Active Participation at MASS
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July 20, 2023Last week, I shared how celebrating the Eucharist as one community is the primary way of celebrating Sunday, the Lord’s Day. This week, I want to share how important it is for all of us to participate in, and not simply “watch” the mass.
The celebration of Mass is an act of the whole assembly gathered for worship. In the Mass, the Church is joined to the action of Christ. The Liturgy is designed to bring about in all those who make up the worshiping assembly a “participation of the faithful, namely in body and in mind, a participation fervent with faith, hope, and charity” (GIRM, no. 18). To the extent that we are able to participate in this way, the work of redemption becomes personally effective for each of us. By such participation we make the actions and prayers of the Liturgy our own; we enter more fully into our personal communion with Christ’s redeeming act and perfect worship.
Bishops and priests are called to act in the Liturgy in the very person of Christ, on behalf of his people, pronouncing the most sacred prayers of our faith, presiding over the celebration of the sacred mysteries, explaining God’s Word and feeding God’s People on the Body and Blood of Christ. In the celebration of the Mass deacons proclaim the Gospel, occasionally preach the homily, and assist the bishop and priest in exercising their sacred duties.
In addition, some roles in the Liturgy are exercised by lay people who place their time and talent at the service of the liturgical assembly as altar servers, lectors, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, choir members and ushers. Others contribute their time and talent to keeping the church and the vestments, vessels, and appointments clean and well ordered; or to providing decorations that reflect the spirit of the liturgical season.
This catalog of specialized roles might give the impression that those who are not exercising one of these roles are free to sit back passively and simply let the Liturgy happen around them. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those who come together for Liturgy do not have the luxury of acting as spectators, waiting for all to be done for them. “Full, conscious, and active participation” in the Liturgy is not only their right but also their duty and their responsibility. That responsibility includes full engagement throughout the liturgical celebration. The baptized faithful who forms the congregation are called to join in praise and thanksgiving in song and spoken word, to listen attentively to God’s Word, and to exercise their baptismal priesthood in prayer for the Church and the world. Their participation culminates in the reception of the Body and Blood of the Lord, the sacrament that unites them more fully with Christ their Head and with one another.
We need to be aware that “participation” does not refer primarily to external activity or function during the celebration of Mass; rather, it refers to a deeply spiritual, interior participation of mind and heart, filled with devotion and penetrating the very depths of the mysteries we celebrate. When we play our roles in the Liturgy with our bodies, minds, and hearts fully engaged, we make to God a perfect sacrifice of praise.
