The most important part of the mass

 

I want to make what may sound like a controversial claim: the most important moment of the Mass is the very end. After the final blessing, the priest proclaims, “The Mass is ended, go forth in peace to love and serve the Lord,” and we respond, “Thanks be to God.” That response is not meant to be a sigh of relief but an expression of gratitude for what we have received and excitement for what now begins.

Why do I say this?

Jesus warns us plainly:

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 

(Matthew 7:21)

Participation in the liturgy and reception of the Body and Blood of Christ are essential to Christian life. They are gifts we should never neglect. Yet on their own, they are not the whole story. The Eucharist is the summit and source of our Christian life but it is, also, a sending onwards and forward. We are returned to the world to live according to God’s will, strengthened by what we have received.

There is a beautiful post‑Communion prayer used in the Anglican tradition, one I use myself in thanksgiving after receiving Holy Communion:

Almighty God, we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food of the body and blood of your Son Jesus Christ. Through him we offer you our souls and bodies to be a living sacrifice. Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work to your praise and glory. Amen.

This prayer captures what I call the “seventh movement” of the Mass. Every celebration of the Eucharist culminates in this moment of mission. We are sent forth — Ite, missa est — not simply dismissed, but commissioned.

On this feast of the Presentation or Candlemas Day (literally Mass of the Candles) let us continue onwards out into the darkness with our candles lit.