I call it May(hem) because so much
happens this month. I know you have a
lot going on, some of it because you want to get it done before the summer so
you can enjoy some vacation, some of it because of the requirements of the
season itself, with sports and the academic year coming to a close. Some of the things are scheduled now just
because it is such a beautiful time of year to do things, like weddings and
other events. It is much the same for
me.
But I want to ask you to put something
on your calendar for the end of this busy month. It will help you accomplish absolutely
nothing on your list of things to do, but your very willingness to stop doing things is what will make it possible for God
to do great things for you.
On Thursday evening, May 30th, at 7:30, we will offer here a Solemn High
Mass in the Extraordinary Form for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.
The feast, which Americans have
observed on the nearest Sunday since the time of Pope Leo XIII, is originally
on a Thursday. I didn’t even know that
until I went to seminary in Rome, where they still celebrate it on that
day. The day of the week hearkens to the
institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper that first Holy Thursday. We will have our regular Masses for the feast
on Sunday June second, but this Thursday evening will be special.
The choir Chantry will sing
polyphonic Mass commons (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei)
by Josquin Des Prez, the finest composer of the early renaissance. His Missa
Pange Lingua is based throughout on the tune that you probably know best
from the classic Eucharistic hymn Tantum
Ergo Sacramentum. The propers
(antiphons and such) are from the Gradualia
by the English renaissance composer William Byrd.
This is astonishingly beautiful
music, and to have it sung by such a choir in the context of a Mass is a rare
enough thing; to have it in our own
church is an opportunity not to be missed.
Thanks to the efforts of Father
McDonell, our philosopher, the homily will be offered by Msgr. John F. Wippel,
who is the Theodore Basselin Professor of Philosophy at Catholic University of
America. He will have some precious
insights to share on the reality of the Holy Eucharist! Then, there will be a Eucharistic procession
after the Mass.
Since this Mass will be in the Extraordinary
Form, everything except the homily will be in Latin, but do not let that
frighten you away. You will still be
able to participate, just not in the same manner you do in the Ordinary Form of
the Mass. We will have handouts to help
you follow the words, many of which you know because you know the Mass so
well. But if you raise your eyes -- and
your ears, and your hearts -- you will also be free to follow the beautiful
sounds and actions, and to encounter the truth and beauty of our Eucharistic
worship. It is a different way of
participating at Mass, and one that I find both illuminating and enriching of
our understanding of the Ordinary Form that we celebrate each day in
English.
So, in the midst of all the mayhem,
put aside time, not for getting something else done, but for wasting time on
God. Squander a few precious hours in
the sounds and sights of divine worship; waste a few hours wandering aimlessly
in the presence of the Divine Glory.
Your list of things to do and places
to go will be just as long when you get home.
But when you leave this Mass, you will have heard, seen, and touched
Heaven itself, beholding the very face of God.
Jesus did not give us Himself in the Eucharist for the sake of efficiency,
but for its own sake, the sake of our Communion with Him. It is the love of God become flesh for us,
and by this power alone will we enjoy order and glory in the face of May(hem).
Monsignor Smith
