The Catholic Mass & The St Mary's Saga (Donna Garibaldi)

What is the meaning of the Catholic Mass? Donna Garibaldi sees this as a crucial question in the current furore over St Mary's Catholic Church, South Brisbane:

[For the latest development see Rebel priest to lead Catholic 'community in exile' - ABC News]

Fr Tom Elich, Director of the Liturgical Commission in Brisbane, in his article in The Catholic Leader on March 8, came closest to pointing out the real problem with St. Mary's. The secular media had been caught up in the peripheral issues and focussed on such things as the unfairness of treating an obviously socially aware priest, as Fr Kennedy seems to be, so badly. After all, didn't he look after the disadvantaged and run a very inclusive community? Why then should how he celebrates Mass matter? Why should the Archbishop object to his not wearing vestments, allowing lay people, including women, to preach, and having the congregation gather around in an informal way in the Church?

Actually, it seems that Archbishop Bathersby wasn't concerned with those things and is fully aware of all the good Fr Kennedy has done for the poor and outcast. What then is causing all the fuss with the Catholic authorities?

In his article, Fr Elich said that the Eucharistic Prayer had been altered in some Masses at St Mary's and that scripture readings were changed or omitted altogether. Now, therein lies the problem, and, of course, that would mean nothing at all in the secular media. Who should care about that? After all, wasn't Fr Kennedy getting the people along to the Church when other non-controversial priests weren't?

I think the answer to this lies in the nature of the Mass. What is it? Is it just a community get-together or is there more to it?

The Mass has always been seen as re-enacting the Last Supper and the Crucifixion. Christians view Jesus as the Son of God or as their God having taken on a human nature. Why did he have to be killed? Jesus said he was the bread of life. In John's Gospel, he says, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the world is my flesh. Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." Clearly, the "bread" is the divine principle of spiritual life. That bread must be broken so that all can have a share, so the "god" must be broken or killed. Similarly, the Crucifixion is the death of the god so that the divine blood can flow out to give us eternal life.

This is very ancient symbolism. Most Christians wouldn't accept that their rituals are based on past mythologies which all present the same underlying message, namely, that the divine spirit entered into the material world and is present in some way in every human being in order to lift up our human nature from the purely animal. In order for this to happen, the god would have to be dismembered. In Egyptian mythology, the god, Osiris, was cut up into fourteen pieces in order to enter into matter. Dionysus, the Roman god was torn apart for the same purpose. It was common for bread to be used as the symbol of the god's body and divine powers. The bread had to be broken and then multiplied in order to reach all humans. St Paul says, "I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself, namely, that on the night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took a loaf, and after thanking God, he broke it, saying, 'This is my body broken for you. Do this in memory of Me.'" Here is the fragmentation of the god at the heart of the Christian Eucharist. The main symbol in all Christian ritual is the breaking of a piece of bread into fragments and distributing them among the communicants. During the Mass, the symbolic, or real, depending on your belief, bringing of God into the ritual happens during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, hence its importance.

When the Latin Mass was in vogue there was no opportunity for anyone to tamper with its formula. The moment of consecration, the coming of God into the ritual, was loudly announced by bells. The priest knew his place in the ritual and, I'm sure, didn't think for a moment that he was free to be creative with proceedings even if the people appeared disinterested. Further, lay people, except for altar boys, were excluded from the sanctuary. The priest faced away from the people symbolically leading them towards God. There was no doubt that the ritual was meant to be a sacred event. The congregation was meant to focus out from themselves toward the divine. If they wished to socialize, they did so outside the Church when Mass was over.

Many things changed with the Second Vatican Council of forty years ago. The Latin Mass was replaced by Mass in the vernacular, the layout of the churches changed, the priest turned to celebrate Mass facing the people, and lay people became "ministers" in the church. New churches began being built in hexagonal or circular shapes. Christians symbolically "turned in upon themselves" according to people like comparative mythologist, Joseph Campbell. This had an impact on liturgy. The mythology seemed to change. The "breaking of the bread" came to be seen more as a communal meal than as the death of a god. Masses began to be celebrated in many different locations and situations, and, of course, this opened the way for abuses to creep in. If the Mass were no longer to be seen as the coming of the divine life into the human to promote our spiritual evolution, then the priest may as well invite the congregation along to have a barbecue or a cup of tea and a scone.

At this time, I believe that the Vatican needs to spell out what the Mass is really about and clearly restate the mythology to its priests and its people. For too long it has depended on simply telling its adherents to do things, or else. There seems to be too much confusion even among the clergy, for example, both Archbishop Bathersby and Fr Kennedy cite Vatican II to support their differing points of view. Connections to the mythologies of the past can no longer be avoided with all the scholarly research being done in the realms of archaeology and scripture. It would be very good for everyone if the Vatican could be more open to dialogue with its functionaries, who need to be free to think for themselves to a certain extent, but who, in the end, just like middle managers in any big corporation, must toe the party line or do the honourable thing and resign.  

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2 comments

Donna makes some important points, particularly showing the mythological origins of the Eucharist. It is clear that there is considerable confusion about this ritual with many participants (and celebrants) regarding it as a symbolic event while others continue to believe it to be literal.

To an observer it certainly looks like it is intended to be taken literally. Even when celebrants who we know treat it (in their heads) as metaphorical give all the signs of it being meant to be taken literally.

If it's symbolic be honest enough to indicate that by changing it into a ritual meal. Otherwise it seems to me to be dishonest.

Make it more like the Last Supper was purported to be like (in art anyway) - a meal.



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