When we’re less enthused about the Lord’s Day than usual, here are seven days and ways for full and active participation:
Day 1 Behold the Crucifix
I’ll never forget the look of horror on my five-year-old niece’s face when she saw a crucifix for the first time. She’d never been inside a Catholic church, yet, there she was, face-to-face with a life-sized, paint-for-blood covered crucifix, in the chapel where she and her family had come for my daughter’s baptism.
Many of us are desensitized to the agony and horror of the crucifixion. Because its semblance hangs over us every Sunday at Mass, we hardly notice or even think about it.
To pinch oneself out of desensitization, locate the crucifix, behold Jesus on the cross as if for the first time. Feel the nails, His pain, His straining to breathe. Imagine Him looking at you, so parched. “I thirst”, He says.
“I am here Lord, to help slake Your thirst, even if it’s for just one hour.”
Day 2 Pray
Pray before going to Mass, rather than waiting until you get there.
Pray from the heart, asking God for help to enjoy the Mass, to receive what He has for you. With expectant faith, wait, watch, and listen for the move of the Holy Spirit in and after Mass.
Many churches have study groups that gather to read and discuss the upcoming Sunday’s readings. Participating in such a group means the readings feel warmed up and worn in, not stiff like new leather, come Sunday.
For an added boost to the Liturgy of the Word, practice Lectio Divina (divine reading) with the upcoming Sunday readings. An ancient form of praying with the scriptures (usually the gospels) helps to stimulate discernment, the Lectio Divina format is found here.
Day 3 Know your Search Criteria. Refine Your Search.
What does getting something out of Mass even look like?
In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and her crew had to battle themselves and the wicked witch to achieve their goals. To find what we are searching for in Mass, we have to battle our own wicked witch -- the enemy of our souls -- who doesn’t want us to get anything out of Mass or to even go to Mass. The enemy uses boredom, fatigue, and more alluring and enticing Sunday activities.
When history tells me to expect less-than-wow homily, I get more attentive, clinging to every word of the priest or deacon to open myself up to God’s message. Just a word or two can speak to a question I had asked the Lord.
If my mind wandered during Mass or the homily, I ask my family, what they got out of the readings or homily. Their thoughts and insights rescue me from my distracted, wandering mind (bonus for parents with children at home).
Are you looking for more inspiring music? Rather than go to Mass at your regular time and place, try searching for a different Mass that has a gospel choir, folk choir, or life teen band, and SING! Try Mass at a different church; check out a Latin Mass or an Eastern rite liturgy.
Refine your search, try different approaches, and converse with the Lord. Pray He will melt the pesky wicked witch ('I'm melting, I'm melting!')
Day 4 Practice Discipleship
Getting better at anything requires practice and training. Ask any athlete, spelling bee winner, a champion anyone!
Paul says, “… run so as to win.” 1 Cor 9:24
To win, training is everything.
For what are we training?
“ … the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.” Phil 3:14
Training requires discipline. The root word of discipline is “disciple”.
Mass and the Sacraments are training ground for the fitness and stamina to carry ones cross with joy, and for the attunement to recognize and know the Eucharist as the ‘source and summit of the Christian life’ (CCC 1324).
Among your Sunday to-do list, don’t give yourself the option. Train whether you feel like it or not by your actively engagement. Think, I’m running a race and I’m not even out-of-breath!
Day 5 Gratitude and Thanksgiving
Eucharist means thanksgiving and the meaning doesn’t change because we don’t feel thankful for it.
God loved His Son, but when Jesus was hanging on the cross, he didn’t feel the love:
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matt 27:46.
Feelings are not always truths no matter how strong they may feel.
Our faith was built on martyrs and underground gatherings where lives were at risk. In many places in our world, lives are still at risk for practice of faith.
But here and now, we GET to celebrate Mass without threat to our lives. Change your perspective from ‘I HAVE to go to Mass’ to ‘I GET to go to Mass.’
If you’re not grateful, ask for the grace of gratitude.
Day 6 Treat it like it’s your last.
I never knew the Mass I attended in March of 2020 would be my last for an unknown period. Because of the covid pandemic lockdowns, it was my last meal in a sense. If I had known it would be my last Eucharist, I would have somehow, someway appreciated it more. During my time in exile, how I missed and longed for this source and summit of our Christian life!
The time in exile reminded me of the last times I saw my mom and my dad without realizing it would be my last time I would see them alive. I wish could say one more time, “ I love you.”
Only God knows which Eucharist will your last. Make the most out of it.
Day 7 Get Involved at Church and in the Mass.
A church feels more like a home when you get to know and care about the people in your community.
When I went to a Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP) (now called Welcome) weekend and got to know the pains and joys of those in the pews, I felt the warmth of my Christian community.
When I served as a lector for a time and practiced the readings before Mass, scripture never spoke to me as much as it did during my time at the ambo.
During my stint as extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, never did I feel as close to Jesus in the Eucharist as I did during this ministry.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve ... Mark 10:45
When you serve, you get more.
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Surely, there are plenty of times when priests don’t feel like celebrating Mass. Thank God they do anyway.
Don’t expect perfection from yourself, but a bit of effort, a little involvement, and a whole lot of prayer to enjoy the Mass.
Most of all, never give up trying because remember, Jesus, the Eternal Lord of all things, hung in there for us until His last dying breath.
Related: 7 Ways to Better Engage Your Mind and Heart During Rosary
[First published on BustedHalo.com]