We're Not Here for a Show - We're Here for Calvary
A Plea for a Return to the Sacred at Mass
“If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy.”
-St. John Vianney
As a Catholic in the pew at Mass, I come to the Lord's house not out of simply obligation, but out of sincere and genuine love — love for Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist, love for the Church, and love for the liturgy that should reflect the sacredness of the heavenly banquet before us. I choose to dress modestly to present myself before the King of Kings, I choose to arrive before the Mass begins in order to prepare myself to be in the proper disposition to receive our Eucharistic Lord. Recently though with a heavy heart, I find myself filled with grief, and even sometimes anger.
Grieving though is not out of pride or self-righteousness, but out of a true feeling of sorrow — sorrow at the indifference that too often creeps into the liturgical celebration, sorrow at the improvisations, omissions, and casual tone that are far from the solemn reverence that our Lord deserves, if we truly believe as Catholics that the bread and wine really and actually become the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ. I grieve because the Mass is the highest form of worship on earth, and yet it is often treated with less reverence than a coffee hour at the local cafe.
Alongside this grief, I cannot deny a quiet anger that lies beneath the surface. It is not bitterness, but a frustration borne out of love for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It brings me immense pain to witness such a disregard for the very mystery that is central to our faith. The anger I feel is because the Mass is not a casual gathering or mere routine, but the living sacrifice of Christ Himself, made present before us. Every Mass should truly honor the infinite love poured out for the many at Calvary. This reality though too often is not reflected in the response of the congregation.
Could it be that some of the behavior we witness among the laity in church, such as conversation, adding additional gestures or placing personal touches to their liturgical ministry does not arise from intentions of malice, but rather reflects a liturgical environment where the sense of the sacred has been diminished and there is an attitude of complacency? When the Holy Mass is not celebrated properly and lacks visible solemnity, it may become easier for hearts and minds to drift from the mystery unfolding before them. It becomes all too easy for the lay faithful to forget where they truly are—before the Almighty God, YHWH.
I do not write this reflection to criticize some priests out of ill-will or to cast blame upon them. It is quite the contrary, I love and respect the priesthood and our priests deeply, who have been chosen by God to serve Him and His Church. Praying for our priests is a daily part of my spiritual life. I am aware that they bear heavy burdens that are often hidden from view, and I thank God for every priest who faithfully picks up and carries his cross each day, and lives out his vocation to the priesthood of Jesus Christ. Still, charity demands truth, and the truth is that many Catholics today are deprived of the beauty of the liturgy because its celebration has become “sloppy.”
There seems to be the thought among some of our clergy that because most of the lay faithful are not well-catechized, and will not notice when the rubrics are glossed over or parts of the Mass are abbreviated, reworded, or simply removed entirely, that it is fine to make personal changes and tinker with the Mass. But some of us do notice—not because we are rigid or overly scrupulous, but because we know that the Mass is meant to be a foretaste of Heaven, not a platform for personal innovation and self-expression. And God also sees it. The Mass is not a stage, and the priest is not the lead in a play. The sacred liturgy is not ours to reshape or reinvent. When the sanctuary begins to resemble a performance and the focus shifts from Christ to personality, something essential is lost.
It is heartbreaking to see parts of the liturgy filled with liturgical abuses because how much longer is it before the smaller illicit abuses become serious, grave abuses, that makes the Mass invalid? The Mass is meant to lift us into the extraordinary mystery of the Triune God. We yearn for the sacred to be safeguarded, not softened, and for our priests, whom we hold in esteem and continuously entrust to God with our prayers to lead us not into creativity, but into a deeper communion with Christ through the proper and reverent celebration of the Mass.
The Holy Mass was given to us by Christ as the means by which we receive eternal life in Him through the reception of His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Most Holy Eucharist. At the heart of the liturgy is not spectacle, but sacrifice, the re-presentation of Christ’s offering on Calvary, made present on the altar. It is not a performance to watch, but a mystery to enter into with faith and reverence. We do not come to Mass for entertainment; we come to worship. We come to offer ourselves with Christ to the Father, to be nourished by His self-sacrificial love—agape, and to receive what we cannot receive anywhere else on earth, Jesus Christ Himself.
When the Mass is not celebrated properly and lacks the dignity that belongs to the Lord, something deep within the soul senses the loss. We do not hunger for novelty, but for our priests to lead us into the liturgy in a manner that reflects the holiness of the sacred mysteries. We are Catholic—our faith is universal. When the Mass is celebrated reverently and faithfully, it unites us as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, no matter where we are in the world. It draws us into the Mystery of God and reminds us that the center of our lives is not ourselves, but Christ.
Fathers, we are in great need of shepherds who will guard what is sacred, especially in today’s broken world. You have received an extraordinary and wondrous gift, the power, by your hands, to make Christ present upon the altar. You stand in persona Christi, an alter Christus. I humbly ask you to offer the Holy Mass with the fullest devotion; with your whole heart, mind, and soul, setting aside self and embracing the sacred.
It is not merely about “saying the black and doing the red,” for the sake of following rules and rubrics, but about recognizing that the sacredness of the Mass needs to be respected and preserved for the future of the Church. How will future generations of Catholics come to know and experience the richness of the liturgy if the celebration continues to shift toward personal preferences rather than maintaining its sacred character and proper focus? I plead with you to resist the temptation to give your spiritual children what they may want, and instead, offer them what they truly need for their salvation. The Church’s mission is to save souls. St. John Vianney once said, “A priest goes to heaven or a priest goes to hell with a thousand people behind.”
The prayer I offer today is not one of condemnation, but a sincere plea for the sacred to return to the Mass in many parishes, that the liturgy may once again be centered on Christ, and Christ alone, and celebrated with fidelity and profound reverence. I ask God to rekindle in both clergy and laity a renewed sense of awe and wonder before the Blessed Sacrament; Christ Himself, whom we are privileged to encounter at every single Mass.
May there be a return to the source and summit of our beautiful faith with deeper devotion, greater intentionality, and a fervent desire to grow in holiness. May we never lose sight of the miraculous reality that unfolds on the altar, and may our worship always reflect our belief in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist.