I didn't get entertained at Mass

     Is that title appalling?  Is it on the verge of blasphemy?  But there have been times when I've come to Mass with that attitude, expecting the priest, the music/singing, the prayers or something else to keep me interested.  If that didn't happen, then I thought, "I didn't get anything out of Mass," or "Mass was boring."
     That is not the purpose of Mass, or any Liturgical celebration.  We come to Mass to praise, worship and glorify God as a community.  We also assemble to help build up each other's faith.
     Some people might say, "I can meet God anywhere, so why should I go to Mass?"  Actually, we should meet God wherever we are, and that must be part of our daily lives.  The Mass is not for us to meet God just so we can get something, it is so we can give of ourselves (time, talent, treasure and effort) to encourage and support each other on our faith journey.  And what we receive, the most important parts, are in Word and Eucharist.
     My wife and I were planning to take our Michael to a movie (in the late '90s).  Some reviewers wrote that it would not be as entertaining with the same type of action as another movie.  Those reviewers were trying to make a comparison that one movie wasn't worthwhile because it didn't follow the supposed standards of another one.  But each had their own style and offered some unique things.
     Do we compare the Eucharistic celebration at Mass in the same way, to some unrelated things?  Do we have certain expectations based on activities/events in other parts of our lives?  We need to be participants, not spectators, to find something(s) that become important to us to have a better connection and experience.
     Our attendance at Mass is a privilege (sometimes referred to as our obligation).  It is so we can share a meal, in remembrance of the sacrifice that Jesus made.  It is our joining together for this occasion to receive Holy Communion, and to become a holy communion.
     That is why the cross is an important part of our faith.  It is the joining of our humanity and God's divinity (the vertical beam) and uniting us as sisters and brothers in Christ (the horizontal beam).  And the two beams are linked together showing us that our relationship with God cannot be separated from that with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
     God never meant for us to develop our independence and strive for more of it.  It has always been inter-dependence that Jesus taught, relying on each other.
     Independence leads to separation, while inter-dependence bonds us together as one community, people and Body of Christ.  Any entertainment is for the short term.  The benefits of our full conscious active participatation -- at Mass and more -- are for the longest term.  It is ours as God has offered, it is eternal-izing.
     These connections have taken my faith experience from awful (wanting to minimize God in my life) to Awe-Full (wanting to maximize God's presence in my life).  Jesus invites us, "Come and See!"

Mass is meant to be a shared experience.