Dear Christ Our King and Savior Parish Family,
People often ask me about how late a person can arrive at Mass if something comes up or some last minute, out of control event gets in the way of otherwise truly well-made plan to make it on time. Is it the end of the entrance hymn? Am I good if I make it before the Gospel?
And I get it. As a child, my family was usually the one rushing in during the Gloria, hoping we’d find a seat and not have to stand the whole Mass! But as I got older, and the faith become more of my own choice, the temptation wasn’t so much to procrastinate getting to Mass…but rather to leave Mass early.
I think for most parishes across the globe, more frequent than late arrivals are early dismissals.
Let me try to briefly address all this, particularly as it pertains to Sunday Mass.
The celebration of the Sunday Mass is the central Christian event. From the time Our Lord rose from the dead to the present, Christians have gathered on that day of the week to praise God, to be nourished by His Word and Sacrament, to enjoy fellowship, and to be sent out on mission.
The Mass begins and ends with the Sign of the Cross, a gesture when made at the start of Mass signifies that we are all joining into the prayer of the Church together under the banner of the cross, a symbol of defeat and death that Christ made a symbol of victory and life by His resurrection. At the end of Mass, we make the Sign of the Cross as we receive the blessing and sending-on-mission in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Everything in-between those two moments is sacred time, set aside for the Lord.
Therefore, aside from emergencies and truly grave situations, we should be present, each Sunday, for everything that takes place between those two moments. People have brunch/dinner plans, family coming, football games to watch, tasks to accomplish, and these are all things that press upon us, they make us anxious, particularly as the minute hand rises to complete another hour. But let’s not let that get in the way of what the Lord wants to give us!
If we leave before the final blessing (again, without a truly serious reason), we have not fulfilled our Sunday commitment to participating at Mass. Arriving late, if it is truly due to something outside our control and our best-made efforts should in no way cause anyone concern…especially when rowdy children or the frailty of old age are part of the equation. Come!
It wasn’t until I learned and appreciated the fact that Heaven is an eternal Mass (Dr. Scott Hahn has a great book on this…
The Lamb’s Supper
) that I began to fight the temptation to cut out early with any real success. I know I want Heaven, and if Mass is a participation in what is going on there now, then I want it, and lots of it! No matter if its 45 minutes or 2 hours!
I encourage all of us to pray for the grace of seeing the Mass as it truly is…an invitation into and a participation in the Eternal Life of God, through praising Him, seeing Him revealed in Scripture, receiving Him in the Holy Eucharist, and being commissioned as ambassadors of Divine Love to everyone around us.
Come early, stay to the end. You are always welcome, you are wanted, not just by your pastor and your fellow parishioner-pilgrims, but by the Lord Himself.
May God bless you and keep you,
Fr. Michael
Parochial Administrator
