It was WONDERFUL to have so many of you back to church last Sunday and these two weeks of daily Mass. To be called to be a shepherd and not feed the sheep is painful, as I know it was/is painful for you to be away. But we need to stop and think about what the Lord is calling us, because things will not go back to the way they were. The Lord is calling us to grow!
The first very important lesson we are learning is how to better appreciate the Lord’s presence in our lives, or simply put the “sacred.” The preeminent way he comes among us (but not the only way) is in the Eucharist. This is the gift of God we honor and revere on the feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus. It is very difficult to grasp the Lord’s presence in the Eucharist because it cannot be done with our senses. We must strive to grasp it with our souls.
In order to grasp or apprehend this mystery with our souls we must quiet our minds so that God may inform them, and calm our souls so that he may enter into them. But in order to do that we must quiet our senses. We must allow the Divine Liturgy to play out before us. Actions are solemn and deliberate. Responses come from our hearts and minds and music is there to transport us to heaven.
In order for the Divine Liturgy to have a chance at teaching us, transporting us we must have an attitude of solemnity and stillness. This should happen long before we even get to church, but if it hasn’t, at the very least, we must have that attitude from the moment we enter church to the moment we leave. SO BE SILENT! Allow God to lead you rather than you managing your “experience” of Mass. if you wish to hear God, you must be SILENT! If you cannot do it for yourself, you must do it for your neighbor. Your silence is a gift to her. God bless you.