We best reverence the liturgy by making an offering of ourselves upon the altar.
Which is more sacred—Mass in the cathedral with a contemporary choir, the extraordinary form of the Mass with Gregorian chant, Mass celebrated on the back of a Humvee in Afghanistan, or the rich liturgy of the Maronite Rite of the Church? I hope you answered that all are equally sacred because in each and every Mass it is Christ who offers the sacrifice and who is offered.
It surprises many to learn that the Catholic Church is actually made up of 23 churches and seven rites. Each of these rites reflects the different cultures and traditions that helped form and shape its particular liturgical and sacramental expression of the one true faith. The rite and church we are most familiar with is the Latin Rite of the Roman Church of the West.
Others may be familiar with the Eastern churches such as the Ruthenian and Ukrainian churches of the Byzantine Rite, which have missions in our diocese. I have bi-ritual faculties in the Maronite Church, which is part of the Maronite/Antiochene Rite. I pray that someday we will also have a Chaldean mission of the Chaldean Rite in our diocese.
The point of this explanation is that all these churches and the rites that represent their liturgical traditions are of equal dignity and are an integral part of the universal Church in communion with the pope.
When I celebrate Mass, whether it is the Novus Ordo—the new order (ordinary form) of the Mass—that everyone is familiar with or the liturgy of the Maronite Rite, it is still Christ who offers the Mass and who is offered. I am but the sacramental image of Christ, and it is he who pronounces the words of consecration, not I. The value of the Mass does not depend on my sanctity (thank goodness) or that of any priest. It is Christ’s sacrifice, and through holy orders, I but lend my tongue and my hands as faithfully as I can to him.
The liturgy we celebrate is a participation in the heavenly liturgy. But what makes the liturgy more reverent in its celebration is not the tradition and culture that helped form its particular richness, but what we bring and offer in every Mass in response to God’s gift.
The Mass is a beautiful occasion of divine exchange. When the priest or deacon pours a drop of water into the chalice of wine during the preparation of the gifts, he quietly prays, “By the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” We offer bread and wine, and Christ gives us his body and blood. We give him our humanity, and he gives us his divinity.
What is it that we offer with the gifts of bread and wine upon the altar? Christ wants to die in us and for us to die in him. When we offer ourselves and all our works in union with Christ’s, we are no longer passive participants but intimate sharers in the priestly offering of Christ through the actions of the minister of the altar.
Here my thoughts go back to the image of a Mass celebrated on the back of a Humvee in a combat zone. With their sacrifices and vigil upon the battlefield for the moment behind them, and mindful of their own weaknesses and mortality and of those who have lost their life, those participating humbly approach Christ’s sacrifice upon Calvary, which is present in every Mass. It is this disposition that helps make the celebration of a Mass of any rite truly reverent.
Let us thank God for diverse ways he gives us to take part in the heavenly liturgy, whether the ordinary or the extraordinary form or one of the rites of the Eastern Church. May they never be a source of tension among us nor the cause of harm to our unity as the people of God.
