Why Isn’t the Mass Adequately Explained?
theophilus August 28th, 2010
A few months back, I went to my first Mass in the Extraordinary Form (i.e. the Mass as it was before 1969). I went more out of curiousity than anything else.
I was taken by two things during the course of the Mass.
The first thing was how devout it all was. My focus was on Christ and the priest; my attention drawn to the altar at all times. I was lost at times, but God’s holiness permeated every word and action.
The second thing that struck me was how much of the Mass is audible only to the celebrant. A great deal of the Mass is said by the celebrant to God alone. It is truly he standing in the person of Christ offering a sacrifice to God for our redemption and salvation.
Nevertheless, for the first time, I began to understand why the Mass changed. The congregation didn’t feel part of what was going on. They felt like bystanders, especially as the celebrant and servers went beyond the threshold of the sanctuary closed off by the communion rail. They didn’t feel unified as a body; but instead were left to internally pray and worship. Heck, even responses were sung by the choir, not the congregation. The Mass was an obligation. Too many just didn’t get it.
Of course, all of that was supposed to change with the current Mass. We sing and respond together, not just listen to a choir. We hear and respond in our venacular language, not Latin. We hear and participate with the celebrant throughout the Mass. Our modern churches are designed for us to be part of the sanctuary and to catch the eyes of our neighbors.
And to many, the Mass is still lost on them. They are still empty come Monday morning. Mass is still an obligation to be endured or avoided. It doesn’t hold their attention. They just don’t get it. Heck, our pastor felt the need this week to remind parents of first graders that Sunday Mass was indispensable to their child’s preparation for First Communion in second grade (he even warned that the Church would postpone a child’s First Communion if the family was not attending Mass on a regular basis).
The Mass is meant to transform; not leave us the same walking out as we were walking in. The Mass is meant to lift our mind, heart and soul to heaven and the divine; not entertain. The Mass is meant to help us on our pilgrimage to our eternal life; not be a checkoff box on our daily task list in this life.
I’ve been pondering all of this for the past month or so. And I keep coming back to one thought. Is a large part of the problem (then and now) that the Mass isn’t really explained? What exactly is going on up there? What is the purpose of everything? Why should we care? From talking to my parents and their generation, I know it wasn’t adequately explained to them. And, speaking from personal experience, I know that it certainly wasn’t explained adequately to my generation.
It’s a shame that it took me until my forties to get the Mass. What changed it for me was something very simple. I bought a Missal and read through it, even using it sporadically in Mass. And then, over the course of the past two months, I have been going to Mass every day. For the first time, I am starting to really get it.
Over the next few posts, I think I’m going to write about what I’ve learned from my Missal and daily attendance about the Mass. I don’t care whether people have a preference for the Extraordinary Mass or the current Mass. I personally would love to alternate between the two. Too me, the important thing is that people GO to Mass, not bail on it; and that people WORSHIP at Mass, not just show up.
I want Mass to be as indispensable to people as breathing and eating. It is a gift, a grace, a mystery – all given to us by Christ through his Church. We need the Mass and we should want it with every fiber of our being.












