On 31 August, for the occasion of the first Pilgrimage to Lourdes of the combined Dioceses of Achonry and Elphin, Bishop Kevin Doran celebrated Mass at the Marian Grotto. In his homily, he extended to pilgrims, and to those joining by webcam from home, the invitation to gather regularly for Sunday Mass. This invitation coincides with the launch of the new pastoral message of the Bishops of Ireland, Why Sunday Matters. During his homily Bishop Doran, reflecting on the Sunday readings, commented that the Eucharist is about the worship of God and authentic worship calls for humility. He also encouraged parents and parishes to return to the practice of encouraging young people to participate in the liturgy by Serving Mass.
Homily
- “It was as an altar server that my own closeness to the Eucharist and my own vocation was nourished” – Bishop Doran
Most of us have a favourite place, or perhaps more than one, where we feel at peace with ourselves and with the world. It might be on the side of a mountain, or on a particular stretch of river. It might just be your own back garden. Quite often, amid the beauty of creation, our hearts are lifted to God our Creator.
In every religious tradition, there are Sacred Spaces where people gather. For us today, it is the Grotto here in Lourdes. For the Hebrew people down through the ages, it was the Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple was the visible sign of God’s presence among his people; the place where they came to offer Sacrifice. In our second reading today, the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews speaks about the New Jerusalem. It is not so much one particular place; it is more a relationship in which the whole Church is gathered, together with the angels and the saints, to share in the life of the Risen Jesus.
People often comment these days that we don’t gather as much as we used to. We send texts and emails; we chat on WhatsApp and other platforms; we shop online and we live-stream our sports. It is all very convenient, but it doesn’t build relationships. We are created for relationship, and gathering is an essential part of that.
This weekend, the Irish Bishops have published a pastoral message in which we renew the invitation of Jesus for all Catholics to come regularly to the Sunday Eucharist. When we gather for the Eucharist, there is both giving and receiving. We bring to God the gift of our worship, acknowledging Him as our Creator; the source of all our Hope and of everything in us that is good and wise and true.
Most of you probably remember how, as children, our parents gave us the money for the Church collection, and how they might even have given us the money that we used to buy presents for them at Christmas or on their Birthdays. We had nothing to give except our love. In much the same way, in one of the weekday Prefaces at Mass we pray: “you have no need of our Praise Lord, but our thanksgiving is itself your gift; since our praises add nothing to your greatness, but profit us for our salvation”. There is nothing that we have that God needs.
In the Eucharist, the offering that we place before God is provided by Him. It is His Son Jesus, and we are invited to enter into communion with Him. All of this is His gift to us.
Some years ago, Pope Francis wrote a reflection on the Liturgy called Desiderio desideravi. Francis spoke about the importance of celebrating well and rediscovering the meaning of symbols. In the Eucharist, all the various things we use, the words and the music, the bread and wine, the water, the vestments and the candles, the bells and incense, have just one purpose. They are meant to help us focus on the presence of God; the Father, the Son and the Spirit, and to worship Him. Like the Pharisees coming into the Feast, about whom we heard in our Gospel, we are not the most important people in the room when we come to Mass. The Eucharist is about God, whom we worship, and about how we welcome all the other people whom Jesus has also invited to the Feast.
There may be a variety of reasons why people don’t come for the Eucharist, or at least why they think they don’t come. Life is busy. People are time-poor and have many responsibilities. There are also many other ways to pass the time. But I think there is more to it than that.
Pride is part of the spirit of the age. Worshipping God is an act of humility. Simple gestures like genuflecting, bowing, praying the communal act of penance, professing our faith, praying Our Father, or receiving the host with open hands; these are expressions of humility. They are a way of saying that it is our privilege to be invited here. We have not come to do God a favour. Rather, He is waiting to pour out His gifts on us. In our first Reading from the Book of Ecclesiasticus we heard these words:
great though the power of the Lord is,
he accepts the homage of the humble.
There is no cure for the proud man’s malady,
since an evil growth has taken root in him.
Perhaps, in these days when we look to economics and technology for all the answers, pride gets in the way of our being able to see that God would have anything to give to us.
In much the same way, when we come to Mass on Sunday, there is a certain sense in which we offer something to the community gathered in the Parish Church. We bring our faith; we bring our participation in the prayers and in the singing and we may be involved in some form of ministry. We come as we are, with our anxieties, our vulnerabilities and our sinfulness, but then we are healed and renewed as we listen together to God’s Word, as we pray and sing together and as we come, together, to the table of the Eucharist to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus. All of that is so much more effective when there is a vibrant and welcoming community of faith. Humility allows us to offer our own gifts of service in the parish community, while also recognising and encouraging the gifts of others.
As people who do come to Mass, we need to ask ourselves about the quality of our welcome for visitors, and especially for those who may be finding their way in faith. Likewise, it would be sad indeed, if the quality of our liturgy and our participation were part of the reason why people might stop coming.
Among the many ministries of service that we find in the parish, I really value the ministry of altar servers. Perhaps it is because it was as an altar server that my own closeness to the Eucharist and my own vocation was nourished. I very much regret that, in so many parishes these days the ministry of serving Mass has been abandoned. This is not simply about fetching and carrying. Like many other ministries we could manage without them. This is where humility comes in again. The Mass is not all about the priest. The exercise of ministry by the lay faithful, when it is well done, enhances the liturgy and helps to deepen the faith of those who are involved. The ministry of serving Mass not only provides young people with the privilege of coming closer to Jesus in the Eucharist; it also gives us the opportunity to form young people in a deeper understanding of what Eucharist is.
I am absolutely convinced that, if we want to have adult Catholics in the future, we must welcome the participation of children in the liturgy, and form them in an age-appropriate way for that ministry.
I am conscious that, while I have touched on some of the key themes addressed in the bishops’ new pastoral message, I have not quoted from it. It is called Why Sunday Matters. The message is quite short, accessible and available in your parishes and on the catholicbishops.ie and on theway.ie, along with related videos.
ENDS
- Bishop Kevin Doran is Bishop of Achonry and of Elphin