I love top five lists for their very efficient nature. They are quick and easy ways to get the most information, in the least amount of time, from someone’s wealth of experience. They’re gold, I tell you.
So I thought of coming up with this list for you, dear reader, and it is about how to get the most value for attending a Sunday mass. When you buy produce, you twist and turn and smell it to know that you get the freshest picks, right? When you buy clothes, you turn it around to look for loose buttons and snags before you decide to buy it. Why not get the best out of your Sunday mass as well? When you attend Sunday mass, you are giving up (at least) two hours of precious weekend time. You spend a minimum of thirty minutes to bathe and change clothes, fifteen minutes to get to church, an hour for the mass and another fifteen minutes to get to your next destination. Now, if you attend a mass in one of our malls (Filipino Catholics really are spoiled in the array of mass choices), that is still a whole hour.
And don’t you think that your time is important? Don’t you think you deserve that?
I’m speaking for the people who prepare the mass for you, you know. It takes a horde of very committed people to get this off and running. You have your lectors, your lay ministers, your choir, your collectors, your offerers and the celebrant. I don’t think they organized the whole thing to make you miserable. A Mass is a celebration – you’re supposed to enjoy it!
1. Go to a mass service that makes you feel alive and present.
The presence of God can be made known to you in different ways. Some are drawn to the majesty of cathedrals, while others prefer the quiet enclosures of smaller chapels. Some choose a specific service because a choir animates the mass for them. It doesn’t make you a horrible Catholic to choose your mass because some appeal to you more, but it does make you one who wants to be connected to it.
2. Choose a homilist who engages you.
I am partial to the homilies of the Jesuits and the OVM; I find them succinct, well-organized and most importantly, doable. Homilies are supposed to stir a fire within you!
3. Don’t multi-task during the mass. Participate!
A mass is also like having a conversation. Turn off that phone, forget that selfie, practice being still and quiet. The celebrant will greet you : “The Lord be with you.”; he is saying “Hi, how are you.” You respond when others greet you, right? Speak up and let those words roll out your tongue.
4. Sing!!
Singing in the mass achieves many things. It is one of the first things that we do that unites us with the entire congregation because we breathe and speak as one. It calms us down and makes us more centered for mass. It rouses emotions of joy, grief, anger, frustration and confusion and we pour all of these out in the presence of God. It is a sublime expression of surrender. Yes, St. Augustine was right – you really do pray twice when you sing.
5. Talk about it. Discuss. Support each other.
This is something that our Christian and Charismatic friends can teach us. They talk about what word, what action, what expression of faith touched them in the mass or the readings. And then they make a collective effort to actualize what they heard.
This is the best way to tell people that you attend regular mass, because the teachings have permeated your spirit.
Pope Francis reminds us : “The Good News is no mere matter of words, but a testimony to unconditional and faithful love: it is about leaving ourselves behind and encountering others, being close to those crushed by life’s troubles, sharing with the needy, standing at the side of the sick, elderly and the outcast.”
It does sound intimidating; but it also starts with a simple intention and accepting the grace of everything that the mass has to offer.