Mass - reconciling "celebration" with "re-presentation"

[Elzee]

I need some help. If Mass is a re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice, and we are at the foot of the Cross at every Mass, why is it called a “celebration”? My point comes from the fact I’ve been in churches where the cantor will tell the congregation “remember, we are celebrating the Mass - we want happy, joyful faces and exuberant singing - not solemn long faces! Jesus is risen!”

Now, I know Jesus is risen and we don’t re-crucify him at every Mass, but if we are really re-presenting Christ’s sacrifice to the Father at every Mass, shouldn’t it be solemn? If so, does 'celebration" have a different meaning when it is used in regard to “celebrating the Mass” and people don’t know it?

 

[Cathryn]

I need some help. If Mass is a re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice, and we are at the foot of the Cross at every Mass, why is it called a “celebration”? My point comes from the fact I’ve been in churches where the cantor will tell the congregation "remember, we are celebrating the Mass - we want happy, joyful faces and exuberant singing - not solemn long faces! Jesus is risen!"

Now, I know Jesus is risen and we don’t re-crucify him at every Mass, but if we are really re-presenting Christ’s sacrifice to the Father at every Mass, shouldn’t it be solemn? If so, does 'celebration" have a different meaning when it is used in regard to “celebrating the Mass” and people don’t know it?

Good question. This drives me nuts. The Catholic meaning of “celebrating” the Mass has been lost. Catholics celebrate Ash Wednesday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Lent, but it doesn’t mean we put on happy faces. I don’t believe the Church intends for us to lose this meaning. If you watch a Papal Mass on TV you won’t see a lot of happy faces. Very different than what you see in a lot of our parishes.

Extracts from the address of His Holiness Pope John Paul II
to the Plenary Meeting of
The Congregatiion for Divine Worship
and the Discipline of the Sacraments
(21 September 2001)

1. The celebration of the Liturgy is an act of the virtue of religion which, in keeping with its nature, must be characterised by a profound sense of the sacred. Both the individual and the community must be aware that, in a special way, through the Liturgy they come into the presence of Him who is thrice holy and transcendent. Consequently, the disposition required of them is one that can only flow from that reverence and awe deriving from an awareness of being in the presence of the majesty of Almighty God. Did not God Himself wish to express this when he commanded Moses to remove his sandals in the presence of the burning bush? Was it not because of this same realization that Moses and Elijah did not dare gaze on God facie in faciem.

The People of God require a comportment in their priests and deacons that is completely imbued with reverence and dignity since it allows them to penetrate invisible realities without words or explanations. The Roman Missal, promulgated by Saint Pope Pius V, and the various Eastern Liturgies, contain many very beautiful prayers with which the priest expresses a profound sense of reverence and humility before the Sacred Mysteries. These prayers reveal the very substance of every Liturgy.

A liturgical celebration, at which the priest presides, is an assembly of prayer, gathered in faith to hear the Word of God. Its primary object is to offer to God the living, pure and holy Sacrifice made once and for all time by Jesus Christ on Calvary, and which is rendered present at every Holy Mass celebrated by the Church so as to worship God in spirit and in truth.
I am aware of this Congregation’s deep commitment, and that of the Bishops, to the promotion and development of the Church’s liturgical life. In expressing my appreciation, it is my hope that this valuable work will contribute to make the celebration of the Liturgy ever more dignified and fruitful.

 

[VociMike]

I suppose you could encourage them to use a dictionary.

celebrate (my emphases added):

1. to **observe **(a day) or commemorate (an event) with **ceremonies **or festivities: to celebrate Christmas; to celebrate the success of a new play.
   …
2. to perform with appropriate rites and ceremonies; solemnize: to celebrate a marriage.
   …
3. to perform a religious ceremony, esp. Mass or the Lord’s Supper.