This article first appeared in Our Sunday Visitor magazine. Subscribe to receive the monthly magazine here.
When we desire to actively participate at Mass, many of us think of the ways in which we can serve at Mass, whether it be by lending our talents as a cantor, lector or choir member, or serving as an altar server, usher or extraordinary minister of holy Communion. Yet, the essence of active participation entails much more than merely engaging in various tasks during the liturgy. As Vatican II’s constitution on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, notes, our primary engagement in the liturgy is meant to be that of an active internalization of Mass. This means that our role in the Mass consists in engaging our mind and heart in praying the words of the liturgy and in uniting our prayers with those of the priest.
Sacrosanctum Concilium (No. 48) explains,
The Church, therefore, earnestly desires that Christ’s faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be there as strangers or silent spectators; on the contrary, through a good understanding of the rites and prayers they should take part in the sacred action conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and full collaboration. They should be instructed by God’s word and be nourished at the table of the Lord’s body; they should give thanks to God; by offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn also to offer themselves; through Christ the Mediator, they should be drawn day by day into ever more perfect union with God and with each other, so that finally God may be all in all.
When we recite the prayers and responses at Mass, the words should reflect an interior movement within our hearts, for there, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, put it, “the language of our Mother (the Church) becomes ours; we learn to speak it along with her, so that gradually her words on our lips become ours.” Through internalizing the liturgy, we pray the Mass, becoming transformed and more closely united to Christ.
But how do we begin to internalize the liturgy? Here are ten tips to aid us in this process:
1. Learn about the liturgy
Faith is all about seeking understanding. Similarly, when it comes to the liturgy, we should seek to further understand the way in which we worship God at Mass. There are many wonderful resources that speak about the theology of the liturgy, its origins, and the symbolism behind the words and actions that occur at Mass. By learning more about the Mass, we can enter more fully into its mysteries and be mindful of them. Some helpful resources include: “Spirit of the Liturgy” and “Feast of Faith” by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Sacramentum Caritatis, which he wrote as Pope Benedict XVI, “The Lamb’s Supper” by Scott Hahn, “The Mass” by Edward Sri, “Beauty in the Sacred Liturgy According to Pope Benedict XVI” by Cardinal Raymond Burke and Sacrosanctum Concilium, Vatican II’s constitution on the Liturgy.
2. Seek God’s glory
Attend Mass with the sole desire to glorify God and let him do the rest. Since the four ends of the Mass are adoration, petition, atonement and thanksgiving, any other expectation or reason one has in attending Mass attempts to place man, not God, as the focal point of the liturgy. The liturgy is the opus dei, the work of God restoring creation. At Mass, God does the work, as the work of redemption is God’s, not ours. If we strive to fully participate — mind, body and soul — at Mass while acquiring a deeper understanding of the responses and the actions on the altar, God will transform us through the liturgy. All we need is an open heart.
3. Arrive early
Arriving at Mass early helps prepare us for God’s work. It is hard to internalize the Mass after hectically rushing into the church right before Mass begins. It takes time to quiet the mind and prepare to receive Christ through his word and through the reception of the Eucharist. By taking some time to pray and meditate before Mass, the senses become still, and the body, mind and soul will be better disposed to pray the liturgy and be receptive to God working in us.
4. Recall the sacredness of the Mass
At Mass, we participate in the perpetuation of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. This means that every Mass we attend, we are at the foot of the cross on Calvary along with all the saints, angels and souls in purgatory. There at the heavenly banquet, God feeds us with himself, with his very body and blood, which — as St. John Chrysostom reminds us — angels tremble before, and we become united more closely to him. This is so powerful that St. Maximilian Kolbe notes that if angels could be envious of us, it would be of our reception of holy Communion.
5. Read the readings in advance
This can be accomplished in various ways, either by meditating on the upcoming Sunday’s Gospel throughout the week prior, or by praying the daily readings the night or morning before Mass. By doing this, we enter more deeply into the word of God, listen to him, and become receptive to what Christ is saying to us through the Scriptures. A practical aid in this endeavor would be to subscribe to Magnificat, where the daily readings and meditations are provided.
6. Be more attentive
Unfortunately, like everything else in life, attending Mass can become a habit. The postures and the words recited at Mass can become mindless, so that, instead of consciously praying the liturgy, we lose the meaning of the words we recite. By making a greater effort to be cognizant of the prayers said by the priest and the faithful and of the symbolism of the actions performed at Mass, we can enter more fully into its mysteries.
7. Go to confession
Vatican II’s constitution on the liturgy speaks about the reception of holy Communion as “that more perfect form of participation in the Mass.” If we know we cannot receive holy Communion at Mass due to mortal sin, we should make the effort to go to confession before Sunday. If this is not possible, then we can make an act of spiritual communion.
8. Make an act of faith
Make a conscious act of faith before receiving holy Communion. Jesus gives us himself — body, blood, soul and divinity — in holy Communion. When we say “amen” before receiving holy Communion, we make an act of faith: We confirm our belief in the real presence. Other intentional acts we can make before receiving holy Communion include praying an act of faith, hope or love, the pardon or Eucharistic prayers taught by the angel of Fatima, or an act of contrition to prepare ourselves to receive the Eucharistic Jesus.
9. Ask for something
Offer your Mass and Communion for an intention. As the Mass is the highest form of prayer, we can offer up the graces we will receive at Mass for someone or for a particular intention. This can be done before Mass or at the offertory, or we can put our intentions on the patten and in the chalice during the elevation. After all, St. John Bosco affirms that “the best time to ask and obtain favors from God is the time of elevation.”
10. Be thankful
Make an act of thanksgiving after Mass. By attending Mass, we experience a foretaste of heaven and become more intimately united with Christ in the reception of holy Communion. There we offer to God our work, who sanctifies it and unites it to his salvific work on the cross. The Dominican theologian Father Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange notes, “in Communion … we receive the Author of Salvation and increase in the life of grace, which is the seed of glory, or eternal life begun. We receive an increase of charity, the highest of the virtues, which vivifies, animates all the others, and is the very principle of merit.” In return for such great love, after Mass we should spend time adoring the Lord, thanking him not only for gifting himself to us, but also for all the blessings he has given us.
Christ left the Church with the tremendous gift of the Mass. We should strive to enter more deeply into the mysteries at each Mass we attend. In actively participating in the liturgy, we prepare our hearts to properly worship God, receive him and better dispose ourselves to accept all that Christ gives to us at Mass.
