Whenever we experience a change in our cherished rituals it is a matter of concern. And as the Eucharist is our most cherished religious ritual—the very source and summit of our faith—any change in the way we celebrate the Eucharist will naturally produce a certain amount of anxiety.
Rituals, by their very nature, tend to be fixed and unchanging. Think of the rituals in our daily lives: They are set ways of shaking hands, eating with a fork, responding to a letter. And when we are accustomed to a certain way of doing things we seldom ask why we do it that way.
In the Eucharist, too, we have many ritual actions which we perform over and over without asking why. And when some of these rituals change—as they have at various times throughout the history of the Church—the anxiety that these changes might cause can be alleviated by looking carefully at the elements of the ritual that didn’t change.
In this Catholic Update we will “walk through” the ritual prayers and actions of the Eucharist to examine why we do what we do at Mass. I think these explanations will be helpful for the great numbers of Catholics who attend Mass regularly but don’t always remember the reasons behind the various actions of the Mass.
What is the Mass?
The core of the Eucharist never changes. The Mass is Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The bishops at the Second Vatican Council brought together these three mysteries in a multifaceted description of the Mass recalling the Last Supper, the sacrifice of the Cross, and Easter Sunday.
But the Mass is not merely a meal which reminds us of the Last Supper, or a Passion play which helps recall Good Friday, or a Sunrise service which celebrates the Lord’s resurrection. In the Eucharist, when we recall these mysteries of redemption, “the Church opens to the faithful the riches of the Lord’s powers and merits, so that these are in some way made present in every age in order that the faithful may lay hold of them and be filled with saving grace” (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, #102). At every Eucharist, in a real yet mystical way, we become present to these central mysteries of our Faith.
“At the Last Supper, on the night when he was betrayed, our Savior institutes the Eucharistic sacrifice…”The events of Holy Thursday give us the key for understanding the “shape” of Eucharistic ritual.
What do we do at a formal meal? We gather with our family and friends, we talk and share our stories, and then we move to the table. The food is brought to the table, we say grace, and we pass the food and eat and drink. Finally, we take our leave and return to our homes. The Mass has these same four movements: 1) Gathering, 2) Storytelling, 3) Meal sharing and 4) Commissioning.
In a sense, the Gospel of Luke walks us through the Mass in the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24,13-35). The disciples are walking along and the stranger catches up to them; 1) they gather together; 2) they tell their story and recall the Scriptures; 3) they recognize him in the “breaking of bread” and 4) they dash back to Jerusalem to share their joy with the other disciples. Notice the same four movements: Gathering, Storytelling, Meal sharing and Commissioning. Next weekend we will begin taking a closer look at each part.
Excerpt from “Catholic Update: A Walk Through the Mass” by Thomas Richstatter, O.F.M., is used by permission of St. Anthony Messenger Press, 28 W. Liberty St., Cincinnati, OH 45202. 800-488-0488. www.americancatholic.org. ©2011. All rights reserved.
The five workshops sponsored by the Diocesan Office of Worship ended last Saturday, October 1^st. If you did not attend a workshop you can pick up a handout that was distributed at the workshops. They can be found on the table in the gathering area. This handout includes the text changes in the parts of the people which will begin the 1^stweekend of Advent, November 26-27.