Blessing and Dismissal at Mass
I grew up at a time when people thought more about the obligation to attend Mass than about anything else. It was a duty we had as Catholics. I still believe that it is a duty because I believe that is right to give God thanks for all God has done in creation and in my daily life. But it is not a burden to come together with other Catholics to give God praise. It is a way to express my gratefulness for all God is and does.
During my youth, we said that we had fulfilled that obligation if we attended the Offertory, Consecration, and Communion parts of the Mass. It was the minimum required. I don’t believe it was ever trying to lower the importance of the other parts of the Mass. But we would miss crucial parts of the ritual if we follow this pattern. Do we ask, “What is the least I can do to show gratitude to God?”
In those days, many people left church after receiving Communion. But they were (and are) missing something important if they do so. (No, I’m not talking about the announcements).
If I am about to go back into the world to try to live as a disciple of Jesus, I need God’s blessing. We are blessed at the end of Mass with the Sign of the Cross in order to know that we carry that cross into the week, not as a burden, but as a reminder that we are called to holiness, we are called to be saints. Consider this part of the Blessing for Easter Time from the Roman Missal: “And may you, who have already risen with Christ in Baptism through faith, by living in a right manner on this earth be united with him in the homeland of heaven.”
To miss these rites of the Mass, would also mean we miss being sent out to be the hands, feet, and voice of Christ in the world. All of our dismissal texts begin with the word, “GO.” We have had a wonderful time praising God, singing, reflecting, learning, and praying with like-minded people. But we can’t stay there basking in the good feelings. We must go back to our day-to-day lives. We are being sent, to glorify the Lord by our lives, or to announce the Gospel of the Lord. We are sent with peace in our hearts, renewed by the Spirit, and ready to carry out the mission of the Church.
