An exchange with my children on the way home from Mass last Sunday:
“You’ve heard about Vatican II, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Well, what was it?”
“The bishops got together to explain what the Church teaches.”
“That’s right. And a lot of ideas came out of Vatican II. One of the most lasting is the idea of ‘participation’ — the idea that members of the laity are called to participate fully in the Mass. What do you think of when you hear the word participation?”
“Joining something. Doing something.”
“Yes. That’s generally what participation means. And when it comes to the Mass it’s about joining your heart and soul with the prayers of the priest to God. During the years after Vatican II the word came to take on a very ‘external’ meaning. Do you know what I mean by that?”
“Not really.”
“What I mean is that many people came to believe that to participate at Mass meant you had to ‘do things’ at Mass — serve as a reader, become an extraordinary minister, become an altar server. It focused on external activities rather than internal things like prayer. Now, some of these things are okay, but they’re not what the Church really means by participation. The Church teaches that participation is primarily an internal thing — like prayer. It’s an awareness of the mystery being celebrated at Mass and how it is connected to our daily lives. Does this make sense?”
“I think so. Why did people get … confused?”
“It’s kind of a long story, but when your Mom and Dad were little, there were a lot of folks running around claiming to be experts on this sort of thing. They said that to get people to participate, we need to have them do as many external things as possible. Some of their ideas are still with us.”
“That’s too bad.”
“It is, but it’s getting better. Pope Benedict is a great teacher, and he’s been spending a lot of time on the Mass.”
“Good.”
“Good indeed. Let’s try a quiz. Who is participating more at Mass: the mom holding a baby in the back of the church or the extraordinary minister in the front?”
“What’s an extraordinary minister?”
“People call them ‘Communion ministers’ or ‘Eucharistic ministers.’ They’re supposed to be used in exceptional circumstances, even though they’re used all the time.”
“Why?”
“Because of what we were just talking about. The idea that participating means ‘doing things’ — external things — at Mass. Now back to my question. Who is participating more, the mom or the extraordinary minister?”
“Neither. They’re both participating.”
“Of course. Now let’s talk for a minute about the priest. His role is to ‘sanctify’ members of the laity. What does ‘sanctify’ mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on. Think.”
“To make something … holy.”
“That’s right. To make something holy. The priest serves the people by making them holy — sanctifying them. How does he do this?”
“Through the Eucharist.”
“Yes. Through the Eucharist. The priest consecrates bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus. The divine grace that comes to us in the Eucharist makes us holy so that we can go out into the world and do the Lord’s work. We do this by serving as witnesses at school, at play, at work. So as members of the laity, our focus ought to be on what we can do out in the world, not in the sanctuary. Does all of this make sense?”
“Yes.”
