Motivated for Mass

Measuring the fervor of our faith

08/08/2021

Jn 6:41-51 The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven, ” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Every Catholic Christian’s relationship with Jesus can be measured by our motivation for Mass. That is, are you excited about the Eucharist or are you bored out of your gourd being here? There is a little framed sign in the sacristy where priests prepare for Mass that reads: “Priest of God, celebrate this Mass as if it were you first Mass, as if it were your last Mass, as if it were your only Mass.” I am convinced that sign should be seen by every Catholic who walks into Sunday Mass: celebrate this Mass as it were your first, last and only Mass. In other words, you can feel the fervor of your faith life by your enthusiasm for the Eucharist.

For the past several Sundays (as well as today), we have heard from John 6, the chapter about the miracle of the loaves and fish and also the explanation of the Eucharist as the “Bread of Life.” If you study the gospel of John closely, you will discover that he omits the “Institution Narrative,” during the Last Supper. What is the “Institution Narrative”? Well, unlike Matthew, Mark and Luke, John does not describe how Jesus took bread and wine and said this is my Body and Blood. Why is that not part of John’s Last Supper?

Well, because John’s “Institution Narrative” is actually to be found in chapter 6, long before the Last Supper. There, Jesus insists: “I am the Bread of life and he who eats of this bread will live forever.” In other words, we should not jump to judge John by saying he forgot the “Institution Narrative” at the Last Supper and so his faith in the Eucharist must be weak. Rather, like every Catholic Christian, so, too, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John’s faith life can be measured by their motivation for the Mass. Each Evangelist, in his own way, explained the Eucharist as if it were his “first, last, and only Mass.”

Here are three examples of how our relationship with Jesus can be measured by our motivation for the Mass. Perhaps this catalogue will help each Catholic evaluate his or her own faith-life. First, when I was in high school, I used to get up early and attend Mass at the local Carmelite monastery in Little Rock. That Mass was at 6:30 a.m. and I usually overslept like a typical teenager and arrived a few minutes late.

The priest, Fr. George Tribou, would glare at me over his glasses as I tried to slide into my pew without being noticed. I thought: “Man, there is not one other person here under 80 years old and here I am a teenager trying to make it to Mass and you are giving me the stink eye?” So, I swore I would never stare at people who come late for Mass, but I sometimes still do and give them the stink eye. As a teenager I tried to come to early morning Mass, and that says something about the fervor of my faith.

The second example is the strangest place I ever celebrated Mass. Many years ago my parents and I took a train trip across Canada, which lasted five days. One of those days was a Sunday, and I planned to say Mass in our little cabin for just the three of us. But I thought maybe there are other Catholics on the train, so I went up and down the train inviting any Catholics to come to Mass.

Someone even offered us their double cabin to say Mass so there would be more room. Do you know how many people attended that traveling “train Mass”? It was easily over 50 people, and many of them were standing down the corridor. That so many people were motivated to come to Mass on a moving train says a lot about their love for the Lord, the fervor of their faith.

The third example was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I had to celebrate Mass in the pope’s private chapel in 2003. On a visit to Rome, I was privileged to concelebrate with 6 other priests and about 20 lay persons in a small chapel inside the pope’s private residence. Pope St. John Paul II entered the chapel in a wheelchair and climbed into a chair facing the altar, and we all stood in order to begin the Mass.

I watched in awe as he made an enormous effort to kneel and stand at the proper parts of the Mass, even though he was extremely elderly and suffering severely from Parkinson’s. I promised myself that day I would never complain about the “calisthenics of the Mass” – all the standing, kneeling and sitting. I was watching a saint celebrate Mass if it were his first Mass, his last Mass, his only Mass. And that said a lot about the fervor of his faith.

My friends, there is a clear correlation between the fervor of our faith and our motivation for making it to Mass. They rise and fall together. By the way, there is another place in the Bible where John presents his “Institution Narrative” in a mysterious and marvelous way, namely, the Book of Revelation. In other words, what Revelation reveals is what the angels and saints are celebrating for eternity in heaven, namely, the Mass. In heaven the Eucharist will indeed be the first Mass, the last Mass and the only Mass. Folks, you better get motivated for the Mass on earth, because that is what we will be doing forever in heaven.

Praised be Jesus Christ!