Having just received a blessing through the hands of the priest, we now come to our last instruction and response in the Mass: the Dismissal. For this part of the Mass, the Roman Missal gives four options that can be used by the deacon (if there is one) or by the priest himself: “Go forth, the Mass is ended.” “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.” “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” “Go in peace.” To any of these, the response is: “Thanks be to God.” Additionally, during the Easter Octave and at the close of the Easter Season, we also add a double “Alleluia” to the end of these dismissal phrases.
Following the Prayer after Communion, we are truly ready to go out into the world. What happens before moving from our pews to our cars? That would be the Concluding Rites. As prescribed by The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, “To the Concluding Rites belong the following: (a) brief announcements, should they be necessary; (b) the Priest’s Greeting and Blessing… (c) the Dismissal of the people by the Deacon or the Priest, …; (d) the kissing of the altar by the Priest and the Deacon, followed by a profound bow to the altar by the Priest, the Deacon, and the other ministers” (GIRM, 90).
On certain days and occasions the blessing is expanded and expressed by a solemn formula or by the Prayer over the People. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines Blessing as “ a prayer invoking God’s power and care upon some person, place, thing, or undertaking. The prayer of benediction acknowledges God as the source of all blessing” (CCC, p. 868). Every blessing praises God and prays for his gifts, so the Church imparts blessings by invoking the name of Jesus, usually while making the holy sign of the cross (cf CCC, 1671).
Following Holy Communion and our time for prayer, as we prepare to go forth out into the world, the priest recites the Prayer after Communion, beseeching God to put the graces received in the Eucharist into practice, and to bring the celebration to fulfillment in Heaven.
These prayers can very often be short and quick… although to miss them is truly to miss something wonderful. For example, consider the prayer for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi: “Grant, O Lord, we pray, that we may delight for all eternity in that share in your divine life, which is foreshadowed in the present age by our reception of your precious Body and Blood. Who live and reign for ever and ever.” We can profit a lot from the Prayers after Communion by using them as an inspiration for personal reflection during the course of the day.
After communion, there may be a song of thanksgiving or a moment of silence. Often during this time the priest or deacon purifies the sacred vessels used for Mass, although this is sometimes done after Mass. Nothing in the Mass is insignificant. The sacred vessels used for the Mass are carefully purified to ensure that any particles of the Hosts are collected into the chalice so as to be consumed.
In order to show proper reverence for our Lord’s presence under the species of bread and wine, the priest is obliged to do what he reasonably can to gather up any fragments of the host and any drops of the Precious Blood and consume them himself. “Whenever a fragment of the host adheres to his fingers, especially after the fraction or after the Communion of the faithful, the Priest should wipe his fingers over the paten or, if necessary, wash them.
After our Lord in Holy Communion, what should we do next? You got it: pray! Remember, now that Jesus is in your heart there is no need to make the Sign of the Cross or to genuflect towards the altar. Jesus is in you!!! Treasure this moment; return to your pew quietly and pray and talk with our Lord, whom we have just received.
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal instructs us that this period should be given over to quiet prayer. In some places, a Post-Communion hymn, sometimes called a hymn of thanksgiving, may be sung, or music may be played softly. However, as Fr. Gary Oury says, a period of silence is important: “The whole Church, the whole community, should take time to give silent thanks. It is important to do so, even if this has to be done after dismissal. This is the moment, if ever, to introduce a time of silence, as recommended also at other moments of the celebration. The silence that favors recollection is a value not to be lost… There is much singing in the course of Mass, but at this moment it is well to let the peace of silence fall over the assembly” (The Mass, p. 123).
One great way of being in the mode of “receiving” is to stay still as the minister brings the Host to you. Some people will lunge forward toward the Sacred Host, or at times those intending to receive on the tongue will even bite the host or lick upward. As to those receiving in the hand, sometimes people will already be closing their hand before the Host is placed there. Presumably they think that these might be ways of trying to help the minister; however, it truly is easiest and perhaps the most prayerful if you remain still until Jesus in the Sacred Host comes to you.
