In every difficult time, there is a silver lining. One silver lining of the pandemic has come in the form of livestream Masses. In addition to allowing the faithful to continue their weekly worship through the liturgy, it has allowed families – such as my own – to “attend” Mass together even though we live far apart.
My children and I have been blessed with opportunities to provide music for our parish’s livestream of the Saturday Mass of anticipation (while my husband films), each week since Christmas Eve. My parents, my godmother, and other relatives in Ontario can now “join” us for Mass most weeks.
Additionally, since our youngest daughter is preparing for confirmation this year, livestreams have allowed her Ontario relatives to join in far more steps of her journey than ever would have been possible during “normal” times. Our parish has livestreamed the Masses dedicated to confirmation candidates and the Stations of the Cross, as led by the confirmands, and our local and Ontario relatives have joined in these as well.
My brother (my daughter’s godfather), his wife (her confirmation sponsor), and their two young daughters had planned to come to B.C. for confirmation. It is now very unlikely that this will happen, but my sister-in-law was able to join our daughter for an online retreat followed by Mass a few weeks ago. Silver linings!
During one of these livestream Masses my seven-year-old niece exclaimed, “Their church looks just like St. Pat’s.” St. Pat’s – her church and the church I attended as a child – is an old country church, with cream-coloured paint, gold embossing, warm-coloured carpeting, oak fixtures, and original stained-glass windows throughout. Our church in Delta, built about 200 years later, has a modern, open-concept layout with cement pillars, a marble altar and ambo, light blue carpeting, and statues of the 12 apostles in prominent view. The ambience in the two locations is quite different and my niece’s older sister was quick to point this out.
“No, it’s not!” the nine-year-old retorted to her sister.
My mom and I enjoyed hearing about their conversation. I laughed at how different the two churches look, while Mom wisely pointed out that my younger niece had simply noticed everything the two churches have in common. They both have large crucifixes, they both have altars and ambos, they both have candles, they both have altars dedicated to Mary, and most importantly they both have tabernacles.
While esthetically, the two churches – reflecting the eras in which they were built – seem quite different, in her childish wisdom my younger niece had been comforted to recognize the similarities between “our” church and “hers.” Regardless of colour scheme and architecture, where it matters most, these two churches – 4,000 kilometres apart – are indeed the same.
Churches are “just like” each other in more than just a physical sense. The liturgy itself unites all Mass attendees throughout the world. Regardless of décor, regardless of language, regardless of musical style, the Mass is “the Mass.” Throughout the world, the liturgy unites us in structure, in the Bible readings which are the same everywhere in the world, and in the Eucharist – its culmination.
The liturgy, through the immersion of the senses, changes us and unites us as the Body of Christ. As author Susan Wood states, “We are impressed with the objects, sights, smells, sounds. We indwell the liturgy not only by being present, but by being impressed with its various elements, as a coin is impressed by a stamp.”
My younger niece has already been “impressed” enough by the Mass that she can quickly identify its trademark elements, even while watching a livestream Mass.
We are individual members united in one Body of Christ: “different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit … different forms of service but the same Lord” (1 Cor. 12:4). I’d like to add to and paraphrase this passage: different kinds of Masses – livestreams or different buildings – but the same liturgy. COVID ways of gathering, but the same Lord.
The hardships of COVID are easy to see. Silver linings are also obvious when we take time to look at what is most important. Just ask my niece! She reminds us to notice that which unites us, rather than focusing on the differences – and the distances – keeping us apart.
