A GREAT deal has been said in The Leader of late about people’s non-attendance at Mass because the liturgy is boring, or because they get nothing out of it.
But it could then be asked what they expect to get out of it. This is a question which could challenge people to rethink their attitude to the Mass. Just what do they understand to be going on during the Eucharistic liturgy?
It could also be asked what they put into it.
But if they understand that it is the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus in praise and thanksgiving to God, that it is a communal activity – a liturgy – they would not be able to stay away.
This is to say nothing of the extraordinary privilege of receiving the Lord at Communion.
If Catholics truly understand what they have in the Eucharist, there would have to be an allocation of tickets, so great would be the demand to attend.
As to it being boring, if there were a full appreciation of what is happening in the Eucharistic liturgy, it could never be boring, regardless of the standard of the liturgy.
But, of course, dull liturgies can never be excused. In every parish there are people who are able, perhaps if asked, to contribute to an uplifting setting for the Mass.
Appreciated even in part for what it is, the Mass would not be just as something you do on Sundays if you get there, but as something you look forward to, a celebration you would perhaps even join in during the week.
Maybe claims of boredom, or of getting nothing out of the Mass, are at least sometimes a cover for other reasons for not attending.
A.V. GAYLE,
Newcastle, NSW
