Friday, July 26, 2024
Feast of Saints Joachim and Anne
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Here we are a week after the end of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Indiana. This brings us as well to our final installment of On the Road to Emmaus. Endings! So, Holy Mass is over, now what? The Mass may have ended, but we are not done.
At the dismissal, the Deacon gives us direction. My favorite is, “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.” The other two possibilities, however, are, “Go forth, the Mass is ended,” and “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” The old Latin version was “Ite Missa Est” which, roughly translated, means “Go, it is dismissed!”
What is common to all these commands is, “Go!” Here we are, having just finished the most sacred action of all, the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and now we are being told to get out of here! This is not just to make room for the next Mass attendees. Rather, it is our commission. In one sense, we have already done the most beautiful thing we can for God, we have joined our lives to the sacrifice of his Son. However, we are not done doing! That “Go!” sends us to our next responsibility as followers of the Son.
There is something sheltering about the Mass. We are gathered with friends and family and share a common faith and together worship God and enjoy the banquet of the Lord. But Christians are not to live a sheltered life.
No. We are to go “forth,” out there where we know there is, at least, a lot of hostility towards the Faith and, at most, a lot of indifference. Yet, that has been the purpose of our nourishment, in order to go forth into that world and be the Lord’s witnesses, as Jesus told the Apostles in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles: “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
In two of the deacon’s directives we hear that we are to be such witness by word and deed. The tougher is to do so by word and that is probably why my favorite command is the first one above, to announce the Gospel of the Lord. As Pope Saint Paul VI said, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.” (Pope Paul VI, Address to the Members of the Consilium de Laicis, 2 October 1974). We all feel the personal obligation to make sure our lives match our words. Too much caution can stymie us and freeze us, however. In one sense, our lives will never match the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Still, we hope that announcing Good News to our neighbors will in fact change our own lives such that they do glorify God. Trying to live a Gospel life without ever speaking of it to another is only half of our task. St. Peter (I Peter 3:15) is clear: “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” Yet, in our world today, a world which so needs the Good News, let us not wait to be asked. Rather, let us offer that which the world seeks, both by the way we live our lives and by our Announcing the Gospel of the Lord.
This is the last installment of On the Road to Emmaus, our year-long pilgrimage through the Holy Mass. Thank you for joining me over these months. It’s been a privilege to walk with you as your brother in Christ. Together, we have drawn closer to our Eucharistic Lord as he has revealed himself to us in the Scriptures and the breaking of bread.
After a reasonable break, we will begin a new journey together. Something I am calling “BMW” from Acts 1:8. Until then, may God bless you, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
And, now, go and announce the Gospel of the Lord!
+ Earl Boyea
Bishop of Lansing