How we can receive more from the Mass – 28 (Dismissal)

What, I wonder, are your thoughts when you hear the words of the Dismissal at the end of our celebration of holy Mass?  I am not sure that I even dare articulate some possibilities!!

There are four options for the Dismissal that the priest or deacon may use.  The first is, “Go forth, the Mass is ended.”  The word ‘forth’ here is important; this is not the cry of a weary landlord, pleading with his customers to ‘Go! Go anywhere, but just get out!’  The use of ‘forth’ turns ‘go’ into something intentional, something purposeful.

The next two options were explicitly added to the Missal by Pope Benedict XVI after the Synod on ‘The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.’  They were added so that the connection between liturgy and daily life would be more evident – they give us a greater insight into the meaning and purpose of the Dismissal: 

“Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord,” or “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.”  Both these make abundantly clear to us that the living of our Christian life is so much more than merely being present at Mass.  It is the same ‘Go!’ given by Jesus to his disciples when he sent them out to preach, teach and heal. 

The fourth option for the Dismissal is, “Go in peace.”  Here we can see a connection with ideas that we reflected upon in the Sign of Peace: Christian peace is being united with God and each other, through the Church, in bringing Christ to the world, spreading the Gospel message and building up the Kingdom.

Whichever Dismissal is used, ours is not a passive exit of the church building, but a purposeful going out into the world as Church, the people of God, the Mystical Body of Christ.  We are ambassadors for Christ and labourers in the field of his Kingdom.