Homily for the Second Sunday of Easter, Year B
Acts 4.32-35 Psalm 118 1 John 5.1-6 John 20.19-31
Last Sunday, on Easter, I announced that I would be devoting my homilies during this Easter season to the Mass, helping us all come to a deeper understanding and appreciation of how we as Catholics celebrate the Eucharist. This week, we formally begin the series by asking a very simple question – why are we here? Why do we put everything else in our busy lives aside on Saturday evening or Sunday morning, and come to a church to pray together as a community? What is so important about the sixty or so minutes that we spend each week at Mass? And, at the root of all these questions, is a related one – why can’t I just pray on my own; why do we pray together as a community? We’ll get to that question later; first of all, why are we here?
The great Archbishop Fulton Sheen was often asked to explain why we go to Mass. People said that Mass was boring, or that they didn’t get anything out of it, or that it was just a waste of time. Archbishop Sheen’s response: “If you don’t get anything out of Mass, it’s because you don’t bring the right expectations to it.” The Mass is not supposed to be entertainment. It’s not supposed to be a play or movie that we watch and observe, it’s not supposed to be all about us and our problems and our agendas and our likes and dislikes. The Mass is about God, it is about hearing words written by human hands but inspired by the Holy Spirit; it is about Jesus Christ himself becoming flesh for us, giving his body and his blood for us in the Eucharist; it is about seeing God in one another. If you come here expecting to be entertained, you’ll surely be disappointed. If you come here expecting to feel good about yourself, that might happen, but not every Mass will be an emotionally-uplifting, joy-filled celebration of what’s going right in your life right now. But if you come here expecting to glimpse the presence of God, well, then you should expect to be able to do just that. A Mass well celebrated helps us to see, and hear, and taste, and touch, the very presence of God. And our faith tells us that it is easier to glimpse God here, in this sacred place, than in the busy-ness of our daily lives. That is why we are here.
We come to Mass because we are a hungry people, hungry for meaning in our lives; we’re longing for direction, for guidance, for the strength to persevere and the wisdom to know how to make right decisions. We come to Mass because we need some silence in our lives, we need to be able to listen for God’s voice, and not do all the talking ourselves. We come to Mass because we’re not perfect, and we need to hear Christ’s words of forgiveness – we need to remember that God loves us, no matter what. We come to Mass to turn our attention toward God, to spend some time not thinking about ourselves, to glimpse the divine.
Now that’s all well and good – we are here to find the sacred, to hear what God has to say to us. But why can’t we just do that on our own; why do we come together as a community to pray? Several years ago, I heard someone describe communion in a very individualistic way. He said that, for him, receiving communion was a very personal thing, a personal encounter between him and God. No one else in the room mattered at that moment, this was about each person as an individual and their God. From that perspective, it would make sense to pray on your own. But how different is our Catholic understanding of Eucharist! Of course, the Eucharist does make a connection between each of us individually and our loving God, and we need that connection, we need that strength and nourishment that only God can give to each of us, as individuals. But we don’t receive communion in isolation. As we come forward in procession to the altar to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, or as we come forward asking for God’s blessing, we can look around and see everyone else doing the same thing. God came to save not just me, but each and every person in this church, indeed each and every person throughout the world. When we come to Mass, we see God’s presence in each member of the Body of Christ, people who are hurting and broken, blessed and loved; we see God’s presence in the people we know and love, but also in the strangers, and even in the people we have a hard time loving. We come together as a community because we need to be reminded that I am not the only Christian in the world. As different as we all are, we are all searching for the same God. The community reminds us of that. And when we come to Mass, we hope and pray that we can glimpse the presence of God here in this place – in the Scriptures, in the Eucharist, and in one another. That is why we are here.
5 comments:
Thank you Father Eric!
Thanks for this Eric. After leaving the service yesterday several times with various kid issues and leaving worship exhausted I too wondered, "why am I even here" and I'm a pastor. For me (this will sound SO Mennonite) it is also about being with the body of Christ and the fellowship and support I experience at church, and I can get that even if my kids are acting crazy and I can't hear the whole sermon. Hope you're well. Thanks for these posts. ~Mandy
Thank you, Father Eric for your first homily on the Mass. Why do we come to Church is a good way to begin this journey over the next seven weeks leading to Pentecost. I can ponder this one question all week and still not get to the depths of its meaning. It is personal and relational with God and me and God who lives in every person, not only in our faith community but every person throughout the world. We are the Body of Christ. The Mass is the most perfect way of experiencing Christ among us. in us, and working through us. May God continue to bless you and inspire you as you prepare for next Sunday's homily.
During parish workshops and concerts, my choir director often stimulates the collective mind of the assembly with a quotation from Søren Kierkegaard: "Most people, nowadays, look for edification in theater and entertainment in church." The challenge for the modern Church in every place is to dispel the notion that "church" is a spectator activity that can simply be viewed passively as part of one's personal leisure. The liturgy is inherently dialogical—Christ meets the people in the Mass through Word and sacrament and the faithful, as his Body, respond to his Gospel invitation through its "full, conscious and active participation." The liturgy provides us with the necessary language and gestures by which we, as a community, can effectively communicate, interpret, and outwardly express those theological matters of deepest concern to us while giving thanks and praise to the Creator, the cause of all that exists.
The Liturgy is the work of the people as the Body of Christ who should be the center of each person's existence. By pondering Christ's salvific mission and my role to know, love, and serve God my understanding of the Mass deepens. Participating in the liturgy as a member of our Church family inspires me to want to be more Christ-like, to let the "Word" become flesh and to dwell among us so that I will be able to take the Gospel message to every person I meet.
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