By Father Lawrence E. Mick | Compiled by the Office of Worship, Diocese of Honolulu

A royal priesthood

Most Catholics are aware that we cannot celebrate the Eucharist without a priest. While this no doubt makes priests feel needed, it can have an unfortunate side effect. Sometimes it leads us to think of the Mass as something that the priest does for the rest of the church. In fact, the Mass is something that we all do together. We need a priest to lead us, but he needs us to worship with him, too.

The first part of the Roman Missal, called the General Instruction, says that “the celebration of the Eucharist is an action of the whole Church.” It goes on to say that the people who gather for Mass form “the People of God, purchased by Christ’s Blood, gathered together by the Lord, nourished by his word. It is a people called to bring to God the prayers of the entire human family, a people giving thanks in Christ for the mystery of salvation by offering his Sacrifice. Finally, it is a people made one by sharing in the Communion of Christ’s Body and Blood. Though holy in its origin, this people nevertheless grows continually in holiness by its conscious, active, and fruitful participation in the mystery of the Eucharist” (#5).

We’ve heard that term a lot in recent years, haven’t we? “Full, conscious, active participation by all the people” in the Mass — that’s what the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s called the “aim to be considered before all else” (CSL, # 14) in the reform and promotion of the liturgy. The council was so concerned about this because it recognized that this kind of participation “is the primary and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true Christian spirit.” It is by our taking part in the offering of the Mass that we are to become more and more like Christ. It is our primary path to holiness.

The council fathers insisted such participation is our right and duty by reason of our baptism, because through baptism, we have become “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people” (1 Peter 2:9). We all share in the priesthood of Christ, and it is Christ who offers his sacrifice to the Father whenever Mass is celebrated. Thus the council said this full participation is “called for by the very nature of the liturgy.” All the baptized form Christ’s body, and it is the whole Christ, head and members, who offers the sacrifice of the Mass.

Perhaps one of the most important things we might learn from this Year of the Eucharist is the importance of the assembly at Mass. Sometimes we think that our presence or our participation doesn’t matter much. But each one of us is important to the celebration of the liturgy. We each have a role to play that no one else can do for us. Only together can we offer God proper worship. Let us all lift up our voices and our hearts to the Lord as we share in Christ’s sacrifice.

Welcoming the Lord

Imagine that you are coming to church next Sunday. As you come through the door, you realize that someone is right behind you and you naturally hold the door open for that person. As he comes in behind you, you suddenly realize that it is Jesus himself, looking just as you always imagined him. What do you do now? What do you say?

I suspect most of us would do whatever we could to make Jesus feel welcome in our community. Of course, it’s not very likely that he will show up next Sunday, looking like a first-century Jewish rabbi. He will show up here, but he’ll probably look different from our usual image of him. Christ will arrive looking like your neighbor or your friend, or perhaps like a person you’ve never met before. He might look like a member of your family, or he might look like a homeless person who needs a bath and a haircut.

Our faith tells us that Christ dwells in every member of his body, that we can find him in the people who gather with us here every Sunday. That’s the deepest reason for us to be hospitable to one another as we assemble for the Eucharist.

So often, we hear people say that the Catholic Church is not very friendly. When strangers visit a Protestant church, they are usually warmly greeted and made to feel quite welcome. Many people report a very different experience in the Catholic Church. Of course, many Catholic parishes are very large, which makes it harder to know who is a visitor and who is a member of the parish. Maybe that just gives us even more reason to be hospitable toward everyone around us, whether stranger or friend.

Through the week, all of us who are members of the body of Christ are scattered throughout our community. On Sunday, when we come to Mass, we need to reconnect with the other members of the body. Smiling and saying hello to those who gather with us can help us to connect again. Brief conversations about family members and other concerns can express the love of Christ that binds us to one another.

This is not irreverent in church, because it is the way that we welcome the Lord into our midst. Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). His presence in one another is the first way that he reveals himself to us at Mass. Reverence requires us to recognize him there and to respond to him in one another. This doesn’t have to be loud and raucous, but it does have to be sincere and caring.

This gathering and reconnecting with the other members of the body is an important step in getting ready for Mass. Christ invites all of us to share in his sacrificial offering to the Father. We can only do that as members of Christ’s body, so linking up with the other members of the body helps us to get ready to worship together. How will you welcome Christ the next time we gather here?

Follow the leader

When we were children, many of us played the game Follow the Leader. As we move through life, we often find it necessary or helpful to follow someone who can lead us into new knowledge or skills or who leads a team at work or on the sports field.

The liturgy has a leader, too. What leader do we follow through the various parts of our worship? One answer is that the priest or bishop is the one who leads us at Mass. A deeper answer is that the true leader of our worship is Christ himself.

The sacrifice of the Mass is Christ’s sacrifice. We are invited to join him in offering praise and thanks to the Father in his act of worship. He is our leader, and we are all called to follow the leader. Because it is really Christ who leads us through the ministry of the priest or bishop, the church speaks of Christ’s presence in the presider as the second way that Christ reveals himself to us at the Eucharist.

Those among us who have been around a few years may remember when we commonly spoke of the priest as “another Christ.” Since those times, we have learned that priests have clay feet just like the rest of us. That may make it a little harder to see Christ working through the priest at Mass.

Yet it is important for us to do so. We need to remember that Christ has chosen to work through imperfect human beings. Christ lives in and works through each of us who are baptized, sinners though we are. The church has long taught that the validity of the sacraments does not depend on the holiness of the priest. Our tradition speaks of the sacraments working “ex opere operato.” That Latin phrase really means that Christ acts in the sacraments, regardless of the holiness of the priest. It reminds us that Christ is able to work through us no matter how serious our own limitations.

If Christ is the true leader of our worship, then reverence requires us to respond to his invitation to join him in worshipping the Father. To refuse to take part is to reject his invitation, a sign of irreverence. Our participation in the Mass — singing and praying and sitting and standing and kneeling and processing — is one way we show reverence to Christ.

Of course, Christ does not issue this invitation for his sake but for ours. Participating in the Mass is the primary way that Christians grow in holiness. As we give ourselves to the action of the liturgy, we are drawn closer to the Lord who leads us. As we enter into the sacrifice of Christ, we learn to love as he loves.

Some days we may find it easy to enter into the liturgy; other days it may take a real effort on our part. That effort is a gift we offer the Lord, following his lead and joining in his worship. Each of us has a vital role to play in making the Mass what it should be. None of us can make that happen alone, but together we can give God fitting thanks and praise.

© 2004 Lawrence E. Mick. This series was originally written by Father Mick for the Worship Office of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Distributed by the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions (FDLC) 415 Michigan Avenue, NE, Suite 70, Washington DC 20017. Used with permission.