I am not sure how many of you readers can relate, but during Mass, my mind wanders. The thoughts usually are concerned with wishing that I was in bed right now, wondering what I will eat after Mass, or I typically think mean things about the pesky parishoner who says their responses half a second ahead of everyone else in the congregation. But considering the Mass readings of late, and the focus on the joyful mysteries of the Rosary, this morning I was thinking of something else. I was considering the regretful tendency of some Catholics who, when they do not comprehend some teaching of the Church, choose to ignore it, disbelieve it, or at worst cut personal ties with the faith. I was thinking of Mary this morning in relation to this. In Luke's Gospel, Mary makes it clear she does not understand the message of God given through Gabriel (Luke 1:34). I would also suggest that Mary did not understand the implications of giving birth to God, made man. With all of this "against" her, she still responded with a humble "yes" to God.
Too often I find Catholics who hear of a ceratin teaching and sneer at it after having made a half-baked attempt to comprehend it. This often generalizes into a "sneer" of the Church at large and may lead to a contempt of organized religion, particularly Catholicism (at least this is what I find to be true, I hope I am wrong). Mary provides the alternate example of what we should do as faithful Catholics. Not fully understanding a teaching does not imply that we should "throw the baby out with the bathwater". Rather, we should calmly consider the teaching, and perhaps even say yes to it as Mary did to Gabriel. The Church is God's messenger to us, as Gabriel was God's messenger to Mary. I am not advocating blind faith, I am advocating trust in God and His Church. Let us not fall into the skepticism and nihilistic views of our world. If we cannot trust in our Church leadership, why are we Catholic? The beauty and simplicity of our Blessed Mother encourages us to show others that there is still hope in this world. We are to shine as a city on a hill. We are to shine especially now, during these last days of Advent.
Excellent point, Pip. Also, the Mass is liturgy--PUBLIC worship. It's the time when we as the People of God come together to worship God.
ReplyDeleteLike you, my mind also wanders a lot during Mass. This is the temptation to remain an individual. What am I going to do after this? What am I going to eat? Instead, we need to see the bigger picture. The I fits in a bigger context. During Mass, WE participate in the paschal mystery. It's not about ME.
So your connection with the Blessed Mother is really fitting. She never said, "I don't want that." Instead, she accepted and ultimately participated in bringing about salvation. In the same way, that should be our attitude during the liturgy. If WE accept and participate (instead of following individualistic temptations) we will also participate in the passion and resurrection of Christ.