| Dear Rev. Know-It-All,
Some busybody asked me to be quiet in church
before Mass last Sunday. I told her that she should get a life.
The Vatican Council changed all that. Now we know that the most important
thing is building community.
Please comment.
Your friend,
Si Lenzer
Dear Si,
Is that short for Cyrus or Simon?
That was my Dad’s nickname.
Anyway, allow me to quote the General
Instruction to the Roman Missal, also known as the G.I.R.M
, published by the United States Council of Catholic Bishops in 2003, and
believe me, they are a very Vatican II bunch of guys. Paragraph 45 ststes:
“Even before the Mass itself,
it is commendable that silence be observed in the Church, in the sacristy,
in the vesting room and in adjacent areas so that all may dispose themselves
to carry out the sacred action in a devout and fitting manner.”
We are not simply going for community.
We are going for communion.
Profound unity is something beyond words,
and we are bound together not simply by the blather that passes for conversation,
but by our shared love for God present in the Sacrifice of the Mass.
Some of the most profound moments of togetherness between people are completely
silent, and this is even more so in our shared relation to the Almighty.
The beauty of a sunset or a beautiful piece
of music is often ruined by someone chattering away, “Oh, I told Marge
that she really should look at the shopping section in today’s paper,
you know there is a wonderful sale on rutabaga and it is just so hard to
find a good rutabaga, I remember when I was a kid and rutabaga seemed to
be everywhere and now you just can’t find it.... that reminds me did
I tell you that....”
Haven't you read Psalm 46 “Be
still and know that I am God?”
Remember the story of Elijah who heard
God's voice not in the storm or the fire or the earthquake, but in the
gentle whisper? We live in a world that is so overwhelming
loud that we cannot hear God above the roar.
You may say that you find God in other
people. I’ve never understood that. I find other people in
other people. I serve God by serving other people. I see the
glory of God reflected in some other people, but I don't know what it means
to find God in other people.
In fact, I’m not sure what it means to
find God. I think it is quite the opposite. God found me.
When I wasn't even looking for Him, He
was looking for me. I had my fingers in my ears and was saying, “la
la la la la.....” liked some spoiled child. Therein lies the problem.
We are a nation of spoiled children.
I think the Depression and the Second World
War did us in. Our parents went through so much that they decided
that we would have it all. Well, it was all about us baby boomers.
We've conveyed that sense of entitlement to our children and if we and
they are not entertained, well heaven forfend! The purpose of life
is to be entertained, isn’t it?
No, the purpose of life is to know, live
and serve God, knowing him is to love Him and loving Him is to serve Him
by serving those He loves. The narcissism of our society has infected
the Liturgy. We forget that Mass is not a matter of self expression,
but of self sacrifice.
Well, shouldn't we be encouraging community
in church on Sunday? Of course! That is what the vestibule
and the 8th sacrament, coffee and doughnuts in the hall, is for.
There are prayer meetings and discussion groups, classes, social gatherings
etc., etc., but Mass is the renewal of our shared covenant with the Lord.
It is not just another get together.
Well, you may counter, the great commandment
is that we love God and neighbor. The great command has three
parts : 1) Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is one. 2) You shall love the
Lord your God... (Deut. 6:4) and, 3) you shall love your neighbor... (Lev.
19:18)
The great commandment starts out with “Hear,
oh Israel.” In other words, sit down, shut up and listen.
Perhaps you've heard it said, that God
has this problem. He thinks He’s God and 99.99% of what He does
in my life is done to make that point. Once I realize that everything
isn’t about me, then I can go on to learn the very nature of God who,
for our sake, made himself a weak and humble man in the person of Jesus.
As St. Irenaeus of Lyon and St. Athanasius said Jesus became man that we
might become God.
If you already think you are God, well,
it ends there, but I would suggest that for a few minutes before Mass,
you be still and know that He is God.
And if you are uninterested in knowing
Him at least have the decency to shut up and let those around you hear
His voice.
Sincerely,
Rev. Know-It-All
The
Question Was
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Shouldn't we
talk in Church to build up the community? |
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