IT
IS BORING, WE SAY
So often it is heard that catholic worship and devotions are boring or dull. The central worship the Mass is unfortunately described as such, it is not too sad when described as such non-Catholics but a tragedy and almost sacrilegious when it comes from Catholics.
What is the Mass anyway? Paragraph #1323 of the catechism of the Catholic Church on the sacrament of the Eucharist states that “At the last supper on the night he was betrayed, our Saviour instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of His Body and Blood. This He did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages 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 filled with grace and a pledge of future glory is given to us.”
A true reflection on this explanation of the Catechism on the Eucharist and a sincere participation in this ‘O admirables commercium’ - wonderful exchange should help extinguish the thoughts that sacred mysteries of the Eucharist which is communication of God’s unending and unconditional love for us is dull or boring. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a renewal of the most important, critical event that occurred, the infinite sacrifice of God the Son, Jesus, to God the Father, on the cross on Calvary but and not an entertainment. What Jesus does always works and is never boring.
The Mass is boring. Boring! Of course it is boring if we do not understand the reason behind the posture we take when praying, or the reason behind why we stand or kneel. The Mass is boring because we approach the Mass bored. How many times have we opened our Bible and read the readings before coming to Mass? What does it cost to take a few minutes and look up the readings and think about them, to mull them over and carry them around in the back of our mind during the week? Ask yourself what is going on here? Who is the audience that is being addressed? Is there something I can learn here that applies to my current situation in life? How can I apply it?
Mass will only continue to be boring because we have not put the time or effort into resolving our dilemma. Think about the way the Mass is broken into sections. Why are we saying an act of contrition? What is the purpose of doing that? “Repent for kingdom of heaven is at hand!" (Mt 3:2) What are we preparing for?
So often it is heard that catholic worship and devotions are boring or dull. The central worship the Mass is unfortunately described as such, it is not too sad when described as such non-Catholics but a tragedy and almost sacrilegious when it comes from Catholics.
What is the Mass anyway? Paragraph #1323 of the catechism of the Catholic Church on the sacrament of the Eucharist states that “At the last supper on the night he was betrayed, our Saviour instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of His Body and Blood. This He did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages 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 filled with grace and a pledge of future glory is given to us.”
A true reflection on this explanation of the Catechism on the Eucharist and a sincere participation in this ‘O admirables commercium’ - wonderful exchange should help extinguish the thoughts that sacred mysteries of the Eucharist which is communication of God’s unending and unconditional love for us is dull or boring. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a renewal of the most important, critical event that occurred, the infinite sacrifice of God the Son, Jesus, to God the Father, on the cross on Calvary but and not an entertainment. What Jesus does always works and is never boring.
The Mass is boring. Boring! Of course it is boring if we do not understand the reason behind the posture we take when praying, or the reason behind why we stand or kneel. The Mass is boring because we approach the Mass bored. How many times have we opened our Bible and read the readings before coming to Mass? What does it cost to take a few minutes and look up the readings and think about them, to mull them over and carry them around in the back of our mind during the week? Ask yourself what is going on here? Who is the audience that is being addressed? Is there something I can learn here that applies to my current situation in life? How can I apply it?
Mass will only continue to be boring because we have not put the time or effort into resolving our dilemma. Think about the way the Mass is broken into sections. Why are we saying an act of contrition? What is the purpose of doing that? “Repent for kingdom of heaven is at hand!" (Mt 3:2) What are we preparing for?
Why do we recite the Gloria? What purpose does it
serve? "Save us, O God, our savior, gather us and deliver us
from the nation, That we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in
praising you." (1 Chr 16:35) (Ps 106:47)
“ Hallelujah! Give thanks to the Lord, who is good, whose love endures
forever ” (Ps 106:1)
Why do we kneel at
certain times of the Mass? What does it say when we stand at other times? Are
they signs of reverence or honor? Who are we honoring at that point in time?
Why do we sign ourselves with the cross on the forehead, mouth, and heart at
the beginning of the Gospel? We complain that the songs, hymns or chants are old and slow but how many times do we consciously ponder of the words in the hymns in our hearts as Our Mother Mary did. In pondering over the words in them and not singing by our lips alone but by our hearts we will discover beauty of praising God in them. It was not philosophical o theological discourse alone that won St. Augustine’s mind and heart but the beautiful chant he heard emanating from St. Ambrose’s cathedral. It was as he said “the singing church that led people across the centuries to enter the church”. The catholic hymns, songs and chants is so profound that it cannot adequately substituted for the so called ‘modern or energetic’ ones sung in the Evangelical and Charismatic churches. This is not to say that it cannot be blended with the catholic ones.
It is time to stop looking at being entertained at Mass and consciously and truly participate in the Mass and also not only sing with our lips but with our hearts whiles pondering over the words in the songs. The Mass is not an entertainment but rather a celebration, let us be happy and celebrate the great sacrifice that Jesus set for us all.
Prayerfully and respectfully the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is never boring.
