Gathering & Sending
- teresa71449
- Sep 10
- 5 min read
BY MARY ETTA O'NEILL, PARISHIONER
For home-study, see the playlist of Fr. Greg's homily series on the Mass and accompanying resources below.
When I was asked to write my thoughts about Fr. Greg’s homily series on the Mass, I decided I wanted to try to discern why our great Ritual of Thanksgiving is essential and why it is relevant to my life, to OUR lives as Catholic Christians. There’ve been times in my life when I questioned the necessity of attending Mass. However, having been raised in the Church from birth, for the most part I’ve been faithful, and I’ve no doubt that, even half-hearted as I might’ve been sometimes, I went to Mass just because that’s what we do. It must certainly have nurtured me in some way.
Now in my seventies, I’m convinced that, for me, what also makes attending the Mass essential and relevant is “the Gathering and the Sending.” I don’t mean to diminish the significance or magnitude of the centerpieces of our Liturgy at the Table of the Word and the Table of the Eucharist. These are indeed the source and summit of our Sacred Ritual, but for this writing I wish to focus on the fullness of the presence of Christ in the less prominent rites, the gathering and sending rites. I want to highlight Christ’s presence in the people gathered in the pews, in all of us who come together and who leave together. Our acts of gathering and dispersing are initiated by God’s grace. It is the Lord who invites us to assemble to celebrate the Gospel and the Paschal Mysteries. It is the Lord who sends us forth to live out the Gospel as followers of the Way of Jesus in our daily lives. The Eucharist and its Liturgy is the Sacrament of the Gathered Assembly.
I’ve studied the Liturgy for years, but in my later life, as one who has more time to ponder and pray, it’s become evident to me that the Sacramental “action,” as Fr. Greg named it, always occurs within the unity of our gathering. The Liturgy is a ritual, enacted by and through humans, using commonplace symbols found in our everyday life. It is the earthly embodiment of the Transcendent made present in our midst through our participation in the sacred Ritual. To say it more explicitly, whenever we gather for Mass, the possibility of the presence of Christ in the Word and in the Bread and Wine is truly actualized. As it was for our earliest ancestors, it is in fellowship around the table, in listening to the Word, praying and remembering, and in breaking bread that Christ becomes really present. Among us. In us. Through us.
That’s how I always think of and appreciate coming to Mass. The gathered assembly is the Body of Christ. I cherish this awareness. In the words of St. Paul: “you, though are the body of Christ and its members” (1 Cor 12:27). Our magnificent ritual action commences with the gathering of everyone. I love coming to Visitation to Mass to see people I know and people I don’t know. I love to look around and smile, to greet and to be greeted. As the Mass begins, and the first notes of music resound, I always feel a rush of anticipation for what is to come. By singing we “lift up our hearts.” (I hope everyone is singing.) Our ancient ceremonial prayer has begun. I love to stand and sit and kneel, to listen, to hear the ritual calls and to respond. To pray with everyone. I feel joy and gratitude to be in my home Parish in the familiar, beautiful space we built and where we celebrate and grieve together, our elders, parents, young adults, our school children, our tiniest ones, and any strangers in our midst. Neighbors, friends, family and visitors. All are invited. All are welcome.
I appreciate that the Mass is the great universal prayer of the people of God and of the Catholic Church all over the planet. How wonderful that it is the same Mass for all of us everywhere. (Yes, I really do think about that especially when I’m abroad.) I love the energy of the Holy Spirit manifest in those who are there to celebrate, and as Fr. Greg said, to “help each other participate, to become one voice, one body around the table of the Lord.” As if to emphasize this he also said, “there are no spectators!” The Mass is the ritual enactment and salutation of what we believe, who we are, and the work we do. And that work is to build up the entire Body of Christ on the planet. Every being. Everywhere. Today. In our gathering at Mass we are reminded of who we profess to be. We are strengthened to follow the Way of Jesus.
Gathering is where it begins. Sending is where it continues. After our great Ritual of Thanksgiving around the Table of the Lord draws to its conclusion, we begin our acts of transition. Through the dynamic energy of the Holy Spirit, if we’ve been intentional and participatory, we are changed. We’ve been shaped by the Word, shared our collective memory, and been nourished by the gifts of the Bread of Life and the Wine of the New Covenant. What does this mean for us now? What comes next? The Sacrament demands involvement and continuing commitment. It is multifaceted and experiential! I love these moments when we sit at rest, in communal silence to ponder all that has happened in our midst, in grateful awe at God’s transforming action. I echo Fr. Greg’s comments about the holy stillness which comes over us when we settle for a few moments after the communion rite concludes. We experience a peaceful feeling of transcendence I think, a quiet, unique sense of a “union of spirit,” we who’ve shared the sacred meal. As St. Augustine declared, may we “become what we have received.” After a final blessing, under the Sign of the Cross, we are sent out to “glorify God by our lives.” The Mass has ended and we are dispersed into our daily lives. Let us be as Christ. Let us love as God loves.
In an article called “The Power of the Liturgy” that she wrote for the Creighton Magazine, Spring 2011, my brilliant Professor of Theology and Liturgy, at Creighton University, Dr. Eileen Burke-Sullivan asserted:
God sends the embodied presence of Christ, the communicants, into the world to transform it with justice and mercy. Through the lives of the congregants who were “Christed” in the liturgy, God can change the human condition within nature. Many of us may not “feel” changed, and we aren’t quite willing to believe that God is actually sending us. But when we depart from the Eucharist, we have encountered the Risen Christ in transformative ways…we are now sent to the highways and byways of our lives to witness to the compassion of God. We are empowered to labor for [Christ’s] mission effectively with hearts on fire for God’s Kingdom on earth. (p.11)
The rite of sending is equally essential and relevant to our Liturgical celebration. The Liturgy continues when we walk out the door. The Holy Spirit has enlivened us, Christ’s incarnate Body on earth, to fulfill our mission of service. The true mission of the Body of Christ is to live out the “Love Commandment” of the Lord: “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (JN 13:34b) To become a disciple of Jesus one must embrace the commandment to love as he loves. The intention of the Eucharistic Liturgy is not chiefly for our personal sanctification but rather to challenge us to go beyond our own needs so that others may be sustained both physically and spiritually. Having participated in the Sacred Ritual, we come away strengthened to live the Christian life, which involves care for the marginalized and pursuit of justice for “those who have nothing” (1 Cor 11:22). We, Christ’s earthly body are always responsible for a circle wider than our own. Coming together at Mass summons us to our work. In the sending forth we are exhorted to accomplish it.
In the Gathering we begin. In the Sending we persist. Amen. Amen.
