On the Mass

Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki offers a clear, back-to-basics meditation on the new translation of the liturgy. This is welcome news to come across because I often get the impression that many well-intentioned lay Catholics are simply unaware of what liturgy actually is. Catholic liturgical culture in America has been heavily diluted by Protestant terminology, even theology, not to mention the soft-sofa, new age spirituality/psychobabble most conspicuously embodied and pushed by Oprah. The result of this assault has been a sad and widespread undermining in belief in the Real Presence and a loss of our authentic Catholic culture and identity.

Here are some choice excerpts from Archbishop Listecki's piece, from the Catholic Herald:

The new translation gives us an opportunity to think and reflect about the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Our Sunday worship is the central act of worship of the Catholic Church. It is the highest form of prayer. There is nothing more important in our lives than worship. When we worship God, we acknowledge he has supreme dominion over our lives. ...

When a priest celebrates Mass, he is at one with his ordained calling. At Mass, the priest offers the unbloody sacrifice of Christ on Calvary for our good and the good of the whole world. Christ is freely offering himself to the Father as an appeasement for our sins and the sins of all. Hopefully, this will be an opportunity for the priest himself to deepen his personal relationship with the Holy Sacrifice and enhance his role as leader of the community in prayer. ...

The Mass is also a sacred banquet at which we receive his Body and Blood, the heavenly food. I recently heard a TV talk show host and his panel member openly mock the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. They both were former Catholics who obviously never understood the nature of the sacrament or integrated that reality into their faith lives. Their mocking anger was a demonstration that their faith was weak and their lives were based in a rejection of “mystery.” How sad! ...

How do we approach the second person of the Blessed Trinity who comes to us under the form of bread and wine? Of course we should approach with profound reverence. What the General Instruction recommends is a bow before reception. I have noticed that only about a third of those who are receiving Communion bow before reception. I do not attribute any disrespect, but it is a missed opportunity by some to acknowledge the reality of Christ’s presence and to witness that reality to others.