Dear Friends,
On June 29, the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Francis issued a new Apostolic Letter on the Liturgy - Desiderio Desideravi - which takes its title from Jesus’ words at the Last Supper: ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer’ (Luke 22:15). The Pope continues: ‘These words of Jesus, with which the account of the Last Supper opens, are the crevice through which we are given the surprising possibility of intuiting the depth of the love of the persons of the Most Holy Trinity for us’ (2).
Basically, this is a Document on the Mass and how we need to celebrate as a community. In coming weeks, I will share excerpts from this letter with you as a way of renewing and refreshing our understanding of this remarkable mystery of our God’s encounter with us. Pope Francis refers to our need to experience liturgical ‘astonishment’ and ‘wonder’ at Mass, a reminder of the words of Pope St. John Paul II’s encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, which speaks of a sense of ‘Eucharistic amazement’.
This is the very sense we seek to encourage in our Parish as we prepare children and their families for First Holy Communion. Those of you who attended any of the First Communion Masses will recall the great joy which accompanied the celebrations. That being said, we know that the Mass can become routine in our lives and our Faith can falter.
The Pope’s unique turn of phrase is evident in Desiderio Desideravi which is designed to enhance our ‘liturgical formation’, certainly something I need myself. As a child and throughout much of my seminary training, I experienced Mass in Latin. As we changed from Latin to the vernacular language over 50 years ago, English in our case, some feared that the Mass would lose its sense of beauty, mystery and sacredness. Some sought out the ‘traditional Latin Mass’ and this at times caused painful divisions in the Church, even to the extent of some Catholics rejecting the validity of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Recent Popes and Bishops have struggled to respond pastorally to devout people of faith.
In this Apostolic Letter, Pope Francis invites us, ‘Let us abandon our polemics to listen together to what the Spirit is saying to the Church’ (65). Every Catholic Community needs the Eucharist, needs to gather around the altar to be fed on the Word of God and on the Body and Blood of Christ – so that both the Community and each member can grow daily in our awareness that we are the Body of Christ, sent forth to be the Real Presence of Christ in the world. The Mass is not a private celebration nor is it our private prayer but rather the Body of Christ gathered to experience astonishment, wonder and amazement!
The opening paragraph of the Pope’s letter may whet your appetite:
‘My dearest brothers and sisters, with this letter I desire to reach you all – after having written already only to the bishops after the publication of the Motu Proprio Traditionis custodes – and I write to share with you some reflections on the liturgy, a dimension fundamental for the life of the Church. The theme is vast and always deserves an attentive consideration in every one of its aspects. Even so, with this letter I do not intend to treat the question in an exhaustive way. I simply desire to offer some prompts or cues for reflections that can aid in the contemplation of the beauty and truth of Christian celebration’ (1). Fr Dave