As we get ready to enter into the Easter Triduum, I want to pause and ask, "How should we act at Mass?" This question is not for priests and I'm not going to discuss how they should say the Holy Mass. That's not my place. I think Pope Benedict XVI has got that covered.
Rather, I'm interested in how we the laity should approach both internally and externally the Sacred liturgy. This question is even more important to me because I have children. Children change everything. Ignorance might be bliss for a solitary life, but when you have souls you have been entrusted to lead to heaven, ignorance might become your judgment. So, right now I am trying to teach them how to act in Mass. That can be a tough thing, especially when they are young, but in the process of trying to teach them it has actually become clear how easy it is.It's Jesus and it's really that simple.
The Mass 101:
- We cross ourselves with Holy Water reminding ourselves of our Baptism into Christ
- We genuflect to Christ reminding ourselves that He's there
- We pray to Christ to ready ourselves for the sacred mystery
- We stand as the priest in persona Christi processes into the church
- We repent and ask Christ for mercy on us for we are sinners
- We enter into the mystery of salvation history in the Old Testament and the Psalms which point forward to Christ
- We listen to a New Testament reading that points backward to Christ
- We stand at the reading of the Gospel: The Words of Christ
And then...
Like at the Last Supper, drawn into the very mystery of the God-Man, we wait to hear what the Holy One will say. We have been at meals before and know what might come next. However, everything is different this time. The God who with His Word created the Universe and set into motion the galaxies, the same God who with His Word entered time and space as a Holy Blastula in the womb of the Virgin, turned water to wine, stopped the raging storm, and walked on water--took bread in His sacred hands.
And then we are left speechless when He says...
"This is My Body"
"This is My Blood"
And it is at this moment that I bend down and whisper into my son's ear, "That's Jesus. The entire universe is focused on this one moment."
How should we act in Mass? I think it's really that simple.
May your Holy Easter Triduum be filled with awe and wonder.
