Walk into any Catholic church on a weekday morning before Mass. You will see twenty-five, fifty, maybe seventy-five people scattered about the church, each in his or her individual pew. Approach a Catholic church on a Saturday evening or a Sunday morning and again, worshippers will be scattered around the church. This time their number may well be in the hundreds. Sometime they might actually be sharing a pew. But, unless they are a family, worshippers have a distinct portion of that pew which does not overlap with the neighboring believer’s seat. Pious participants decidedly want their own time and their own space with God. Fellowship, fraternity, and friendliness are fine for the church steps after Mass. But during Mass, other than a wink or a nod to a few select chums, it’s time for “Jesus and me,” “I/Thou,” and “my lips to God’s ear” communication.
Now quiet spent in the Presence of God is certainly not to be shunned. St. Anthony of the Desert and St. Mary of Egypt were pioneers in the solitary life that would eventually bloom into the contemplative orders of men and women that have been powerhouses not only of prayer but of education, agriculture and spiritual direction as well. So solitude is certainly an instrument of the Holy Spirit. As the psalm response for this coming Sunday’s Mass advises, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts (95:8).” Yes, there is definitely a place in the Christian life for listening, for quiet time, for that “wee, small voice” (1Kings 19:12) that transformed Elijah’s life and that can direct our souls as well.
However this coming Sunday’s Gospel account from St. Matthew greatly broadens the popular notion of what Church is all about. According to the New American Bible, Matthew 18:17 is one of only two times the word “church” is used in any Evangelists’ writings. So perhaps a sense of community had to be encouraged even from the beginning. St. Matthew underlines the meaning of church quite well in verse 18:19: “Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.”
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, accompanying the 2011 editio typica of the Roman Missal, and issued Instruction on the Liturgy 2011 issued in the light of the Second Vatican Council’s solemn decree Sacrosanctum Councilium does not go as far as insisting pious souls should crowd into one pew but its directions definitely favor communal worship over private devotion. “In the celebration of Mass the faithful form a holy people, a people of God’s own possession and a royal Priesthood, so that they may give thanks to God and offer the unblemished sacrificial Victim not only by means of the hands of the Priest but also together with him and so that they may learn to offer their very selves. They should, moreover, take care to show this by their deep religious sense and their charity toward brothers and sisters who participate with them in the same celebration. They are consequently to avoid any appearance of singularity or division, keeping in mind that they have only one Father in heaven and that hence are all brothers or sisters one to the other (95).”
The psalm response this coming Sunday sings happily of communal worship: “Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD; let us acclaim the rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us joyfully sing psalms to him. Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the LORD who made us (95:1-2).”
The General Instruction envisions the same shared experience: “Moreover, they are to form one body, whether in hearing the Word of God, or in taking part in the prayers and in the singing, or above all by the common offering of the Sacrifice and by participating together at the Lord’s table. This unity is beautifully apparent from the gestures and bodily postures observed together by the faithful (96).”
And, to be sure, this Sunday’s Gospel account from St. Matthew has high hopes for communal worship: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (18:20).” Indeed the Church expects fully bodily cooperation in the all liturgical celebrations: “The faithful, moreover, should not refuse to serve the People of God in gladness whenever they are asked to perform some particular service or function in the celebration (97).”
St. Paul’s advice in this Sunday second reading applies to worship as well as to practical charity: “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another (Rm13:8).” At Mass especially should a common concern for community be evident.
