from the mot d'escalier (or early morning being hit in the head with a thought) department:
The dismissal at the end of the Eucharist represents the conversion of Mass into energy — to love and serve the Lord.
And while I'm at it, I have on occasion added to the dismissal in this fashion: "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord, and your neighbor as yourself."
—Tobias
Tobias, you woke up on the right side of the bed today.
ReplyDeleteYesterday's thought, although correct, struck me as Tobias-in-stern-mode, almost in rebuke-mode.
Today's knock in the head seemed gentler, maybe a tap with a twig, and no less correct.
Oh! Do you veer from the words of the prayer book?
Mon cher, Tobias, quelquefois, vous êtes formidable.
Thanks G.M. I try not to meddle with the text of the liturgy, but this one just popped out some time back. The summary of the law had been part of the gospel for the day, and it just seemed too good not to say at the dismissal. It just slipped out. Honestly.
ReplyDeleteWill be out of town at a conference on religious communities for the next few days, and may not have internet access. Peace to all....
tobias
You could consider "and be kind and charitable letting one another out of the parking lot and on the streets." Er, that's if your parish has a big parking lot and so forth.
ReplyDeleteOh, thank you, thank you, thank you for that! I think I will at last be able to rid my mind of my set Catholic grammar school/high school guilt of wondering why the Church was as glad as I that Mass was over! Really, I have needed a different construct - not sure why I looked at this site tonight, but I have been blessed.
ReplyDeleteRemember something else:
ReplyDeleteE=mc^2 (that's suposed to be a superscript 2)
Even a small Mass can produce a LOT of energy.
At least, no one can say that joining these two commandments together is "unbiblical," though I've met some liturgists who'd be tempted.
ReplyDeleteI have no objection to meddling with liturgical texts, so long as we don't turn the dismissal into a mini-sermon. In Easter I'm saying "Go in the peace of the risen Christ, alleluia, alleluia."
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments. Even here in conference at a retreat center I've managed to find a computer to log on for a few moments. I'm moved to add yet another thought, and that is:
ReplyDeleteThe Holy Communion is a fusion reaction that gives rise to significantly more energy than can be acheived by fission!
Peace and joy to all....
tobias
Tobias, keep the thoughts coming, and you'll soon have enough to fill a book. Your Holy Communion thought is the ultimate in timeliness. It's much more satisfying than what I grew up with - transubstantiation.
ReplyDeletePeace and joy to all....
Et cum Spiritu tuo.
Ormonde, I believe that we live in the same diocese.
Mimi, if you're talking about the Diocese of Terre Tremblante (or Subsiding Mudflats), I believe you are right.
ReplyDeleteOrmonde, I am, indeed. In some places we're know as The Diocese of Swamp Dwellers.
ReplyDelete