The Transformative Power of the Mass

There are some words that we use so frequently that the original power of that word can diminish.

Take the word disciple, for example.  Most of us would say that disciple means follower, and leave it at that.  We may be thinking that no more needs to be said; the disciples followed Jesus.  Simple!  

But the modern English usage of the word follower doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what it truly means.

Jesus, of course, was born, lived and died a Jew, and the Hebrew word for disciple is talmid.  This word stresses the relationship between rabbi (teacher or master) and disciple (student).  

At the time of Jesus’ ministry, a talmid would give up his entire life in order to be with his teacher.  And what that disciple sought from his teacher was not simply some head knowledge, as you might if attending a lecture or talk today. 

No.  Rather than simply wanting to know what the rabbi said, the disciple wanted to become like the rabbi.  He would take the rabbi’s words into his heart, not just his head, and allow these words to transform him, so that he might become like his rabbi.

Let's think about this for a moment: the disciple is so fully committed to, and so trusting of his rabbi, that he is willing to be changed by him at a fundamental level, to become a new person, a new creation.

That’s powerful stuff!

And this is very much how we should approach the celebration of Holy Mass.  In a sense, we leave our old self at the door of the church – our ego, our self-importance, our self-dependence – and receive with docility what is offered to us in the Sacred Liturgy.  We allow ourselves to be possessed by the Liturgy of Holy Mass that we may be transformed into a new creation and so become more like Jesus Christ, Son of the living God.