July 9, 2010
The Christian Journey
Priests, parents, parishioners important witnesses, participants
BY FATHER JIM SAUER
The Sunday Eucharist is the heart of our lives. Although the number of participating parishioners has declined, the Eucharist is still where the majority of Catholics gather each weekend to be encouraged by one another, instructed by God’s Word, nourished by the Body and Blood of the Risen Lord, and sent forth to continue his ministry of love in our everyday living.
Who were those people who nurtured within you a love to gather for Sunday Eucharist? We owe them a debt of gratitude, although they served as instruments of God’s unseen grace. My life would be empty if God had not used my parents, the people of my home parish of St. Joseph in Evansville, and many other people who showed me by their example that Sunday worship was a value in their lives. (As a priest, I miss not seeing at Sunday worship young parents whose babies I have baptized or others I have come to know. Although they may be on vacation or elsewhere, the Eucharist is where I feel most deeply connected with my parishioners in Jesus.)
I am thankful to the diocesan priests who served St. Joseph Church in Evansville. They loved the Eucharist, visible in the way they celebrated the Mass. In my childhood and adolescence, we celebrated the Tridentine Mass, for which the requirements for serving were quite demanding — learning Latin responses, moving the priest’s book from one side of the altar to the other, and ringing the bells just at the right moment. Most priests were kind and understanding when we made mistakes. (We especially enjoyed serving for priests who did not consecrate all the wine during Mass. They would turn a blind eye as we “treated” ourselves to it after Mass!)
Undoubtedly, the training our diocesan priests received at St. Meinrad Seminary reinforced their love for the Eucharist and their ability to celebrate the Mass in a reverent manner. Daily Eucharist remains the center of the monks’ life, which is manifest in their Archabbey Church where the altar is the focal point. Our diocese owes a debt of gratitude to the monks for their love of the liturgy, for — like a stone rippling over the surface of a pond — it has gone out throughout our diocese (indeed through the entire U.S.) through the priests they educated.
Besides being an altar boy, my brother and I were also in the boys’ choir. Singing practice began at 7 a.m. several days each week. We sang with the Adult Men’s Choir at the 8 a.m. Mass each Sunday. St. Joseph Parish had one of the most beautiful choirs in Evansville in those days. The mixed boys and girls’ choir would sing for funerals, which were in Latin. The “Dies Irae, Dies Illa” was the most challenging musical piece (for children or adults), but rarely did we make one error in pronunciation or miss the right note!
Sometimes individuals say, “I don’t get anything out of Mass, therefore I don’t go anymore.” Such a statement contradicts the entire meaning of what takes place at the Eucharist — the Eucharist is the celebration of Christ’s total self-giving: “Take and eat — This is my Body given for you; Take and drink — This is the cup of my Blood poured out for you.” Even our worship of God can be completely self- centered instead of our being there for God and each other.
My parents, parish priests and many others also taught me that Eucharist meant being involved as a server, a choirboy, even as a participant in the worship. Only by giving, do we receive.