How Many Churches Are in This Church?

Homily 501 | 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time | Year B

Over the next several weeks, our gospel readings focus on the Eucharist. This year, I’d like to look not so much at the Eucharist as a sacrament, but at the Mass itself. Where does the Mass come from, and why do we do what we do? The Second Vatican Council emphasized the need for “full, conscious, actual participation” at Mass. The word “conscious” means “with knowledge.” I hope over the next several weeks to increase our knowledge of the Mass so that we might better pray the Mass and better achieve the above desire of the Council.

This week, I start by looking at some general history about the Mass. It’s important to note that, while we have a certain unity as Catholics in our worship, their is also a lot of diversity. This is seen most especially in the fact that there are actually 24 churches that make up the one Catholic Church. There is the Latin Church, to which most of the world’s Catholics belong. And then there are the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. The Eastern Churches are especially distinguished by their own proper liturgical tradition. Someone once quipped about the United Kingdom, “How many countries are in this country?” Well, in the case of the UK, the answer is 4 (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland). In the case of the Catholic Church, one might ask, “How many churches are in this Church?” And the answer is… 24.

In the Latin Church, our liturgical tradition is largely contained in what is known as the Roman Missal. This is the book used at Mass that contains the prayers and the instructions for how things are to be done. This book was created at least by the time of Pope Gregory the Great (died in 604) and remained largely unchanged all the way up until the late 1960’s. A new Missal was created after Vatican II, but the old Missal is still used today in what has become known as the Extraordinary Form or the Traditional Latin Mass. On a recent trip, I saw a museum display of old Roman Missals. One was over 1000 years old. Since I know the Latin Mass, I could have taken that Missal to the altar and celebrated Mass with it even today. What a great witness to the Catholic nature of our worship. We don’t make up the liturgy. It is handed on to us and we in turn are merely custodians of the tradition. We are Catholic even across time.

After considering the origins and history of the Mass, I spend the second half of the homily focusing on the Introductory Rites of the Mass. They seem simple and are quickly over, but there is a lot of spiritual depth contained there. Over the next couple weeks, I’ll look at the rest of the parts of the Mass in hopes of helping everyone better to understand and pray the Mass.