Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

      As we How-To Mass as a way to draw closer to God and the community, to enter more perfectly into Christ’s Holy Sacrifice, then that will require us to set aside our personal DIY attitudes to Mass. If one comes to Mass to do it yourself, then you are not really trying to How-To Mass with God & Church. 

      Have you ever walked into a movie or stage production without knowing the premise of the show? I remember years ago attending an on-stage production mistakenly thinking it was one show when it was a very different show. My ignorance left me a little disoriented. Once I finally realized this was a different show, I could consciously attempt to track what was happening, but it was more difficult to keep the characters, sets, and twists in mind. It was well produced and excellently acted, but had I had some sense of the narrative arc, I would have been better equipped to engage with it.

      I think about this as a helpful How-To when we come to Mass. If you are a lifetime Catholic, you enter into Mass knowing the settings, the various ‘acts’ – primarily, Liturgy of the Word and Liturgy of the Eucharist, the typical flow. You know even the basic particulars of your church, such as where is the bathroom and how does ‘traffic flow’ for the distribution of Holy Communion. We can know the liturgical season which will put a special context to our work & worship of God. The way we encounter God in Lent looks & feels different than Advent, or Easter or Ordinary time. Keeping all these things in mind & heart as we come to Mass can help us to How-To Mass better. Many a first timer to a Catholic Mass has commented (often in an OCIA session) that Mass was initially disorienting. That is not the goal, but it is quite understandable. If you are accompanying someone to Mass who is new, it is good to help them get oriented. This does not mean you need to give them a whole lesson on Liturgy, but a few simple aids and discrete directions as the Mass progresses can be a way of helping them to How-To.

       Whether it’s your first Mass or thousandth Mass, one important way to How-To better at Mass is to have reviewed the readings before you listen to them Proclaimed in the Liturgy. Be honest with yourself, how often do you pick up on everything the first time you hear it? Me – never! In fact, I often need to read something rather than simply listen to it, to really get some comprehension and memory. So, one powerful way to How-To Mass better is to prayerfully read or listen to the readings prior to the Mass. Who & what is talked about. Which Prophet or Old Testament reading are we hearing? What was going on during their time of authorship? How might the First Reading and the Gospel connect – theme, place, event, fulfillment? Is the continuous reading in the Second Reading strengthening the First & Gospel connection? Is St Paul (a vast majority of 2nd Readings are from Paul’s Letters) giving me some entirely different teaching about God that is worth my time, prayer, & reflection. Knowing what readings will be read ahead of time will help you hear them anew. You are not disoriented by the initial way finding & you can settle into the reading proclaimed.

       And yet, when we gather for Mass, we are not gathered to sit together and read privately. We do not participate in the Liturgy of the Word DIY style. We listen collectively. The Word is meant to be spoken. It is the Incarnate Word that saves. And Jesus is Incarnately present in a special way as the lector, deacon, priest proclaims the Word aloud. Jesus did not simply write a book and leave it for us. We Catholics would be better served to How-To the Mass if we had a greater familiarity with the whole of the Scriptures in the Bible; and yet, in the work of the People which is the Liturgy, we don’t gather to read together but to listen to the Word Proclaimed. As such, it really is better to listen with alert minds & hearts & ears to the Word proclaimed rather than to follow along in the hymnal lectionary. The hymnal lectionary is really provided for pre-Mass reading & reflection. Yes, some of our members may have hearing issues; as such, they follow along in the book so as to follow along will all. But if you feel your experience of the Word is hampered, not helped, by the lector proclaiming it, then you may be slipping into a DYI approach to the Mass – somehow a me & Jesus rather than We & Jesus of the Liturgy. I know many well intentioned & holy members of our parish read along with the lector. I would suggest that you will hear the Word differently than you will read it. And maybe God wants to speak something to you in the corporate worship, that you won’t read in your private reading. Reading before Mass, will give you the script to pray & enjoy the shared drama together.

Nothing Less than saints for the Holy Family of God.

Holy Family, who worshiped God, Pray for us.

~ Fr Jeremy M. Gries