July 4, 2004: Full, Conscious and Active Participation

"Full, Conscious and Active Participation"


The Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 4, 2004


It’s now been forty years since the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. I’ve heard it said that it usually takes about a hundred years following a Church Council for things to stabilize completely. We’re actually doing very well, but perhaps that explains why the Church continues to revise the liturgy and retranslate the texts that we use in the Mass.

One of the major documents that came out of Vatican II is called Sacrosanctum Concilium. We call it in English The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. It is a beautiful and fairly lengthy document—but well worth reading if you want to know the Church’s mind on the liturgy. You may have heard the famous expression about how we’re supposed to focus ourselves at Mass: with full and active participation. Those words are repeated in a few places. One typical sentence reads: “Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that full, conscious and active participation in liturgical celebrations, which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy” (para. 14).

In the early days after the Council, many liturgists tried to figure out what “full, conscious and active participation” meant. There was a rush to get people to “do” things: carry up the gifts, do the readings, lead song, help distribute holy communion, lift their hands, and more. Some of these practices have stuck; others have fallen into disuse. But there was a tendency to believe that somehow you weren’t participating fully and actively if you weren’t given some liturgical role or ministry.

More recently, as the liturgical pendulum swung back, we realized that “full, conscious and active participation” was more of a spiritual directive than a physical one.

I remember speaking a few years ago with someone who was being very pushy about wanting to take on a liturgical role that was kind of a strange, homemade concoction—basically just to give herself something visible and physical to do during Mass. I gently tried to dissuade this. Finally in frustration, she said, “But we need to participate fully and actively. What am I supposed to do that if you won’t let me do this?” I answered her: “You know that little dialog before the Preface when the priest says ‘Lift up your hearts’?” “Yes.” “Well,” I told her, “lift it up!” We both shared a laugh, but that’s actually the truth. It doesn’t matter whether you’re ushering, reading, serving at the altar, distributing communion or simply sitting in the pews; full, conscious and active participation is a matter of the mind and heart.

So how do we participate the way Church asks us?

For one thing, preparing for Mass is important. If you just walk into Mass cold, plop down and try to take in all the prayers and the readings, you’re going to miss a lot. Now consider an alternate approach. Maybe you’ve noticed that all the Mass readings are printed in the bulletin right under the date in the weekly schedule. Maybe on Wednesday or Thursday or Friday, you could pick up your bible and look up those readings. You could read them a time or two… think about them… meditate briefly on what God is trying to communicate—not just to the whole, wide world, but to the people of St. Paul’s parish and to you personally and individually. Did you know that the bible isn’t just an ordinary book? It’s the living word of God! In a mysterious and powerful way, the Lord is speaking to you whenever you pick up the Scriptures—helping you, challenging you, advising you, guiding you. It just takes a bit of time and focus to tune into his message.

Have you ever heard a bunch of kids talking about a movie they’ve seen? A few years ago when that crazy movie came out with Jim Carrey—Dumb and Dumber—the junior high school boys were tickled with it. They watched it again and again, and memorized and recited the dialog for whole sections. It always broke them up!

Now, why did they do that? Well, because they found it important and interesting. You might say that they gave full, conscious and active participation in Dumb and Dumber. If people cared almost as much about their spiritual life, we’d be in great shape in preparing for Mass! Just think how much more you would enjoy the readings and the message contained in the readings, if you were hearing familiar and meaningful words!

Another way to participate actively and fully is by adjusting your schedule slightly so you can arrive 10 or 15 minutes before Mass. Try to shut out the noise or conversation around you, and just kneel down and pray. Talk to God and ask him to open your mind and heart to receive his word and follow his will. This is a time to quiet yourself down, push away the concerns and busy-ness of the outside world, and basically put yourself in God’s presence.

Still another way is to really listen to the sermon. Ask how the priest’s words mesh with your own thoughts and reflections. Maybe he reinforced an idea that you thought of, too. Maybe he corrected something—or explained something that confused you. Perhaps he added another dimension, or led you in an entirely new direction. All of this is spiritual stretching—and great for your soul.

Finally, I recommend that you take just a few short minutes after Mass—maybe two minutes if you’re pressed for time, perhaps even ten minutes if you can—to kneel down again in your pew and thank God for the inspirations and blessings of the Mass. You might think of a “spiritual bouquet”—a few words or a phrase or a little idea that struck you during Mass that you can remember and take with you when you leave Church. Over the next few days, you can go back to that remembrance and enjoy it and apply it—almost like you’d sniff a flower that you picked when visiting a garden. It’s a way to carry the benefit of Jesus’ love and blessings with you as you go through your week.

Participating fully, consciously and actively is truly a way to make the Mass more vibrant, interesting and relevant. Try to apply some of these ideas in your own family’s devotional life—and may the Holy Spirit fill you with his abundant blessings and graces to do so!



Today’s Readings
Isaiah 66, 10–14
Psalm 66
Galatians 6, 14–18
Luke 10, 1–12 and 17–20