Yesterday I stepped outside to have a cigarette with my boss during my break and thinking out loud I said “hmm… I wonder what I can post tomorrow for the blog”. He suggested posting on the way that the internet has influenced/ created faith communities. I thought about it for a moment and then speculated that from a Pentecostal understanding of the word “worship” it really wouldn’t pose too many problems. However, from a liturgical perspective it seemed a little more complicated; reception of the sacraments, particularly Holy Communion and confession, fuel the interior life. Therefore, the physical distance intrinsic to internet communication would almost certainly inhibit the growth of the interior life of the Catholic who wanted to attend internet masses on a regular basis.
However, this discussion with my boss did spur me to ponder what it means for the lay faithful to fully participate in the Mass.
What does it mean to fully participate in Liturgy as a lay person?
Could one be said to participating in the Mass if it was online or do we have to be physically present? i.e. Could someone be said to be participating in a Mass via the internet if it was real time (live) if they followed the prayers, liturgical gestures proper to the lay faithful, and then made a spiritual communion?
What is the justification for this?
Does confession require the physical presence of the penitent? Can one receive absolution over the phone?
A great post and a great topic. The issue of the necessity of real presence for love lies at the heart of it I think. Internet friends aren’t really friends – there’s a controversial statement – but one has to share life in more than a virtual way, to be truly sharing it. In response to specifics: in fact you cannot go to confession over the phone – it is forbidden (don’t know the reference but it is – I asked a few times!)
Also – for the offering of the sacrifice (which is the heart of the Mass) – one needs to be there – because the whole point is that the sacrifice is made present sacramentally to us, where we are – in our time and place. This touches on the issue of lay participation. Primarily it is a participation of the heart, an ‘offering with’ the Lord who offers himself through the hands of the priest. And so the paradigm for lay participation is Mary at the cross. She was the most fully united in heart to the offering of her Son – so the sword that pierced his heart pierced her soul too. This is a deep deep mystery – and at the heart of renewing our participation at Mass. We can never reflect on it too much and should always return to it I think. Now, if someone can’t get to Mass (an aged person who is no longer mobile and who doesn’t have the help they need to get there etc) – then it is always good to make a spiritual communion (that expression of the longing to receive Jesus if it were possible, to which he responds.) And a person can always say in prayer: Lord, I unite myself to the offering of your body and blood, soul and divinity, in all the Masses in the world – and express other good desires like that, which are pleasing to God. But it is still not the same as being there – because we are bodily. It is never the same to speak to one’s spouse over the phone as to be there with them. The REAL PRESENCE – is needed for love – both Jesus to be really present (which he is through the sacrament) and us to the really present (through our full active conscious participation) – so that the objective good of the love of Christ may be fruitfully applied to us in full and without reserve.
Just to be clear though – a spiritual communion is the real thing, with the real graces – it is the offering of the sacrifice that we will be making from a distance – that would not be the same (with regards to TV).
For example, the Sunday obligation is not about receiving communion, but about being present at the Sacrifice. A communion service does not fulfil the Sunday obligation for that reason, because the Sacrifice is not offered in it (that is, the double consecration does not take place). Nor would a TV or internet programme of the Mass fulfil the obligation to be present at the Sacrifice. Regarding communion services, they should only be attended on Sunday when Mass is impossible to get to. In that case they are an excellent thing, because we hear the Word and we receive the Lord in the Body, (the whole Lord, body, blood soul and divinity) – but we were not present at Calvary by that alone. The Sacrifice was not re-presented to us for us to unite to in heart and mind and body. Yet we are DISPENSED from the Sunday obligation if we are unable to be there through no fault of our own. Note, to be dispensed from an obligation is not to have an obligation fulfilled. That is the distinction that is important to hold.
Although it isn’t quite the same thing as being bodily present, there is a very real presence of all the faithfull at every mass.
The entire Church is present, even though we may be just a few persons in the room. The Second Vatican Council tells us :-
In these Eucharistic communities, though frequently small and poor, or living in exile, Christ is present, and in virtue of his presence there is brought together the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. [LG, no. 26.]
And St. Josemaria Escriva writes,
When I celebrate Mass with just one person to help me, the people are present also. I feel that there with me are all Catholics, all believers and also those who do not believe. All God’s creatures are there –the earth and the sea and the sky, and the animals and plants– the whole of creation giving glory to the Lord. [Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, A Priest forever, p. 15]
http://iits.uap.edu.ph/belmonte/06Greeting.htm
We don’t need technology to be really present at every mass. All of creation is really present at every mass, through Christ.
God Bless