theROCK

Bread & Wine

Why do we use bread and wine for Mass? The easy answer to give would be to just say, well we use bread and wine because Jesus used bread and wine. We need no other explanation.

A professor at seminary would jokingly tell us that sometimes the answer is Jesus. And that would be reason enough, we do plenty of things simply because Jesus did, so the better question may not be why do we use bread and wine, but why is it fitting to use bread and wine at Mass and why perhaps did Jesus pick these elements.

St. Augustine gives us a good answer in a sermon he wrote and it is this sermon I will be drawing from. He says ad I paraphrase, Bread and wine is fitting to use at Mass if we consider how it is made. For bread to be made, many grains of wheat must be gathered, these grains are then ground up and formed into one loaf of bread. A single grain of wheat cannot be used to make bread, it needs hundreds of grains. This is the same for wine, wine cannot be made from one single grape, you need many.

And for this reason bread and wine are perfect for Jesus to use and give to us. For we as the Body of Christ are not made of one person, but many. We all gather here at Mass to form the one body. Like the wheat and grape we lose our individualness to make the one body. That is why we all say the same responses at Mass, we are no longer many, but one. We become inseparable.

That is not all, it reminds us we do not live as silos, and we do not think as silos. We should be just as concerned for the person next to us as we are ourselves. When one of us suffers we all suffer, it is why we announce funerals at Mass, when one of us is joyful we all share that joy, it is why we announce baptisms/weddings at Mass. Jesus uses the accidents of bread and wine to remind us how he wants us to live.

There is more though. Bread is the universal sign for sustenance. Throughout the world bread is used by everyone, rich and poor to feed and sustains us. This makes it fitting for Jesus to use bread because he also sustains us. He sustains us both physically and spiritually. He does not change what bread does, he elevates it. He becomes bread so that he can sustain us both physically and spiritually.

Wine also carries an important attribute, joy. When we drink wine we feel more joyful. Jesus also brings us joy, spiritual joy. Again Jesus does not change wine, he elevates what it can do. He becomes wine so that we may have both physical and spiritual joy brings joy.

Amen

There is a word that we use every time we pray, but holds an especially important place in the Mass. Amen. Now there are two ways to translate the word Amen, one is more a direct translation and the other is more indirect. The direct translation of Amen is “So be it” and the more indirect way is “I believe”. I am going to use both, because I want to look at two contexts in which we say this wonderful word.

The first and most common time we say Amen is after everyday prayers such as at meal prayers, Hail Mary, Our Father etc. A beautiful exercise to do is to very slowly and intentionally pray these prayers and then complete them by saying the translation of Amen: so be it. I think we will find the prayer takes on a new depth, because we are saying that we believe everything we just prayed.

But there is also another dynamic here, we often offer these prayers up for a particular intention. For the family member who has cancer, for world peace, for an increase of faith. And we lift up these prayers concluding with Amen, so be it, I believe. We are telling God, “Lord I ask you for this particular favor, I believe you hear me and will answer me, but also so be it to your will, not mine when and how you answer.” It is statement of trust, we entrust our intention to God knowing he will answer it in the best possible way.   

The second time we say Amen I want to talk about is in the Mass. Amen is used many times during Mass, but I want to focus on one particular moment. When we process up the aisle to the altar, a minister will raise the host before our eyes and say, “The Body of Christ.” To which we respond, Amen. So be it. I believe.

We should never forget the power of this word in this moment. At the words, “The Body of Christ” we are saying I believe that the host which looks like bread before my eyes is in reality the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ who suffered and died for me. It is also an act of the will, so be it. It is a profound profession of faith.

Amen is a word of finality. Of saying what was just heard is true and real. It is true that God hears my prayers and it is real he will answer them. It is true that the bread is changed into Jesus and it is not a symbol, it is the real Jesus, the same one who laid in a manger and hung on the cross. Amen, I believe, so be it.

Note: While the translations are beautiful to know, it is more fitting to say Amen rather than “so be it” or “I believe” at the time for Communion because it encompasses everything and more that was stated above.

The Collect

The formal name for the opening prayer we have at the beginning of every Mass is called the Collect, and it is introduced by the familiar words, Let us Pray.

Now this prayer comes at the end of what we would call the Introductory Rites, which is important because after this prayer we enter into the Liturgy of the Word so this prayer is really meant to mark a transition. A transition from gathering together to pray, to truly entering into the heart of the Mass.,

But there is something which gets lost in this transition which is unfortunate. We hear the words, Let us Pray so often that we have forgotten what we are invited to do at this moment. A priest jokes that the words, Let us Pray, has become translated to: “bring the priest the book.”

But this is not what these words are meant to say, and I am going to quote from the rubrics of the missal which tell us what these words mean.

“Next the priest invites the people to pray. All, together with the priest, observe a brief silence so that they may be conscious of the fact that they are in God’s presence and may formulate their petitions mentally.”       

In other words, when the priest says Let us Pray, we are invited to do two things: (1) acknowledge we are in God’s Presence and (2) tell him who we want to offer this Mass for, who we want to pray for.

The priest then prays the Collect, which collects all the prayers, all the people you and I are praying this Mass for, and offers them to God.

It is so easy to take a passive approach to Mass, just watching the priest, but at every single Mass at the words, Let us Pray, we are reminded that the Mass is all of our prayer. As a priest it is so beautiful, that as I pray the Collect, the collection of prayers you and I are bringing to this Mass, I end the Introductory Rites by bringing them to God. It is almost as if I am saying, “ok God, we are all here and this is who we praying for.” So that as we enter more deeply into the prayer of the Mass in the Liturgy of the Word, we are bringing with us the people we are holding close to our heart.

In this way we are not only praying for our own intentions, but also the intentions of each other, we are truly praying as one community. Beautiful.

It’s a wonderful thing to remember the next time we are at Mass. (1) that we can plan ahead and think of who needs our prayers before we begin Mass, (2) but also that when we hear the words, Let us Pray, we intentionally bring them to God, and we may find ourselves no longer just passive observers, but active pray-ers.