Fermoy Holy Communion Mass
We are in the very pleasant season of First Communion Mass. We are proud of the children who in their innocence are approaching the altar of the Lord for the first time. It is a real moment of grace for their parents and extended families who are wisely drawn into the Masses.
We are treating this Mass as a parish Sunday Mass and the goodness, generosity, kindness, community spirit will be gladly expressed in the traditional offertory collection. The collection is the community's lived expression of hearing and accepting the Word of Jesus. This collection is an exercise of agape love, the love Jesus empowers us to live as Mass people. Some will feel the pain of it and may even complain. That’s good too.
No matter how beautiful the choir sings, the heart of the Mass often eludes many who are gathered. I hope I am wrong but as celebrant I often feel that the people are more of an audience than a worshipping congregation. The giveaway signal is the comment 'Father you kept us too long today'. Sadly many priests have bought into the speedy Mass which is a great misunderstanding of what God's people are about when gathered for Mass.
Every Mass makes present what Jesus did at the Last Supper. He asked us to 'Do this in Memory of Me'. It would be a complete sell out if we reduced what Jesus meant to doing this memorial ritual. I believe that Mass draws us directly into doing the work of Jesus today. Jesus has no one else to do the work He needs doing if we opt out. The work of Jesus cannot be done without his help. We take his word to heart. We unite with Jesus in the Eucharistic Prayer. It is such a pity that the congregation are so passive at this place in the Mass.
Receiving Holy Communion we are now willing and ready to do the work of Jesus. What might that work mean for each person depends on their vocation, on their talents, on their health and on so many other factors. To live as a disciple of Jesus means recognising the presence of Jesus in the people in your life and meeting them in truth. Living the work of Jesus draws us away from preoccupation with our own resentments, with our secular pursuits, with our addictions to pornography, from our avarice. The work of the Lord brings us real joy and meaning.
Now that I am on about work, we have many idealistic folk working the canvassing trails and leaving in glossy literature. In vain, on any I could not find any reference to the sale of human embryos that they voted to sell. We need to know what their stance has been on upholding the dignity of humans as a seamless garment. It is great that we think we are in a democracy but that certainty is not obvious with the kinds of censorship operating today. In some centres of learning only certain viewpoints are tolerated. Sunday is Ascension day but it is also World Communications Day. We are still waiting for the legal definition of ‘public service broadcasting’.