How Do We Make Mass Shorter?

In a recent email discussion about some of the questions people ask about our Catholic faith, there was one question that struck me differently.  By differently, I mean I made me think a person who would ask this question was missing something.

The question sounds simple.  “How do we make Mass shorter?”

My response is to counter with a question, “Why would you want to?”

I said I thought the person must be missing something.  That something is the meaning of Mass.  They may know when to sit, stand, or kneel.  Perhaps they know the words of all the responses.  Yet, they never learned the meaning behind our gestures and words at Mass.  (see my webpage https://renewaloffaith.org/the-roman-catholic-mass-explained/ for an explanation of the basics and for links to presentations and articles I have done on the Mass.)

If one truly understands what is going on in the Mass, one will not want it to be shorter (admittingly this assumes everything is done well and the homily is good). 

Well, maybe there is one good reason I can think of to wish the Mass was shorter.  That would be if one was the sole caregiver for a loved one who shouldn’t be left alone.  This might also be true if a loved one is in the hospital and you know the doctor is available at a set time to talk.

Of course, there are other reasons to wish Mass was shorter.  They just aren’t good reasons.  If one doesn’t feel like they get much out of Mass, it might seem to make sense to wish Mass was shorter.  However, a better response is to learn more about the Mass so you can get something out of it.

Another reason one might wish Mass was shorter is to get to “the game” (or other favorite activity).  Here I will mention that most parishes have multiple Masses or there is Mass offered at another time in a neighboring parish.  If you need to be someplace before Mass is over, then go to an earlier Mass.  If you don’t want to drive that far for Mass, I would like to ask how far you are driving to get to “the game.”

I’d also like to ask how long is the game?  Will you spend longer at “the game” than at Mass?  For example, an NFL football game includes one hour of play time, roughly the same length as a typical Sunday Mass in the United States.  But wait!  It may be one hour of play time, but it takes three hours to get that one hour in.  So, before you complain about Mass lasting one hour, to be fair, maybe you should write to the NFL office and ask them to shorten the game.

I suspect you won’t do that.  Why?  Because you enjoy the game!  This puts us back to my point that if we understand what goes on at Mass, we won’t want it to be shorter.

If we understand the real purpose of Mass, we will never ask for it to be shorter.  Some people think Mass is about helping us to feel good for one hour.  If that was the purpose of Mass, and it doesn’t do that, of course we might want it to be shorter. 

However, the purpose of Mass is not to make us feel good for one hour. 

We celebrate Mass first and foremost to give praise and worship to God.  We do this to thank God for all He has done for us in the past.  If we don’t feel like God has done much for us, then perhaps what we need is help to be able to see God’s activity in our lives.

This doesn’t mean that Mass shouldn’t help us feel good for one hour.  It just isn’t the primary purpose.

Mass can help us feel a lot better.  After all, Mass is meant to be an encounter with God.  If we open ourselves to God’s Truth, then when the Bible is read at Mass, we experience God speaking to us today, not just stories or teaching from the past.

We can encounter God at Mass when we say the creed at Mass, provided we say it slowly and thoughtfully.  If, in an event to make Mass shorter, we rush through the prayers, we do not allow ourselves time to think about the words.  If we allow the words of the Creed to speak to us, we will see how they speak of who God is and how He relates to us.  Sometimes the Word of God and prayers we offer us at Mass won’t make us feel good immediately.  That’s because they challenge us and may make us realize we need to change our lives.  If we do change our lives to be in accord with God’s Word, we will feel better over time not just for an hour but for the rest of our lives.

Then comes the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  Receiving Communion, the Body and Blood of Jesus, is a divine gift to us.  However, if we think that receiving Communion is the only purpose of Mass, we miss much of what God offers us.  I’ve already mentioned hearing God’s Word from the Bible and praying the Creed.  We miss another very important part of Mass when we don’t realize what is going on as the priest leads us in the Eucharistic Prayer. 

We miss the sacrificial action of the Mass.  Every time we celebrate Mass, we are celebrating the sacrifice of Jesus.  It is not a new sacrifice.  There is no need for a new sacrifice.  It is God making present as only God can, the sacrifice of Jesus giving his life for us on the Cross. 

We are not just remembering what Jesus did for us 2,000 years ago.  God is making it present for us today.  This can be hard for us to relate to today.  We look at history as a series of past events.  For instance, when we celebrate our independence on July 4^th, we remember those who fought for our country’s independence but remembering is all that we can do.  We can’t make the events of the Revolutionary War present today. 

It is different is Jesus.  When Jesus says, Do this in memory of me, He is calling us to experience the event of the Last Supper and his Crucifixion for ourselves and to do so in the light of the Resurrection.

Mass is not just a bunch of gestures (postures), prayers, and Bible readings.  Mass is an encounter with God.  When we realize this, we will object when the Mass is too short.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff