Give 'Sheer Faith' a Try during Sunday Mass

Part II: Sheer Faith

At the heart of the Eucharist is the sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus died. That was not easy. He came to the glory of the resurrection the hard way. Should it surprise us that participating in the eucharistic sacrifice should be difficult for us? Bishop Floyd Begin of Oakland used to say: "We come to Mass to die." If we find the liturgy deadening, we may not be in the wrong place.

Surely the Mass should give us a glimpse of the joy of the resurrection. That will happen, we hope often. But the Mass also must initiate us into the mystery of the crucifixion. That may happen more often. Before we run away from our parish to somewhere else because of the priest or the choir or the poor lectors, before we stop going altogether because of our own inadequacy and failure, we should give "sheer faith" a try.

Children and teenagers, too, need to learn to do things they do not feel like doing. (It is very unfortunate, however, if this is the only experience they have in church.) The "no pain, no gain" slogan sometimes applies to more than pumping iron. "Eating your vegetables because they are good for you" is not the worst thing a child can have to do. Nor is going to church because it is the right thing to do on Sunday, and because "that is what our family does."

If we stop to consider what happens at every Mass, no matter how poorly the prayers are said, we get a different perspective. Jesus is present in his people, in his Word, and in the sacrament of the Eucharist. He makes himself completely available to us. He draws us into the communion of the Holy Spirit. He offers us with himself to the Father in perfect worship. He feeds us with his body and blood. This does not depend on us, except in the minimal requirements for the priest to celebrate a valid Mass. Our enthusiasm or lack of it has nothing to do with what God is doing. "Sheer faith" is enough on our part to recognize what is going on. What we feel does not change God's act of love.

We have no right to such a gift of God--except that God has given us the right. We have no right to be "turned on" every time we walk through the doors of the church, when the right to walk through those doors itself is God's gift. We cannot expect blockbuster Masses the way we expect blockbuster summer movies. We cannot think that God owes us anything for the hour we give to worship every week. It is we who owe. And if all we can give is our bored presence, that will have to do.

Failure at liturgical prayer is often not failure at all. It is simply a different kind of prayer. Because it leaves us completely empty, it may be the closest we come to active participation in the sacrifice of Christ.