One complaint that one might hear, is that Mass is "boring".
That reminds me of a homily that a french priest held as he was addressing himself specifically to children during a Children's Mass.
He was telling them that when he was at Seminary in the south of France, (he was himself from Normandy ), all the young seminarians were very into rugby, they were all watching the rugby matches with great enthusiasm. But he himself found it completely boring, because he did not understand it, and did not know the rules.
Then someone took the time to explain it to him, and after that he got "into it".
So what is Mass?
Mass is A Sacrifice, An Offering, A Memorial, Worship, Celebration.
The sacred scriptures are read, and while some people's minds might drift away, thinking that they "have heard all those stories before a hundred times", they are only bored because they do not understand.
'For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I [a]should heal them.’
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I [a]should heal them.’
(Matthew 13:15 New King James Version (NKJV))
(Ezekiel 12:2 New King James Version (NKJV))
What we can eliminate as what Mass is not: it is not about making you feel anything.
(Another thing one might hear: "I do not feel anything, I get nothing out of Mass")
The truth is that if you are willing ( we have free will, why not make use of it)
to offer up the time of the duration of
the Mass by giving it your full attention, being awake and alert, the words pronounced at Mass
will, with continued perseverance, eventually penetrate our minds and finally enter into our hearts, where they will change us, we will be born again.
Because of the heavy machinery of the Mind; whose function it is to downloads programs and formats and contains our individual particular conditioning, preconceived ideas and concepts, we have to be mindful.
I am Willing, I am Here, I am Now ( I am not thinking about something else).
If you feel your own resistance to the Present, (what am I doing here, I have a lot of other things to do, etc.....) fine, stay with it, accept it, be with it.
If we find the other people in the congregation challenging, we offer that up as well, we are willing
to "suffer" it.
And even if we do not understand a lot of it, or even most of it, we know that it is normal,
the understanding (the enlightenment) will follow, gradually.
We have to go beyond the Mind, otherwise we will become victims of it.
(I do not want to fall victim to a machine!)
If we repeat; do and say the exact things that our parents did and said when we were little, without any reflection, then we are asleep, unconscious.
But those things have been downloaded into our minds, and they determine our decisions and our speech on a daily basis.
But are they relevant to us, here and now? Some of them might be, but think about it.
If my parents were atheists, does that mean that I have to be one too? Were my parents right about everything?
Some configurations of the mind are VERY heavy obstacles to attaining God:
Pride, Arrogance, Snobbery, Materialism, Ambition, Greed, Blaming others, Bitterness (Unforgiveness).
Other serious blockages are Feelings, for example: Fear, Guilt, Shame, Anger, Jealousy, Envy.
That is why confession is vitally important. We are forgiven!
Addictive behaviour, which is just basically overdoing things, (whether it is drink, food, sex, gambling, shopping, etc, just means that you have lost control of yourself.)
The ability to control oneself, is at the heart of the Catholic Faith's spirituality.
When we don't have instant gratification of our biological drives, for example, it helps us to center ourselves, in the deepest part of ourselves, where God resides.
The reason why Catholic priests are asked to sacrifice a sex life, is because the more they give of themselves, the more God can act in them. It is metaphysical.
The sad and tragic fact that so many of them have not been able to carry this through, is not because it is impossible, because the vast majority are in fact successful.
If/when suffering comes our way, any kind of pain or loss, included physical pain,
if we really accept it internally,
(we have to become aware of our defense mechanisms of avoiding pain, which have often
become unconscious and automatic)
we can come close to God.
(One of the principal teachings of Jesus's Stations of The Cross)
if we really accept it internally,
(we have to become aware of our defense mechanisms of avoiding pain, which have often
become unconscious and automatic)
we can come close to God.
(One of the principal teachings of Jesus's Stations of The Cross)
To master our feelings and reactions to things, people and events, on a daily basis,
is to be truly Mindfull.
The wisdom of the world often says "to follow your feelings"
I do not think it is a good idea to put one's trust in one's feelings, because
feelings change, ( I loved you, I do not love you anymore...)
feelings change, ( I loved you, I do not love you anymore...)
only God is constant. ( As it was in the Beginning, is Now, and ever shall Be, world without end)
The Catholic Faith says to trust only in God, and His Only Son; Jesus, our brother.
