I got this question during a Lenten mission at St. Monica Parish on Mercer Island. We had been reflecting on the profound meaning of various parts of the Mass and how they are meant to impact our lives as disciples. There are so many beautiful and meaningful moments: the consecration, Communion, the readings of Scripture and so forth.
But I caught many off-guard when I said, “The most important moment of the Mass, the climax toward which the whole Mass is focused, is the final blessing and sending forth.”
The very word Mass most likely comes from the Latin form of the final blessing, when the priest or deacon would proclaim, “Ite, missa est” (“Go, you are sent!”). They aren’t telling us “Go home” or “Go away” or “Go to coffee and doughnuts.” Rather, they are telling us that we are now prepared through our participation in the Mass and our reception of the Blessed Sacrament to be living tabernacles of Jesus’ presence in the world.
It really changes our understanding and experience of the Mass to realize that it is all for the sake of our being sent to be living members of Christ’s body in our homes, offices, neighborhoods and every other place we find ourselves. That is why we are instructed by the Scriptures. That is why we are joined to Jesus in his one perfect eternal offering to the Father. That is why the Lord shares with us his body and blood. Everything we do and everything we experience is for the sake of being sent forth.
We see this great commissioning happen also in John 20:21, when Jesus said to the disciples in the Upper Room, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” At the end of Mass we are sent, not to do as we want, but to continue the mission of Jesus. Of course, that presumes we correctly understand the mission of Jesus so we can actively participate in it.
The ultimate purpose for which the Father sent Jesus is to make God known so that the world might believe and be saved (John 3:16). This is the great work of God (6:29). To make God known, Jesus had to make love known, since God is love. Our Lord perfected his mission of revealing God to the world as he was lifted up on the cross of Calvary (3:14, 19:30).
We are not to be passive witnesses in the face of this great revelation of love, which we celebrate and receive in the Eucharist. Rather, we are invited to become active instruments and conduits of that love so that the world may come to believe in God through us (17:23).
The Father so loved the world that he both sent and gave his only Son. Jesus gave himself to us on the cross, and he continues to give himself to us in the Eucharist. This great cascade of self-giving life and love is meant to pass through us every day. We should never bury this great grace lest God’s hope be frustrated by our self-exemption from mission.
When you hear those final words, “Go forth, the Mass is ended,” think of it not as a conclusion but as a beginning — the fulfillment of the very purpose for which you came to church in the first place: so you could become the body of Christ you receive and grow the body of Christ by leading others to Jesus, who has made you his missionary and minister.
Northwest Catholic - May 2021