Thinking Around Mass

Going to Catholic People’s Weeks over the years, one of the long-lasting impacts is a unique view of what Mass can be.

Where else would you see the Gospel done as puppet theatre, get Rick-rolled for the Holy-Holy or do the sign of the sea-anemone at the sign of peace?

These quirks aside, CPW Masses and other liturgies are among the most inclusive, most joyful and most spiritual that I have ever known. I have experienced times of deep reflection, responsiveness and always, genuine love and community.

During 2024 our CPW events each seemed to have something different to say about this fundamental part of our Catholic faith.

The walking week in April was based at Scargill House in the Yorkshire Dales – and was an event shared with other Christians. Those attending “enjoyed shared worship, with no sense of compromise or alienation, on the contrary, enhanced by our different church traditions- unity in practice.”

In the Autumn, at the long weekend held at Hyning “Longing for Light” the liturgy of the Mass was woven through; spread out over several days, it allowed space for prayerful celebration at each stage. I imagine this gave the attendees the sense of being at a continued liturgy – their sessions, meals, social activities, quiet times and sleep, all held within one Mass.

The Easter Triduum is also supposed to have this sense of a 3-day long memorial and celebration, starting with the Lords Supper on Maundy Thursday, going through the Good Friday Passion liturgy and culminating with the liturgies of Light, Word and Eucharist in the Easter Vigil. I try to keep these days quietly with the family as I remember from my childhood, but it is harder to block out the rest of the world these days.

The other CPW held in the Autumn, “Eat Pray Love” at Alton Castle, also spoke to the heart of what Mass is all about. Food! The Mass is the ultimate community meal. It’s a shame that only at CPW have I ever (I think) had Holy Communion in the form of real bread, unleavened or otherwise. The original symbolism of the actual food that feeds our bodies becoming the heavenly food that feeds our souls is somewhat lessened with the small pure white perfectly circular and tasteless wafers generally used.

And then, of course, there was the Summer all-age week at Thornbridge entitled “What are we doing at Mass?” (Read this question a number of times emphasising different words until you find the version that you need to ask.)

Here we learnt, thanks to our Chair Chris Dingle’s extensive research, how the Mass has changed over the centuries. Our CPW variations are therefore just another version to add to the list!

We also considered the relationship between the Mass and the person of the presiding priest – how much does it matter if we are having difficulties with that individual and how they are running the parish? And how important is it to experience a sense of community at Mass? Or is the community aspect of Communion the most important? This was tested to its fullest when, during one morning session, our chaplain and our chair were kidnapped! The laity were left to organise themselves and create a liturgy (not a Mass) without a priest.

Whilst we, thankfully, don’t live in fear of our priests being abducted, in some parts of the country we are now looking seriously at what might happen when we don’t have enough priests to go around. In my diocese of Southwark, 40% of priests are due to retire in the next year or so, and this has prompted (possibly rather belatedly) a diocese-wide consultation on how we can adapt and continue to grow parish life with this challenge.

I imagine that those who have attended CPWs are equipped to be flexible when it comes to doing our liturgies differently. Perhaps, like those who were at the Hyning weekend, we will appreciate the Eucharist more when it is not available to us every day. Perhaps discovering other forms of liturgy will result in us having more ecumenical links in our communities. Maybe we’ll realise that coming together as a community and sharing food is halfway towards what the Mass is – albeit without the sacrificial element. And perhaps we’ll remember to take the long view – that Catholic Christian worship and parish life has taken many forms over the centuries, and whilst she works in mysterious ways, the Holy Spirit has never let us down yet.

Sharing the Peace as a community at Thornbridge
An alternative act of communion without a priest - blessing each other with oil
Sharing the bread at an Agape meal.