Word to the Wise
Sunday, April 20, 2008 - Fifth Sunday of Easter
[Acts 6:1-7; 1 Peter 2:4-9; John 14:1-12]Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The period after Easter is given to scripture that encourages the community to become the kind of reality that the Lord created in his life, death and resurrection. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, we become a new reality - the Body of Christ. The First Letter to Peter calls our attention to this new reality. We are "living stones of a spiritual house" and a "holy priesthood." The Second Vatican Council document, Lumen Gentium, #34, on the nature of the Church makes the following important statement about the laity: To [the laity], whom he intimately joins to his life and mission, [Christ] also gives a share in his priestly office of offering spiritual worship for the glory of the Father and the salvation of humanity. Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvelously called and prepared so that ever richer fruits of the Spirit may be produced in them. For all their works, if accomplished in the Spirit, become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ: their prayers and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, even the hardships of life if patiently borne (cf 1 Peter 2:5). In the celebration of the Eucharist, these are offered to the Father in all piety along with the body of the Lord. And so, worshiping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world itself to God. It took time for the celebration of the Eucharist to develop into the liturgical experience that we have today. That experience has undergone many changes since the first Christians met in their homes to remember Jesus in the breaking of the bread. The development of the role of the ordained priest was part of this process, but the teaching of scripture and the council makes it clear that the Eucharist is more than the ordained priest consecrating the bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord. If we are the Body of Christ, it is ourselves that we offer as well at the Eucharist. All of our lives, whether exciting or humdrum (and every life has some of both) are part of this living and present communion which looks to the future coming of Christ. Once in awhile I have the opportunity to attend Mass without being a celebrant - just one of the folks in the pews. I am well aware of the challenges to attention and participation. It takes an effort to be intentional about one's participation. Part of the problem is a tendency to think that the Eucharist is what that ordained person does and we are just pious spectators. Sometimes the ritual itself becomes more important than its meaning so that vestments, surroundings, music - turn the experience into more an aesthetic event. Remembering what the paragraph above says about what we do when we celebrate, along with the priest, the Eucharist may help us to understand why it is that we should be there not only physically but spiritually and consciously. The priesthood of the ordained and the priesthood of the laity are needed to truly give thanks - and not only at Mass! All of life is something we can offer to God. AMEN