Peace be with you!

Fr. Freeh’s travel schedule has conspired to keep him out of the studio. I expect the next installment of videos in a couple of weeks, maybe. In the meantime, I feel compelled to honor those of you who are checking back each week … even if you still aren’t commenting. You know who you are! 😉 … by having something here for you to read.

So, I’d like to call attention to the fact that I’ve been posting the readings for the Sunday Mass at the bottom of each blog. Why? Because one of Matthew Kelly’s recommendations in Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic is to spend a little time preparing for Mass each week.

This is only common sense, but very few folks actually do it. I think many people confuse Mass with some kind of spectator event–like a movie, a sports event, or a TV show. They think their role is just to show up, and be…well, entertained. For them, Mass is all about the music and the homily, and their experience of the Mass depends on the priest and the choir. Which is really unfortunate. And also: just wrong.

The “spectator” approach is what motivates the complaint: “I don’t get anything from the Mass. Why should I bother going?”

As my father once responded: “You’re not there to get. You’re there to give.” And after a pause to let that sink in, he added: “And once you figure that out, you’ll get more than you ever dreamed.”

The truth is…you are there to participate. You assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by your participation, by virtue of your baptism.

In any other area of your life, you practice for things that matter. You don’t show up for a recital without having rehearsed. You don’t play the opposing team without having practiced. You give your presentation to your staff, your spouse (and maybe the family pet) before pitching it to the management team. Heck…how much prep work do we put into even our “spectator” activities…the tailgate or SuperBowl party? Reading the sports pages, watching the pre-game show.

And yet, we think we can just show up for the Mass, and have it all fall into place for us, while we mentally plan our list for the grocery store stop we’ll make on the way home. (Oh, yes. Been there. Done that.) And then we have the nerve to complain when we “don’t get anything out of it.”

The Mass–the unbloody re-presentation of Christ’s one sacrifice upon the Cross in the Eucharist–is infinitely more important than any of those events. Than any event. So why do we spend less effort preparing for our participation?

This is an area that I decided to address by adding it to this blog. (I might’ve mentioned before how becoming a spiritual blogger was a huge kick in my…conscience.)

So now I’m prepping. And just this past Sunday I noticed something about the first reading from Exodus that had never struck me before:

When the people grumbled about the lousy accommodations on their 40-year flight from Egypt, God sent saraph serpents among them, and the people died from the bites. So then they repented, and asked Moses to pray to God to take away the serpents. God has Moses make a bronze serpent for them to look at if they were bitten, so they would not die. (Nm. 21:4B-9)

This last Sunday was the first time I realized that God didn’t take away the serpents! He only provided the cure. And you had to come to the cure to be saved.

Oh. We want God to take away the serpents of original and personal sin. But guess what? We invited them in, and continue to invite them in. God won’t overrule our decisions. But He will provide a cure for the consequences of our sin, if we repent and go to Him. This is why in the Gospel, Jesus compares Himself to the serpent that Moses raised in the desert for the people to look at. (Jn. 3:13-17)

Okay, so maybe I’m just a little slow, that this understanding slid by me all these years. But I’m also gaining a perspective on how each Mass follows on the one previous, and builds to the next. For example, as I write this on Monday, the 15th of September, (I’ll be traveling later this week, too, and need to get a jump on this)… I realize that since Sunday was the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, it makes perfect sense to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows the very next day…for where you find the Cross, you find the Blessed Mother, sharing in the suffering of her Son.

This is the kind of insight that happens when you pay attention. When you prepare.

(The month of September is traditionally associated with honoring the Sorrows of the Blessed Mother. The Servite Rosary is one way you can join in the sorrow of Mary for the suffering of her Son.)

So here’s my promise to you: However much you know the Scriptures, if you read “the readings” beforehand, the Holy Spirit will lead you to a deeper appreciation of them…and over time, that deeper appreciation will enlighten and transform your participation at Mass. You’ll be there to give…and you’ll get more than you ever dreamed.

Oh, and P.S.: Participation at the Mass also means picking up that hymnal and singing along. As the sisters used to say: When you sing hymns, you pray twice. If God gave you a good voice, sing to honor His gift. If He gave you a bad one, sing to get revenge! 😉

Read Sunday’s Scriptures.