The Mass as R&R

In the U.S. Army, we would get several days rest and relaxation (R&R) after prolonged missions and deployments. It wasn’t just an opportunity to rest, relax and blow off steam, but to also recharge our personal “batteries.” This was to also prepare us to go back out on duty wherever that may be and do whatever may be demanded.

In this intense world we live in today, all the problems can make one want to “stop the world I want to get off,” as the old 1960s saying went.  We, of course, don’t have that luxury and we do have a stake in what is going on. Some problems we really can’t affect or have a say on, and for others we do, such as in the pro-life movement. To keep our balance we do need to find some R&R.

A common question that is often heard is where is God in all this war, disease, crime, Church conflicts, etc.? As mere mortals, we can’t answer that except to have faith and trust that He has a design.

But in the meantime, where can we find some respite and relief? Where can we find some solace that God is with us on this turbulent earthy journey? We can find that in some faith based R&R.

A relationship with Jesus

In on-going faith discussions with an evangelical friend of mine the topic often turns to humanity’s problems and how to find God in this world. Too often God seems to be hiding. My friend’s answer is to focus on a personal relationship with Jesus.

When asked about the specifics, my friend often comes across as somewhat vague, but he does place a heavy emphasis on reading Scripture. This seems to work for him and I commend him for being able to sense a personal relationship through that domain.

While I read Scripture on a regular basis, it tends to be more of a cognitive benefit to help explain things or provide a faith perspective.  Where I find a personal relationship with Jesus is in the Eucharist and the sacrifice of the Mass.

A focused process

For me to sense the real presence of Christ requires more than just going through the motions of the liturgy. It’s a stop, look, listen, and reflection process to successfully shut out the world and try to delve deep into the Eucharist prayers, to really listen to the words.

By visually and mentally focusing on the body and blood of Jesus as I listen to the words of consecration, a sense of Jesus’s presence increases. To be sure, it is an ongoing challenge to clear my mind to allow his presence to enter, and I am not always able to be that focused at all times. However, when I mentally discipline my thoughts to the significance of what is happening at the altar, it helps me to stay attentive. God in the form of Jesus is not hiding. At communion, I can become one with Jesus.

I think we all seek, at one level, an encounter with Jesus. He is not just a figure from the past but is alive today. The act of communion is that connective moment with an alive Christ. I like to think of it as a personal relationship of friends. I believe we are called to not just be followers or believers in Jesus, but to also be his friends. What better way to experience friendship.

The Eucharist allows me to be united spiritually with Jesus, and as he said in John 6:56 “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” We become what we consume.  His blood is atoning for my sins while flowing through my own arteries, veins, and heart. His body and blood moves us toward being sanctified in the image and likeness of God. It can bring out our better angels.

The Mass as Respite and Renewal

The Sacrifice of the Mass offers a different R&R from Rest and Relaxation to being one of Respite and Renewal. It is the context for experiencing my personal relationship with Christ in the Eucharist. It provides a necessary respite and sanctuary even if only for an hour, from the noise and the ills of our world. It also provides something else.

The Body and Blood we receive at mass provides us with the life sustaining “soul food” for our spiritual nourishment that cannot be obtained by any other means. That “soul food” can help to renew us to have a more reasoned and hopeful view of all the problems facing the world, the Church and ourselves.

We need that renewal to not succumb to the all the negatives we see in the world but to have the energy to continually fight the good fight to bring hope to all that the love of Christ is here to help us and our neighbors. We are not alone.

“I am with you always, until the end of the age” [Matt 28:20].