In the First Reading today, the Prophet Amos uses very clear language to exhort the inhabitants of the Northern Kingdom not to rest on their laurels. Likewise, we should not take our faith for granted. Our obligation to come to Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation is not a way God or the Church lords it over us. Not at all! On the contrary, attendance at Mass is an obligation because neither God nor the Church want us to miss out on the supreme gifts which he wants to give us. It is only at Mass and with other sacraments that we can receive the graces required for us to be holy.

Continuing from what we meditated upon last week, namely the importance of treating the church in a different manner than any other building, let us meditate on our disposition for the celebration of the Mass. We saw that the only person that we should speak to in the worship space is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Even before the celebration of the Mass, we must make sure that we are properly disposed for our prayer and hence the importance of silence before Mass, when we arrive early. A virtue that will certainly be of help with regards to the proper preparation of Mass is the virtue of punctuality. You would have heard me say this before; that we should always aim to be in the church sitting in our pew at least five minutes before the start of Mass. It is indeed encouraging to see that the great majority of Mass goers are here before Mass starts. Being here early will enable us to properly enter into what is about to happen for us, the representation of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary. It is easy to think that coming to Mass a little late, not long after the sign of the cross is not that much of a big issue. However, the Mass starts with a sign of the cross and ends with the dismissal and missing any part of it is certainly not ideal. The later one is after the start of Mass the worse it gets. Sometimes people come in during the Gloria. Sometimes, it is during the readings. And sometimes it is during the homily that people come in. The Mass is made up of two parts, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The most important part of the Liturgy of the Word is the proclamation of the Gospel. If someone has not heard the Gospel, then that person has not been present at the Liturgy of the Word, and that person has not been to Mass and the need to go to Mass to fulfil one’s obligation is real.

Very often in life, in order for us to avoid doing something that we consider bad we have in our mind that that thing is to be avoided at all costs. I think that being late at Mass is something that ought to be avoided at all costs. Of course, life is very unpredictable. It happens that sometimes things unforeseen come up and we can’t leave home quite on time. There can be more traffic than expected. These occurrences are real and understandable. However, these events happen in isolation and don’t occur at the same time every week. If leaving at a particular time means that we are here after Mass has started, maybe, it is now time to leave a bit earlier in order to be here from the very start of the Mass.

Turning our attention to the end of Mass also, the practice of leaving before the dismissal is to be abandoned. It is indeed appropriate, and the right thing to do to only leave after the dismissal, even after the Principal Celebrant has left. Not being here for the Prayer after Communion means that we miss out on a very important part of the Mass. Leaving before the final blessing means missing out on the blessing of God for the week ahead. Sincerely, I can’t imagine a reason why we would deprive ourselves of the blessing which God wants to give us. It is very rare that Mass goes over an hour. It is certainly my intention to always finish Mass within the hour. Some of you have mentioned jokingly that I do check the time on the clock at the back of the church during Mass. Sometimes, owing to things that may need to happen at the Mass, Mass might go a few minutes over the hour. That is certainly not a reason to leave after communion for Mass has not ended after we receive Holy Communion. We certainly keep in mind that receiving Holy Communion in a state of grace, is indeed an awesome thing to do. However, the church says we have an obligation to go to Mass every Sunday not to receive Holy Communion every Sunday and the point of Mass is not just to receive Holy Communion.

There are many important duties for us to perform every day and every week. All of them contribute to our wellbeing in some way. None of these things comes even close to what we are doing together right now. In a moment, heaven and earth will be one when, at the words of institution, the Body and Blood of Christ will become present on the altar. This is part of the good things which have come our way as Abraham said to the Rich Man in the Gospel in the Gospel. Let us indeed treat the whole of the Mass as the very best thing that Jesus has given us, remembering that the whole of Mass gives us the graces, strength and courage we need to become the saints that Jesus needs us to be.