes brings us to today – when Jesus feeds us in every Eucharist. 

Over the next months, these articles will explain the different parts of the Mass.  The more we understand the Mass, the more we can “fully and consciously participate in our worship,” which is the desire of Vatican II.  No longer are parishioners to be passive spectators, but rather active participants.  Some do this by exercising a liturgical ministry – lector, Eucharistic minister, usher, greeter, choir, cantor and/or server.  The majority of us enter into our worship by singing and responding to the prayers.  The more we understand what we do at Mass, the more the Mass can express our faith and deepen it. 

As I reflect upon my almost 39 years of priesthood, many of my brother priests have been an inspiration to me personally and in my ministry.  Following Vatican II, they stuck with it through thick and thin when the Mass changes took place.  This was not an easy task since no one was prepared for these changes.  They encountered anger from parishioners, some of whom stopped going to church feeling the “baby had been thrown out with the bathwater” with these changes. 

Two priests come to mind.  All priests have human faults, failings, weaknesses, varying interests, etc. as persons and officially ordained ministers.  These reflections are not a judgment on any one of us!  One priest ordained before Vatican II would often announce at our annual retreats, “Once I left the seminary, I promised never to read another theology book.”  Perhaps for him, learning was a struggle with classes taught in Latin.  The “fallout” from this decision was that he never kept up with the liturgical changes after 1965. 

The other priest was 86 years old when I had the experience of serving with him as temporary administrator of a parish.  Although he was already retired for several years, he continually read every recent document from the Popes and the U.S. Bishops in order to continue to serve the people.  He thirsted to learn more about the Church’s teachings and will remain forever an inspiration to me.

Father Sauer will continue this look at the Mass in the Jan. 22 issue of The Message.