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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 1987)
Supplement to The Georgia Bulletin, February 19, 1987 □ Faith Toda A supplement to Catholic newspapers, published with grant assistance from Cath olic Church Extension Society, by the Na tional Catholic News Service, 1312 Massa chusetts Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005. All contents copyright ® 1987 by NC News Service. By Father Herbert Weber NC News Service O ne day a woman told me that on the previous Sunday she and her family had not been able to go to church. That night, as her young daughter was saying bedtime prayers, the girl added: “And thank you, God, for not having to go to church today.” The mother told me that she was startled by the child's words and resolved to try to make the Mass a better experience for her. Of course, a church service can seem like a long ordeal for little children. But the girl also touched on a very adult theme. Somehow her spirituality at home, represented by bedtime prayer, and the liturgical celebration in church were not connected. Children are not the only ones who face the task of linking the two. □ □ □ When the tone of a spirituality is set by the liturgy, the day-to- day living of a relationship with God is connected to what hap pens in church on Sunday morn ing. What happens at Mass really makes an impression on one’s values, prayer style and attitudes. Similarly, the way someone lives faith during the week helps deter mine the way Mass will be celebrated. A young man confided that he really loved coming to Mass because it made him feel good. I guess that he felt genuinely sur prised at his own statement because he commented that he wasn’t a very religious person. But as he talked longer, he added that he felt good because he knew he lived better during the week because of the Mass. Perhaps “living better” is an overly simple way of putting it. But the Second Vatican Council spoke of the Eucharist as a source as well as a summit of life. The young man’s statement about liv ing better indicates that for him the Eucharist was a source of something powerful in his life. The Eucharist is communal by its very nature. People gather together and listen to the word collectively; they share one bread; they commit themselves to be people of God. It should not be surprising then that one of the graces that flows from a eucharistic celebration is that of community. This sense of com munity can be the source of some interesting developments. A group of women who attend ed a Thursday morning Mass together each week found themselves gathering at a local coffeehouse afterward. As the months passed, they started want ing to do more. So they organized themselves as a “helping hands” committee to reach out to those in their neighborhoods who were in need. When these women asked me for direction on getting into social ministry, I was glad to give it. But I also added that one of the best things they could do is to con tinue celebrating the liturgy together. There is always the risk of developing a personal spirituality that becomes too individualistic. The communal sense that is in spired by the Mass provides an antidote for that tendency. In addition to being the source of spirituali ty, the Eucharist also has to be a highpoint — the summit — of the week. Again, there must be a connection bet ween a person's spiritual life and the Eucharist. In fact, it is helpful to see the whole week as a way of get ting ready for the eucharistic cele bration. In a small way we participate in the mystery of Christ in our own dyings and risings, and by sharing in the hurts and joys of others. These experiences of the week are a valid preparation for the Eucharist. A man I know spends his Satur day mornings visiting a nursing home where he helps bathe the bedridden men. It is a prayer in action. Moreover it certainly must heighten his Sunday morning ex perience. Such a prayerful activity as this, in which he shares in so meone else’s sufferings, is an outstanding preparation for Mass. Then, when he celebrates the Eucharist, his spirituality and life experiences become connected. Similarly, all the successes and failures, all the joys and miseries encountered at work, in paren ting, in growing old or in living out one's convictions — all that the days of the week are compos ed of — have to be brought to the liturgy. These parts of human life are celebrated at Mass along with Christ's saving love; then God s people are sent out to continue living the mystery of salvation: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. (Father Weber is pastor of St. Thomas More University Parish in Bowling Green, Ohio.) Children ore not the only ones who face the task of connecting Moss to the rest of their life and spirituality, writes Father Herbert Weber. He suggests that when a person's spirituality is shaped by the liturgy, the "day-to- day living of a relationship with God is connected to what happens in church on Sunday morning." That is, what happens at Mass really affects one's values, prayer style, attitudes and actions. And what happens during the week determines how a person will celebrate Mass. “Thank you, God, for not having to go to church...”