You may have noticed that people receive Communion in different ways. Is there a right way? How exactly should we receive Holy Communion? First of all, it is important to notice that we receive Communion. Holy Communion should never be taken by our own action. As The General Instruction of the Roman Missal states, “It is not permitted for the faithful to take the consecrated Bread or the sacred chalice by themselves and, still less, to hand them on from one to another among themselves. The norm established for the Dioceses of the United States of America is that Holy Communion is to be received standing, unless an individual member of the faithful wishes to receive Communion while kneeling…When receiving Holy Communion, the communicant bows his or her head before the Sacrament as a gesture of reverence and receives the Body of the Lord from the minister. The consecrated host may be received either on the tongue or in the hand, at the discretion of each communicant” (GIRM, 160).
There are several circumstances where a person might not be able to receive Jesus truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, such as someone who doesn’t share the Catholic faith or belief, or who does believe but is unable to receive because of illness; someone who is living outside the moral teaching of the Church or who needs to partake of the Sacrament of Reconciliation before receiving Communion.
As we saw last time, “Holy Communion is for all who are properly disposed to receive him. To be properly disposed we must be Catholic, in a state of grace and have fasted one hour prior to the reception of Holy Communion” (A Study of the Mass, p. 19). But what about others? To help people understand and to be clear, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops put together a listing of guidelines that would cover anyone who might happen to be at Mass.
“Holy Communion is for all who are properly disposed to receive him. To be properly disposed we must be Catholic, in a state of grace and have fasted one hour prior to the reception of Holy Communion” (A Study of the Mass, p. 19).
Why Catholic? Reception of Holy Communion is the fullest sign of Christian unity. Since there is one Christ, he draws us together as one. However, if one person who believes in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist receives, and one who believes that it is only a symbol also receives, the two would be making an outward sign of unity which would not be true unity. “Amen” is an expression of our faith in His presence. They would be saying “Amen” to a statement that they do not believe. That is why reception of Holy Communion is limited to those who believe that Christ is truly present.
The long-anticipated moment has arrived. Finally, it is time for Holy Communion! This is the moment we have been preparing for throughout the whole Mass.
The word ‘communion’ is almost self-explanatory. Literally, it means ‘union with.’ It suggests a sharing, a mutual participation. Holy Communion, is, then, “an intimate sharing in the life of Christ” (Fr. Joseph McGloin, How to Get More Out of the Mass, p. 128). Unlike regular food which becomes part of our bodies, the Eucharist unites our bodies to the Lord.
After his genuflection to Our Lord really present in the Most Holy Eucharist, the priest raises the chalice with the host and proclaims these words of St. John the Baptist (Jn 1:29): “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.”
These words are taken from the Book of Revelation (19:9). As the great multitude in heaven is singing together the Lord’s praises, the angel instructs John to write: “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” What is the marriage supper of the Lamb? It is the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist. The Bridegroom-Lamb is Jesus, and the Bride represents us, the Church, whom Jesus is coming to wed… When you hear those words at Mass, do you realize that you are receiving a wedding invitation? You are being called to participate in the marriage feast of Jesus and his Church (cf Sri, A Biblical Walk Through the Mass, pp. 138, 140).
Have you noticed that, during the singing of the Agnus Dei, the priest breaks a small part of the host and puts it into the chalice? The Roman Missal indicates that at this time “the priest takes the host, breaks it over the paten, and places a small piece in the chalice, saying quietly: ‘May this mingling of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bring eternal life to us who receive it’.”
This is called “the commingling,” a very ancient custom dating back to at least the fourth century, when fragments of the host from the Masses celebrated by the pope or bishop were carried by the deacons to the local churches and placed into the chalices during the celebration of the Mass to symbolize the reality that the entire Church is present at every Mass.
At this point in the Mass, we either sing or say the Agnus Dei: “Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.” As John the Baptist heralded, Jesus is the Lamb of God—the one true sacrifice offered out of love for us for the forgiveness of sins.
The Book of Revelation states that enthroned on the Heavenly Altar is the Lamb of God showing the marks of being slain for our offenses. For the Jewish Passover, the lamb was the prescribed animal of sacrifice. The sacrifice of Jesus is the new Passover. In fact, as the Gospel of John details, Jesus is the Lamb of the new Passover (cf. A Study of the Mass, p. 18).
Then “There follows the Rite of Peace, by which the Church entreats peace and unity for herself and for the whole human family, and the faithful express to each other their ecclesial communion and mutual charity before communicating in the Sacrament” (GIRM, 82). Through the sign of peace, we ask for peace and unity within the Church, and for the whole human family. We aren’t just making sure things are okay with people in our pew; we are also making a symbolic gesture of peace for the whole world. This is not the time for “high fives” and making plans for later in the day!