Grassroots Liturgist

Have you ever seen a baby, a few months old, in his mother’s arms at a social event?   Everyone gathers round to take a look and, inevitably, some will ask to hold the baby.   Maybe after just a few seconds, maybe having been passed on to a second or third cooing adult, the baby gets upset, agitated and distressed, and begins to cry loudly.   Finally, the baby is handed back and only then, in the arms of his mother, he calms down.   The baby looks up at his mother and is reassured; he feels safe….he is at peace. I have often seen this scene played out, and they came to mind several times this Eastertide, which ended last weekend with Evening Prayer on Pentecost Sunday. The first words that the Risen Jesus said when he appeared to the apostles on Easter Sunday were, “Peace be with you.” In the original Greek of the New Testament, the word used is ε ἰ ρήνη ( eiréné ), and it has connotations of peace of mind.   In the Hebrew, shalom , there are ideas of hea...

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.” ...