One of the aspects of the Liturgy that is often overlooked is its inherent power to spark wonder and marvel and therefore leading to praise. At least, it ought to do this. Being no mere work of man, but an Opus Dei, a work of God, the Liturgy is meant to draw us into the “Sacred Mysteries”. A liturgy that doesn’t elicit this response probably has too much man and not enough God in it. Whether or not our current liturgy is awe-full or not, this need to be awe-filled remains key to the highly sought after “active participation” so cherished by the Fathers of Vatican II. Rather than entering into a debate over the merits and de-merits of the Novus Ordo Mass, I want to offer a reflection on how to stir up the necessary awe that allows for a fuller participation in the Sacred Liturgy.
One of the more controversial changes to the Mass was the movement of the words “mystérium fídei” (Mystery of Faith) from the formula of consecration of the wine to right after the consecration. Again, we will forego any critique of it and simply admit that the Liturgy is the way it is right now and we should make the best of it. The words “Mystery of Faith” seem now to be awkwardly out of place, until we go back to the goal of causing us to marvel at what God has done and is doing. The words Mystery of Faith, spoken by the Priest, are meant to be an expression of awe at what has just occurred before our very eyes.
All too often, rather than an invitation to awe, it is treated as a rubrical instruction for the congregation to say something. But if we hover on the exclamation itself, then, rather than simply being a canned response, it can be an exclamation of faith in what has just occurred. In order to grasp this however we must linger a while on the meaning of the words.
The Mystery of Faith
When the Son of God “took flesh and dwelt among us”, there was nothing remarkable about His appearance as a man. But this same man, a man Whom they heard, saw with their eyes and touched with their hands was revealed to them to be the Son of God (c.f. 1Jn 1:1-3). Their senses all supported the gift of divine faith they were given. Never to leave His Church orphaned, this same Son of God extended the Incarnation throughout time and space through the Eucharist. Now we are only in the presence of His words and no longer bound to the experience of our senses. In the Eucharist our senses fail, but once we accept the words spoken by Our Lord we “recognize Him in the breaking of the bread.”
In his Encyclical on the Eucharist, Mirae Cartitatis, Pope Leo XIII reminded the faith that the Eucharist “is the chief means whereby men are engrafted on the divine nature, men also find the most efficacious help towards progress in every kind of virtue.” But it is faith pre-eminently, that is exercised and strengthened—“nothing can be better adapted to promote a renewal of the strength and fervor of faith in the human mind than the mystery of the Eucharist, the ‘mystery of faith’…” When we respond to the Priest’s awe-full utterance with a fervent act of faith, faith grows. It is not merely a declaration on our part, but an exclamation that the entire history of salvation is bound up and made present in what we just witnessed. But it is the Mystery of Faith because the mystery cannot be seen with human eyes but only through faith.
The Mystery of Faith
It is not only an act of faith, but participation in a mystery. We are not just bystanders, but actual participants. Our senses tell us we are in a pew in a church somewhere while faith tells us we are at the foot of the Cross speaking directly to Christ and offering Him up to the Father. It is a mystery then first of all because it is real contact with the foundational mystery of the Cross. And in this one mystery, Pope Leo XIII says, “the entire supernatural order is summed up and contained.” Because in truth it is not just His Passion and death that is re-presented but His Resurrection as well. It is, as St. John Paul II says, truly His Passover in which we journey with Him. Each of the Memorial Acclamations contains the same content; the Passion, Death, Resurrection and “the eschatological footprint of Christ in His return”.
We can see better what Our Lord meant when he told Thomas that those who did not see Him were blessed. It is for our benefit that He presents Himself in a veiled manner. By veiling Himself, His presence grows clearer and clearer in proportion to one’s charity. Knowledge (faith) always leads to love so that His hidden presence in the Eucharist causes charity to grow in our soul.
If this does not excite in us both reverence and awe, then we are merely going through the motions. This Mystery of Faith is the content of eternity because it sums of all the mysteries of our Faith. We will be contemplating this Mystery of Faith when faith gives way to vision. In this way the Mass truly is training for life everlasting and we should treat it as such.