What is your excuse for not attending Mass? Surely your schedule was not so full that you could not work in an hour on a Sunday morning or even a Saturday night; you certainly found enough time to binge watch that new series on Netflix! If you weren't too busy, then why? The Mass was boring?
The Mass is not boring. That is not a subjective opinion. That is a fact. There is something seriously wrong with the person who finds the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of God boring. It certainly seems much less boring than watching a football game. The "miracles" your team is able to pull off in overtime are nothing next to the true miracle of the Eucharist.
But the meat of the Mass is not what people find boring. It is not the mystery of transubstantiation, it is the homily, the priest, the music, or even the person sitting next to you. The music was either too old-fashioned or too contemporary. The cantor sang off-key. The homily was too long, it was too hard to understand, it was not long enough. You know for a fact that the man sitting next to you is a lazy bum who drinks the night away; what business does he have being in church? (What business do you have being in church for that matter? But that is not the question here.) It seems that parishioners can find error in almost every part of the Mass except for the actual act of the Mass.
Actually, this is how it should be. The Church is a divine institution, the body of Christ, composed of sinners. As Pope Francis is fond of saying, the Church is not a hotel for saints, but rather a hospital for sinners. It makes perfect sense, therefore, that as the people celebrating the Mass are somewhat less than perfect, the music and the homily, may not quite attain to your perfect expectations.
In the Mass, the celebrant, the priest, acts in persona Christi. No surprise, that just means that he acts in the person of Christ. At the beginning of the Mass, the priest says: "The Lord be with you." This is not simply a blessing. It is an announcement. Jesus is in the house, acting through the priest. Even so, the priest is still just a man. A holy man hopefully, but still just a man. The homily is not the newest installment of the Gospel. It is the advice and instruction of a priest of God. We have no right to expect every single Sunday homily to qualify our pastor to be a Doctor of the Church. Yes, perhaps the priest speaks with a lisp, perhaps he drones on. But the homily is not the center of the Mass. The Mass is not an oratory contest.
Few parishes have the budgets to support having Matt Maher play at every Mass. That would be nice, but also impractical. You might have to settle for Joe Shmoe, the neighborhood plumber who took piano lessons for two years. The Mass is neither a speaking event nor a concert. What matters is not the skill of the musician but rather the devotional spirit engendered by the music.
Your parish might have the worst homilist on the face of the planet. Your cantor might be confused as to whether she is a baritone or a soprano. The person you are sitting next to might not have showered for three weeks. It might be too hot. It might be too cold. NONE OF THIS MATTERS! These are external characteristics of the Mass, they are the accoutrements. They do not change the essential beauty of the celebration of the Mass!
Very rarely does garnish ruin a dish.
Let's say that you go to an art museum. You find a Picasso or a Rembrandt or a DaVinci. The painting itself speaks to your soul. You have no doubt as to its beauty. You could say that the essential nature of the painting is its beauty. But then, you take a step back and look at the painting again. A horrendous mistake has been made. Instead of the elegant, hand crafted mahogany that this masterpiece deserves, it has been framed with a worn, splintered piece of scrap wood. Yes, your artistic sensibilities are offended by this terrible choice for a frame. But be honest with yourself. Does the frame in any way detract from the beauty of the painting itself? Sure the frame might be in bad taste. It might even be a little distracting. But how can the frame change the beauty of what it contains? A beautiful woman is as beautiful in a tarnished mirror as she is in a polished one. It is just a little easier to appreciate in the polished mirror; just as the beauty of the painting would be in a better frame; just as the Mass would be with the perfect music and a saint for a priest. But the Mass is beautiful nevertheless.
Deus Volt!
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