Fr. Richard OMOLADE

The Mass, it has been said is the highest form of worship on this side of heaven. It is the prayer of Christ Himself at which He offered Himself as a sacrifice to God His father and our father. It is a solemn celebration of the giving up of Himself in love for our salvation.  The Mass is thus the most sacred event that we can partake of, and we should be glad to be so honoured to be invited to this most sacred celebration. 

As a sacred sacrifice,  it is quite distinct in its nature and goal. While it involves human beings who are social beings, it is not to be understood as a social event. The Mass is not what we do for ourselves or what we do for God. It is what God in Christ has offered us, we are mere participants at the cosmic event in which Christ Himself is the high priest.

The Mass is not a show, or a jamboree, but a religious event. It is not for entertainment; it is an event during which we give God the honour He deserves. The Mass is all these and much more and mortal beings like you and I find it difficult to comprehend and many are making misplaced efforts to transform it according to their own mood. 

While the Mass has its structure that has endured the passage of time, many would want it patterned along modern gyration.  Yes, there are changeable and unchangeable elements, no wonder, the readings change according to the theme of the day and the season or even according to a particular celebration, yet it remains the same Mass be it in Ghana or Chad, Tokyo or Sumatra, China or Brazil.  Even when language differs, anyone at any celebration of the Mass is sure to understand what is going on and be united with the Lord, the High priest.

Since it is the celebration of Christ, we can confidently say that grace flows through the Mass and from the Mass. It is clearly an act of thanksgiving as well as supplication.  It is healing as well as mortifying, it is joyous as well as penitential. But the people of our time seems not to appreciate the complete package of the Mass and want only a celebration that is euphoric, loud and cathartic. For people to have such celebration, Jesus Christ the High priest would have to be put in a niche and the priest enthroned. No wonder, many priests have become like the daddy GOs in charge of all yet controlling nothing. 

If we prefer our gyration to the still and calmness of Christ, then Christ will step to the side while we enthrone ourselves and it appears this is what is taking place in many places.  Priests who have been meticulously trained for a decade or more are now found rehearsing their dancing steps and deliverance slogan and ministration diction. As the celebration of Mass becomes worldly in many places, the enthronement of Mammon has become ubiquitous. Parishes in wealthy neighbourhoods thrive while pastors in rural places beg for bread and cannot get it. Mammon, the god of wealth now reigns on many altars and many priests and people bow to it. 

It is thus not surprising that within few months of his arrival in Nigeria, the Papal Nuncio to Nigeria, Archbishop Crotty laments the commercialization of the Mass. The Mass is not a commodity to be bought or sold, it is a sacrifice to be offered to God our father. The sacrifice must not be treated with levity, but with the solemn attitude that it deserves.

That is why, the Mass is not a place for rehearsal or a platform for celebrity priests. It is a solemn celebration focused entirely on God. As we say at Mass, “it is right and fitting that we should be there to offer our praise and thanksgiving.” The Mass cannot be an avenue for any how stuff or “anything goes”. The Mass cannot be celebrated just to please the people but for the honour and glory of God. If we do it well, God is glorified, and we will derive maximum benefit from it.  If we come to it with the right disposition, full, active and conscious participation, then there is no way the Mass will not be inspirational, transformative and salvific.

As was credited to the late Chicago priest, Archbishop Machinkus, “the Church is not run on Hail Mary alone,” Yes, we need money and more money to execute Church programmes that will bring people to God and construct structures that are beautiful and sublime, even then, the Mass must not be turned into a mall for making money. 

There is thus, no alternative to good catechesis. If our people are well taught, they will give freely and generously, knowing that they are giving to God. Our giving at Mass should not be because we have been called upon to do so, rather, it should be because we know that our participation places on us some obligations and we are glad to rise to the occasion and do what is good for God. Without this type of catechesis, pastors will continue to extort their members and instead of leading them to God, they will lead them to themselves and rob them of the true wealth that can be gained from a well celebrated Mass. Our Mass will not be ended, until we have taken the riches of the Mass to the nooks and crannies of our cities for the world to taste and see that the Lord is good.