Posture – My mother always used to
say: “Sit up straight; don’t slouch your
shoulders.” Posture is important in ways
we don’t often think of. What is the
point of marching together in step. An
army will seem to be together and the energy of those marching adds up to
something mighty. We stand together at
the beginning of the Mass until the conclusion of the opening prayer. We are saying with our bodies that we are
together in these prayers. When we sit
for the readings or the homily we present ourselves as receptive. We relax a bit and listen, engaging the human
faculty we pay the least attention to.
In kneeling we show respect and we focus our intention on the sacred
actions that are taking place.
Song – Both the parts of the Mass and
the hymns that we sing use music to evoke from us the meanings contained in the
words that are used. Singing appeals
deeply to our emotions. We take into
ourselves more deeply the content of what we are doing.
Dialogue – The priest leads the
priestly people of God in prayer. The
going back and forth is a way to emphasize how our prayers are joined. In the Eucharistic Prayer this holy dialogue
reaches its height. On behalf of the
whole people the priest recounts to God the Father the redeeming love of Jesus
Christ the only Son of God. Following
the command of Christ, he invokes the Holy Spirit to descend upon the gifts of
bread and wine and make them into the body and the blood of Christ. In
repeating the words of Christ at the Eucharist, the priest testifies to the
fidelity of God’s people in continuing the celebration which Christ began at the
Last Supper. By including the pope, our
local bishop, the clergy and all the faithful the Eucharistic prayer speaks
directly to how the Eucharist unites us as one people. So while you may be listening and showing
honour to God at this point, nonetheless a great and holy conversation is
taking place.
These are just some of the ways that we
participate in the Eucharist. It shows
that it is important not only THAT we come to the Eucharist, but HOW we come
and participate.
Fr. Bob
