I have been reading a book by Scott Hahn lately. It is a bit deeper than his normal books for the laity, but it is still a great book. Letter and Spirit From Written Text to Living Word in the Liturgy talks all about how the scripture are liturgical in nature. It is an interesting read, albeit, for me at least, not as interesting as some of his other work. For instance just before this book I read his work "A Father Who Keeps His Promises." That was an incredibly interesting book about the covenents that God has made with his people throughout salvation history. It takes us from Adam and Eve all the way through to the new covenant Christ instituted. Before that was The Lambs Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth. That was breathtaking. I could not put it down.
So why is it that I am finding this book so much more difficult to really get in to? Well I think part of it is that we, as catholics, are so used to the liturgy. It has a rythym for us, we can set our internal clocks by that rythm. And maybe, just a little bit, we are not so in tune with it. It has become much like breathing for us. Essential yes, but not something we have to think about. Or even truly want to think about in some cases.
That is of course not a good thing. But I bet that well over 80% of us do not put a lot of thought into the liturgy. Think about it. When we say "Lord I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed" how many people think about that, and what it really means? I know for a very long time in my life I didn't think about it. I was born catholic so I have been hearing the mass in either latin or english for a long time. I have certainly memorized all the responses, and for a long time I didn't think about them. I also didn't think about all the interconnections that the liturgy has. Sure I know that we read from the old testament, we read from the epistles, we read from the gospels. It's great, and all that. But what about the introductory rite? Did I think about that? Did I know that all my venial sins are forgiven when I go to mass? Sure probably somewhere, sometime, someone told me that, but I did not think about it.
And that was an even worse thing. Now mind you I do not kow when I had this sudden change from non-thinking attendant to thinking participant in the liturgy. But when that happened it has made the whole mass come more alive for me. Now mass is not something I have to do because if I don't it is a mortal sin, it is something I want and NEED to do, because no matter how hard I try I am still a sinner, and I am not worthy, but in the mass the lord does say the word and I am healed.
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I have also read the book from Scott Hahn titled "The Lambs Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth." For many years when I was a youth I got used to going to Mass and going though the motions the older I got. I guess we all come to that point somewhere in life where it is more a habit and less a learning process. After reading this book and going with a much different perspective, I have come to love the Mass and all that it stands for. It is quite a blessing to attend the Mass and literally realize all aspects of the Mass point to the Savior. Each time I go I try to attend with a clear mind and humble heart as I let the Holy Spirit take over my life so I can be lead to learn something new. The Mass is the most important part of every Catholics week. My hope is that a renewal of optimism takes place and people come back to the Mass and discover the deeper meaning of it that we may have learned in Catechism classes when we were young, yet forgot. Thanks for you posts.
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