Ite Missa Est—Words to Live By

Blessing4
Originally uploaded by stpatrickswareham

If you have ever been to Mass in Latin you may know that these Latin words are the mysterious conclusion of the Latin liturgy. I have always thought that our English translation of these words was unfortunate; not capturing the intended (I think) vagueness of this phrase. “Ite missa est,” essentially means “go, it is sent.” What is sent, you ask? Therein lays the beauty of the phrase, which requires you to contemplate what just happened at Mass: what you did, what you received, and what has been released into the world as a result. So important was this dismissal to our understanding of what happens at Mass, that the term Mass itself, our uniquely “Roman” term of the Divine Liturgy (as it is known in other non-Latin Catholic Churches), comes from the “missa” of “Ite missa est.”
A few weeks ago I had the privilege to travel with the youth group from St. Patrick’s to the city of brotherly love on a mission trip. We were sent forth from St. Patrick’s after Sunday Mass. Travelling far from home, twelve teens and four adults gave up a week-long vacation to spend two days travelling and four days working to help the poorest of the poor, the most vulnerable people of Philadelphia. During the week the young people did so much. It was really amazing the amount of work they did in four short days. They cleaned up glass and needles that littered a school play ground, tutored kids in the inner city, served meals to the homeless, moved a truck load of donated office supplies, scrubbed the halls of an inner city school, assisted a poor parish to prepare its church for first communions, and helped recent immigrant children prepare for the SATs. At times the work they did was fun and quite rewarding, other times their camaraderie made tough work bearable, however what was most impressive to see was how they persevered through dirty jobs and those difficult situations when they didn’t feel the gratitude of those they were trying to help. I remember one of the young people voicing frustration at one of our nightly de-briefings, when we had a chance to think and share about our day, because a teacher seemed utterly ungrateful, perhaps even resentful, of our presence. True love, I responded, is doing what is good for another especially when they don’t appreciate it, this is what Christ shows us on the Cross. By the end of the week I think the young people understood that possibly more important than all the work we had accomplished was the example of love that we had given.
One of the great blessings of the trip was the ability for the group to celebrate Mass each morning. In God’s providence all week long we heard readings from the 6th chapter of John’s Gospel in which Jesus tells us about the His mission to give up His life, His Body and Blood so that we might have eternal life. Each day after hearing this gospel they were sent, Ite Missa Est. They were sent to ponder what had happened at Mass and to live it by loving strangers in need as Jesus loved us on the cross—they were sent to become what they had received! Working with the children and families who were so joyful and thankful for their presence, they saw humanity as God sees us all, as His little children. However, they also learned just how hard Jesus’ sacrifice was, how hard it is to love when those you love don’t appreciate your love, when they were rejected. In the end, I asked them, “what did you see here, that you can’t find back home in Massachusetts?” The answer, “nothing,” and so I challenged them to risk loving their neighbors back home, the way they loved strangers in Philly. Love is what Jesus gives us in communion, and love is what is sent, if only we would be the love of Christ in the World. I was so impressed by the young people of my parish that week, and I hope that they saw the spiritual greatness that is in each of them, and the power to change the world that Christ sends each time they receive Him in the Eucharist.