I have been pondering over the woman at the well scripture today and the profound intimacy in that encounter. It reminds me of coming to the Eucharist in Holy Mass. That is such a profound time of intimacy with Jesus. We, like the woman at the well, should encounter change. That's what love this deep and real does to us. It changes us at our core. When we encounter love like this it leaves such an indelible mark on our soul that we never forget it. Each time we should leave differently than the way we came. We should become one with Jesus, deeper and deeper.
Here's what's on my heart and my mind. Lately, I have been feeling the sense of being disturbed or like I've been cut off from Jesus after entering the Church and preparing for Mass. In looking at why I feel this way, I believe it is this. There is no silence during this time to just be with Jesus. Do we live in a world of such noise that we have to even bring it into our Masses? Are we that fearful of the silence? So much so that we would not know what to do in this great silence? We need to teach about how wonderful the gift of silence is. I also believe it is because of how relaxed we have become in understanding "where" we are and "Who" we are with. We need to understand that we have entered heaven on earth and to the degree we believe and understand that heaven and earth are meeting will be to the degree we respond in this experience and if we truly believe that heaven on earth are meeting then we need to be examples of this, not in an arrogant or condescending way, but out of true love for our brothers and sisters; to teach by example.
I think about the early church and how it must have been for them at Mass. They must have really understood what it meant to enter into this silence and experience Jesus at the core of their being. They surely understood that heaven and earth were meeting. That they were entering into the profound heavenly liturgy and prepared appropriately for it!
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) clearly outlines the critical importance and specific instructions for the place of sacred silence in the Mass: “Sacred silence also, as part of the celebration, is to be observed at the designated times,” the GIRM says. “Its purpose, however, depends on the time it occurs in each part of the celebration. Thus within the Act of Penitence and again after the invitation to pray, all recollect themselves; but at the conclusion of a reading or the homily, all meditate briefly on what they have heard; then after Communion, they praise and pray to God in their hearts.
Even before the celebration itself, it is commendable that silence be observed in the church, in the sacristy, in the vesting room, and in adjacent areas, so that all may dispose themselves to carry out the sacred action in a devout and fitting manner.” (#45)
I do not know about you but I am amazed at all the noise and visiting before Holy Mass that just continues to get worse inside the church! What has happened? Where and why did this start and why is it continuing?
One of the experiences that drew me into the Catholic Church was the first time I went to Mass. This was 1979, I was fifteen years old and it was so quiet in there that you could have heard a pin drop on the carpet! I was in awe at the reverence that I experienced from the people. So much so that it impacted my whole view and understanding that something really different and special was taking place here that wasn't in my protestant church. I was experiencing God in a way that I had never know before. I was so filled with the understanding that I was in God's presence in a way I was not familiar with and I wanted to be a part of that. I did not understand it at that time but I wanted it. It was all because of the silence and really being able to focus on what was going on and most importantly "Who" was there in a very special way! I was really drawn into a reality that this was no casual happening or occurrence.
So where has that gone and why? You walk into a Catholic church nowadays and wonder what is going on. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying every Catholic is like this but for the most part it is so noisy one cannot even concentrate on praying and preparing before Mass!
Have we really forgotten how powerful God's presence is in the Tabernacle? How special it is that He came to be with us in this profound way? Our God, the One who loved us into our very existence, right there in our midst and we cannot even give him the reverence, attention, and love He deserves?
Please my fellow Catholics, let us return to our first love! Mass is not a social gathering and getting caught up on the past weeks events or where we are going to eat afterwards! It is not a time to be casual either in our dress and our actions. By casual I mean please make sure your body is appropriately covered!
Mass is as Vatican II puts it:
"At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the centuries until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us" (
Sacrosanctum Concilium 47). As far back as the Acts of the Apostles and Saint Paul's epistles, we find descriptions of the Christian community gathering to celebrate the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist. In the catacombs in Rome, the tombs of martyrs were used as altars for the celebration of the earliest forms of the Mass, making the tie between the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, its re-presentation in the Mass, and the strengthening of the faith of Christians explicit.
SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM
Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy |
| Second Vatican Council- An excellent reading to more fully understand the Sacred Liturgy. |
We are so privileged to be able to participate in this! It is an honor to be a Catholic and have Holy Mass! Holy Mass is not just another thing to "check off our to do list for the week", it is a profound invitation to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb! Jesus himself gave us this and it has been handed down through many centuries. Remember as St. Paul told us in 1 Cor. 11:27-29, "Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself." This does NOT mean our being in a state of grace and having fasted for one hour only. It also means our interior dispositions AND our exterior dress. Here are the three things we must do before receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist.
