Bishop: Renew your love for the Mass

By Tanya Connor  | The Catholic Free Press

Bishop McManus has a dream – that local Catholics’ love for the Mass will be renewed and they’ll want to participate in it each Sunday.
It’s one of the things he’d like to see happen through the Worcester Diocese’s preparation for the worldwide Synod of Bishops in October 2023, he said at a Mass to begin that process.
He solemnly opened that process by celebrating a Mass of the Holy Spirit Sunday morning at St. Paul Cathedral. Representatives from parishes around the diocese joined him, praying a prayer for the synod which was adapted from one prayed at Vatican Council II and other councils and synods. Afterwards some expressed enthusiasm for the Mass and the process it began.
Bishops around the world were to begin the first phase – the diocesan phase – of the “synodal journey” Oct.17, after the process officially opened at the Vatican the previous weekend.
Bishop McManus told The Catholic Free Press he asked pastors to lead their parishes in asking, “What have we done to become missionary disciples of Jesus Christ?” He said these discussions must be synthesized into a maximum of 10 pages and sent to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops by April 1, so the conference can synthesize input from all U.S. dioceses for the synod office.
The synod’s theme – “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission” – will guide the Worcester Diocese’s process, Bishop McManus said in his homily at Sunday’s Mass, which drew 100 or more people.
He said these hallmarks have been guiding the diocese for decades; each meeting, religious education class, etc. has been an experience of the synodal process – Catholics walking together under the direction of their bishops and the pope. The Church in the United States took seriously Vatican II’s mandate to establish consultative bodies like parish councils, he told The Catholic Free Press. But some countries, because of their culture, don’t enter into consultation as much.
In his homily Bishop McManus said guidance bishops received for conducting the diocesan synodal process emphasized exhorting people to listen to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit calls all Catholics to be missionary disciples, bringing Christ’s message of hope and salvation to a world desperately needing it, he said. He quoted Jesus’ promise to his disciples that the Holy Spirit would instruct them (Jn 14:26).
The Book of the Gospels was solemnly enthroned and censed at the beginning of Sunday’s Mass because it bears God’s revelation to his people at all times and places, Bishop McManus said. As we gather in dialog in the coming months to further the Church’s mission in our own time and place, we must listen attentively to that Word, he said.
He noted that the Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life and said one of the most difficult decisions he’s made as bishop of Worcester was to stop public Masses during the pandemic. It was like a long fast from the Eucharist that left people spiritually hungry and sad.
So one of his dreams for the local synodal process is the rekindling, in the hearts and souls of members of the diocese, a renewed love for the Mass and a desire to celebrate it weekly with others, for God’s glory and human beings’ salvation, he said.
Without weekly reception of Christ in the Eucharist, we will not have the spiritual determination and joyful commitment to work to renew our homes, cities and world, he said. He said we are beginning our mission to rebuild the Church, working with God’s grace to make our parishes welcoming communities of vibrant faith where God dwells with us.
“This begins our collaboration toward the synod,” Michael Matondi, representing Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Hopedale with Mary Iacovelli, said after Mass. “We can’t do it without God, and God can’t do it without us.”
“It made us more aware of the synod on the lay level – and more prayerful,” said Donald Benton, a representative from St. Leo Parish in Leominster. He said the liturgy was uplifting and dignified, and the music was beautiful.
“It was an inspiring message from the bishop” about the direction the synod is to go in, said John Shannon, who was also representing St. Leo’s. “I think it was good to begin with parish participation,” and it was nice to have the prayer for the synod.
“It was so nice to have all the parishes represented. … We don’t get that opportunity very often,” said Virginia Polley. She said the homily was very nice and “we look forward to everything coming together.” She was representing Our Lady of the Lake in Leominster with others from the parish council – Cory Gendron and Elaine Hackett.