WEDDING BANQUET THE MASS

THE WEDDING BANQUET THE MASS

Teenagers often resist attending Mass. A reasonable (if unpopular) parental response is, “As long as you live under my roof and eat the food I provide, you’re going to Mass on Sunday, young man!” It takes decades to begin to love the Mass and to incorporate the Mass into our lives, and a little coercion along Biblical lines can help to reveal the urgency of God’s law.

This is why the temptation to “jazz up” the Mass to “appeal to the young people” is so dangerous.  It replaces the discipline of true love with the appeals of the superficial pleasures of our consumer society. (So help the parents and stick to the liturgical texts and rubrics, Father.)

The Mass, of course, has two major components, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. During the Liturgy of the Word, we ponder the word of God.  During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we enter into the saving mystery of Christ and receive Holy Communion, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus. The Liturgy of the Eucharist – the unbloody re-presentation of the Cross and Resurrection – completes the Mass and is the pinnacle of all worship.  The Mass, with its Contemplation and Communion, is a participation in the Kingdom of heaven.

This pattern of contemplation and communion is perfectly compatible with human nature. Before a man and woman exchange marriage promises, they get to know each other, spend time with each other, and listen to each other.  This is an echo of the contemplation of the Liturgy of the Word.

The love of a husband and wife that follows marriage is a reflection of Communion, the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Sacrament of Marriage is, in the final analysis, a participation in the New and Everlasting Covenant, the marriage of the glorified Christ with His Mystical Body the Church.

The Penitential Rite is crucial to all this. Calling to mind our sins helps to repeatedly consider – and reject – the obstacles to our love for God and neighbor.  The communal Act of Contrition teaches us to repeat the same gesture outside of Mass, asking for forgiveness and being reconciled. The Mass teaches us to conduct our lives God’s way, not our way. This is the stuff of heavenly glory.

The Mass – the contemplation of the Word followed by the happiness of communion with Christ – not only brings us the grace of Christ. The structure of the Mass and honoring the Sunday obligation provides us with a template for every healthy and loving human relationship. Love of God and love of neighbor are inseparable. His happiness is our happiness, in the marriage of the human with the Divine.

In a very practical way, we can test and evaluate our aspirations – and our happiness – every time we attend Mass, the heavenly marriage banquet. But getting it right takes a seriousness of purpose over a lifetime with, please God, a lot of help from faithful clergy.

© 2017