Communion - Dispositions to Receive
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The prerequisites for the reception of Holy Communion are 1) being in the state of grace, 2) having fasted for one hour (for the sick 15 minutes if possible, no fast if fasting is not possible), and 3) devotion and attention.1. State of Grace. As St. Paul notes in his letter to Corinth, reception after examining oneself is a prerequisite for worthy reception, otherwise Communion has the opposite from the desired effect of union with our Lord. This is why, out of respect for Christ and our own good, the Church obliges us to be in the state of grace when we receive. It should be noted, however, that some Catholics have the mistaken notion that they cannot go to Communion unless they go to Confession first. This is incorrect. Both the theology of the Church and her law oblige Confession ONLY when there is mortal sin. Confessions of devotion, however, are highly recommended. Thus, two errors are to be avoided, liberalism and rigorism.
1 Cor. 11:27-29
Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.
Canon. 916 A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or to receive the Body of the Lord without prior sacramental confession unless a grave reason is present and there is no opportunity of confessing; in this case the person is to be mindful of the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, including the intention of confessing as soon as possible. [This is a truly exceptional permission that needs to be properly understood. It requires moral or physical impossibility to go to Confession and the necessity to receive Communion - such as a priest who MUST celebrate Mass.]
Canon. 988
1. A member of the Christian faithful is obliged to confess in kind and in number all serious sins committed after baptism and not yet directly remitted through the keys of the Church nor acknowledged in individual confession, of which one is conscious after diligent examination of conscience.
2. It is to be recommended to the Christian faithful that venial sins also be confessed.
2. Fasting for One Hour. By ancient tradition Christians abstain from profane food prior to receiving the sacred food of the Eucharist. Until the pontificate of Pope Pius XII the Eucharistic fast was from midnight. Pope Pius reduced it to three hours, and after Vatican II, Pope Paul VI reduced it to one hour. The current Code of Canon Law states,
Canon 919
1. One who is to receive the Most Holy Eucharist is to abstain from any food or drink, with the exception only of water and medicine, for at least the period of one hour before Holy Communion.
2. A priest who celebrates the Most Holy Eucharist two or three times on the same day may take something before the second or third celebration even if the period of one hour does not intervene.
3. Those who are advanced in age or who suffer from any infirmity, as well as those who take care of them, can receive the Most Holy Eucharist even if they have taken something during the previous hour.
The Eucharistic fast is before Holy Communion, not the Mass. It is a fast from food and drink, water is alright, as is medicine. The moral theology tradition teaches that to be food it must be a) edible, b) taken by mouth, and c) swallowed. In addition to breakfast, lunch and dinner, candies, breath mints, lozanges and anything that is put into the mouth to be dissolved or chewed meets these conditions once the dissolved contents are swallowed. Chewing gum does not break the fast, but it is disrespectful of the Sacred Liturgy and once the juice is swallowed the fast is broken. The tradition also teaches that the fast is strict - one hour, that is, 60 minutes. Given that until recently the fast was from midnight, this seems very little to ask of Catholics.
3. Devotion and Attention. Given the infinite value of the Lord, it should be evident that we should receive Him with great devotion, attending to our reception of Him and not to other matters. St. Paul states,
1 Corinthians 11:28-29 28 Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.
While this certainly applies first and foremost to belief in the Real Presence, it also applies to the practical application of that belief, how we receive Holy Communion. If we had the opportunity to have an intimate meeting with the President or the Pope we would not have our minds, hearts and attention wandering all over the place. How much less ought they to be when receiving Holy Communion. If it is disrespectful to the President or the Pope to ignore them while they are talking to us, how much more serious is it to ignore God when He is giving Himself to us!
Our interior disposition cannot be separated from our exterior disposition. If we go to Communion chatting with our neighbor, or with our hands in our pockets, we are unlikely to have sufficient devotion to receive. A casual posture and behavior bespeaks a casual interior attitude toward something that is holy and deserves our full attention, body and soul. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us,
1387 To prepare for worthy reception of this sacrament, the faithful should observe the fast required in their Church. Bodily demeanor (gestures, clothing) ought to convey the respect, solemnity, and joy of this moment when Christ becomes our guest.
If we do not satisfy the first two conditions (the state of grace and the fast) we may not go to Communion. If we do not satisfy this third one, we ought not go to Communion, unless we correct it by stirring up our fervor. We would receive Our Lord vainly, if we lacked devotion and attention to Him. We could even receive Him sacrilegiously, if we acted as if Holy Communion were NOT Him (1 Cor. 11:29). So, as a matter of morality Catholics must pay attention to their interior and exterior disposition when going to Communion.
So please, again, let us ALL return to our first Love! Let the fervor for Holy Mass be stirred up in our hearts once again. If it is not there for you, ask God to stir it up once again for you. As soon as we walk into the doors of our Church let us be fully aware of exactly what and where we are entering into and Who is awaiting us. We are entering the Wedding Feast of the Lamb! Lets us dress properly for it, prepare for it in the silence of our hearts, and show the reverence and respect to our God and our Creator; the Lover of our souls! Let us once again become aware of the great gift we have while we still have it! Let us not take it for granted! |
