As we once again enter the longer part of Ordinary Time, I want to remind us of two things. First, Ordinary Time does not mean commonplace or monotonous. We are using ordinal numbers to count the Sundays until the end of this Liturgical Year. Second, I wrote the book Participation of the Heart, and I write this blog, in order to help people engage more deeply in the Mass. I am suggesting we need to reflect on the Mass outside of Mass time. We need to consider what we are learning from the words, symbols, and actions of the Mass. We need to apply what we are learning to our daily lives so that we can go into the week as disciples of Christ.
We begin by setting aside time for personal prayer and pondering what we have experienced at Mass. Some weeks we will have more time than other weeks, and that’s okay. There’s no tests or grading. We do what we can to make sense of what God is teaching us about who we are and who we are meant to be.
I propose starting with looking at the readings for the day. The are many resources for finding the readings including the USCCB’s website (US Bishops). We read and reflect on whatever we have time to do looking for words, images, and phrases that strike us or bring insights to mind. Remember St Paul’s words to Timothy: “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16-17) We can learn so much from the texts of the Liturgy of the Word. Scripture is a good place to begin delving into the Mass.
Next we can take any of the other texts or actions or objects from the Mass and study them. We can look at them in any order and in whatever amount of time we have to do this reflection. We can take a month to examine the text of the Glory to God, the Lord’s Prayer, or one of the Eucharistic Prayers. We can weigh the meanings of water or light or other symbols from our liturgies. We can consider bread and wine becoming the Body and Blood of Christ and what that means for us. There are many suggestions for what or how in my book and in past blog entries.
Think about these phrases from this Sunday’s readings:
“I bore you up on eagle wings.”
“You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.”
“We are [God’s] people: the sheep of [God’s] flock.”
"While we were still helpless,” Christ died for us.
“We were reconciled to God.”
“They were like sheep without a shepherd.”
“The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.”
What practical ideas can you learn from these readings?
