Revering Jesus in the Mass

By Bishop Paul S. Loverde
Special to the Herald
(From the issue of 6/24/04)

Pope John Paul II recently asked the Church to consider the coming liturgical year, starting this October, as the "Year of the Eucharist." In response to our Holy Father’s desire, I will ask our diocesan Priests’ Council to consider how our diocese might deepen its reverence for Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. Each of us, though, would do well to reflect on some practical aspects of worship in the Mass which bear on our very relationship to Christ.

Simply put, if Jesus is with us in the Word and His sacraments and, in a unique way, in the Eucharist, do we act like it? When we awake on Sunday mornings, do we prepare to meet Him? When we enter our parishes, do our words, postures and gestures correspond to the reality of His presence?

Recently our country mourned the passing of former President Ronald Reagan. I was struck by a recurring theme in the eulogies and memories voiced in that week-long goodbye. Many remembered President Reagan for his graciousness, and more than one friend or colleague of his noted that he related to everyone – from the Queen of England to his chauffeurs and bodyguards – with equal respect, manners, and grace.

As disciples of Christ and keepers of His two-fold commandment to love God and love our neighbor, there is a real sense in which our attentiveness and reverence for the Eucharist and our love for our neighbor are equal and inseparable. As Pope John Paul has written, "If our Eucharistic worship is authentic, it must make us grow in awareness of the dignity of each person....Christ comes into the hearts of our brothers and sisters and visits their consciences. How the image of each and every one changes, when we become aware of this reality, when we make it the subject of our reflections! The sense of the Eucharistic Mystery leads us to a love for our neighbor, to a love for every human being" (Dominicae Cenae 6).

Nonetheless, while there should be a seamless quality to our behavior during the Mass and during the rest of the week, there are ways in which our participation in the Mass can demonstrate our awareness of His presence and our preparation to receive Him. After all, when we cross the threshold to go to Mass, we do not take our seats and passively watch a spectacle, a production. For good reasons, our dress and manner in church differs.

We encounter Christ’s presence in a special way in the Mass. We meet His grace and reconciliation in the Penitential Rite; hear His Word in the reading of the scriptures; apply the scriptures and the teachings of the Church to our lives in the homily; and join our voices "with angels and archangels in their continuous song of praise." After all this, we then receive His Body and Blood with respect and reverence.

The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council reminded us that we are, by virtue of our baptism, "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people" (I Pet 2:9). As such, we should be led to "full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14).

Full, conscious, and active – these are challenging words for us to hear and apply.

Each of us – whether ordained or not – is called, as members of a royal priesthood, to take part in the Mass. Far from being passive and nonchalant observers, we are called to consciously live out our priestly duties and actively participate.

Our participation is not merely individual. The Mass is not just a private devotion. The liturgy is the public worship of the People of God offered to the Father through His Son Jesus Christ in the unity of the Holy Spirit. This worship necessarily requires the presence of a bishop or priest. The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us: "It is in representing him [Christ] that the bishop or priest acting in the person of Christ the head presides over the whole assembly, speaks after the readings, receives the offerings, and says the Eucharistic Prayer" (CCC 1348). At the same time, the Catechism continues, "All have their own active parts to play in the celebration, each in his own way…" (CCC 1348). Our priestly actions, then – both common and ministerial – work in tandem to offer the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ to the Father.

In the Mass, we gather as a community, acting in harmony. If we do not act in union but instead come to believe that the liturgy is our own private possession, to be manipulated according to our subjective desires, our unity is turned into confusion and we are hindered as a body from entering fully, consciously, and actively into the prayer of the Mass.

To strengthen our unity, our liturgical texts have rubrics, or authoritative rules and directions given to create order and harmony in the Mass. These rubrics guide not only our minds and souls, but our bodies as well.

The Mass invites us to make a variety of gestures and postures that have profound meaning. When these are done with reverence, they deepen our personal participation in the Mass. At the same time, they are both a symbol of our unity and a means to foster that unity. Standing is a sign of respect and honor. The posture of kneeling signifies penance and the awareness of our sins, homage and reverence to Our Lord, and adoration of the One God. Sitting is the posture of meditation and listening.

Our gestures intensify our prayer at Mass. Besides the Sign of the Cross, we strike our breast at the words "through my own fault" in the Confiteor, thereby strengthening our awareness that we bear the responsibility for our sins. In the Creed we bow, in a spirit of profound respect and gratitude to Christ, at the words which commemorate His Incarnation: "by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary and became man."

As we approach and receive Him in the Eucharist, we are asked to stand. Clearly, Holy Communion is never to be denied to those who kneel, but such instances should be addressed pastorally, by providing the faithful with proper catechesis on the reasons for this norm (GIRM 160, USA Adaptations). When receiving Holy Communion, we bow our head before the Sacrament as a gesture of reverence. We receive the consecrated host either on the tongue or in the hand at our discretion.

On our knees in those quiet and prayerful moments following Holy Communion, we thank the Lord for His goodness to us.

As we prepare for the Year of the Eucharist, let us give witness fully, consciously, and actively that we are indeed the Mystical Body of Christ, united in body, mind and spirit. Let us renew our reverence and respect for the sacrament of the Eucharist. In the unity of our incorporation into the Body of Christ that we have received at Baptism and the communion which is achieved by our sharing the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, let us be renewed and strengthened so that we may continue to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth, the disciples of Jesus Christ until the day the Bridegroom comes and like the five wise virgins, we enter into our eternal reward. Amen.

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