On July 24, 1988, I was blessed to celebrate my first Mass of Thanksgiving as a priest of Jesus Christ in my home parish church. I remember being so excited and ever so nervous. I must confess that after all these years there is a part of me that still becomes anxious at holy Mass because, even after all the training and repetition, not to mention having now, at times, the services of a master of ceremonies to accompany me, I feel so unworthy. After all, I am an ordinary man called to embrace this extraordinary work of Jesus Christ.

While my role in these moments is often to preside and celebrate, I cannot make this prayer about me. The prayer I pray is the Church’s prayer, and even though it requires a full investment of myself, I must always be mindful of the rubrics and the People of God. Even though, as celebrants, there may be certain possibilities to choose from in the holy Mass relative to things such as the form for the penitential rite, short or long forms of the Gospel, or which preface or Eucharistic prayer to use, there are elements that cannot change. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal acknowledges this fact. Nevertheless, “the priest must remember that he is the servant of the sacred Liturgy and that he himself is not permitted, on his own initiative, to add, to remove, or to change anything in the celebration of Mass” (No. 24).

Because we live in a culture enamored with choices and options, we can easily be tempted to bring this mindset to holy Mass. The ritual aspect of the Mass rooted in a certain sense of repetition can add its own challenges to this reality. How do we, as priests, embrace and honor the ritual of the Mass, not as a Lord who possesses and controls, but as a servant who humbly surrenders and follows what is asked of him? To be more succinct, how do we make sure the Mass is not about “me” but rather about Jesus and teaching, leading and sanctifying the People of God as a humble and faithful servant of the Church?

Perhaps, the key in this regard is found in a prayerful preparedness before Mass that includes reviewing the missal and intentionally readying our hearts to celebrate the sacred mysteries. Silence is an important part in preparedness for holy Mass. I know of some priests who arrive early and spend time in quiet prayer before Mass. There are the vesting prayers that can be prayed in the sacristy, as well as prayers within the missal — namely, the Prayer of St. Ambrose and the Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas that can be prayed before the celebration of holy Mass.

What helps me to prepare appropriately for holy Mass is to pray with the concelebrants and liturgical ministers beforehand in the sacristy. By praying with these people, each of whom have a particular role in the liturgy, I am humbly reminded that this prayer that I am praying is a shared prayer with others for the glory of God. We each have a role to play. This corporate shared sense is reiterated to me in the responses of the faithful to the prayers, as well as the praying of the universal prayer.

But there is another poignant moment in the liturgy that grounds me and lets me know that what I am doing is not about me. This occurs when I receive the gifts of the faithful as part of the offertory. This gesture of the faithful symbolizes not just the giving of bread and wine, as well as a portion of their livelihood through the collection, but it is also representative of the gifts that they bring to the community of the Church that transcend this liturgical moment. You see, as priests, it is incumbent upon us to welcome and receive the gifts and talents that the People of God offer to our Catholic faith communities where the liturgy continues.

The holy Mass is a timeless grace that we share, but we need to prepare accordingly. St. John Vianney said it best: “If we knew the value of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, how much greater effort we would put forth in order to assist at it!” 

BISHOP DAVID J. BONNAR, editor of The Priest, is bishop of the Diocese of Youngstown.