Hi,
Well, just what are you expectations of Mass? If you were standing on Mt. Calvary as our Blessed Lord hung on the cross, would your sentiments be the same? I doubt it.
Certainly, how you would react would greatly depend on how well you understood the dynamics of what was taking place. If He were just another criminal being put to death, it might be unpleasant to view, but most likely not have any lasting effect on the way you live. But IF you recognized that this man was God and voluntarily underwent hours of torture and three-hours of unspeakable agony on a cross before actually dying on your behalf, you would be numbed at that thought that the Almighty would do such a thing. He didn’t have to do it. He chose to suffer in such a way in order to give us some idea of the enormity of His limitless love for us—that we might respond by loving Him as well. To love Him is the greatest good we can do for ourselves. It’s what we were designed for.
As He hung on the cross, the nails in His hands held His body up. But his up-stretched arms also squeezed His lungs so that He began to gasp and pant. So He had to push down on His crucified feet to raise His torso in order to let oxygen into His lungs. For three hours He did this as He hung in agony. By the end of the third hour, He had no strength left and in that eternal moment He died, giving eternal life to you and to me. That moment transcends time, affecting everyone who has ever been conceived or will be.
Through the Eucharist, that reality is made visible through signs that are available to our senses. When we see His blood on the altar, separated from His body, it’s enough to break one’s heart if we are able to let it sink in. There is nothing that ever happens on the face of the earth that can equal what happens on that altar! Yet this is what the Mass is. When we go to Mass to give thanks for such love, the music and the priest’s style are really beside the point. Granted, it helps when the priest and the music are conducive to this reality. But what is most important is that our motive for being present at Mass is in line with what is really happening there.
We go to Mass to respond to Good Friday. There is a funeral aspect to it, but only because His death opens the gates of Heaven to us all. It is the greatest reason we could ever have for rejoicing. We have meaning. Our lives are not blind alleys. We are loved beyond our dreams!
No, Catholics do not attend church services elsewhere. We have too much to celebrate at Mass.
Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.
