Receive Me Today, Son of God

This Sunday, the group split up, attending liturgy at two places. One group attended the Melkite Greek Catholic Church while another group attended the Syrian Catholic Church, both located in Bethlehem.

 

At the Greek Melkite Church, where the majority of the group went, Frs. Baima, Kasule, and Pelrine concelebrated the Divine Liturgy, which is the Eastern Catholics’ and Orthodox’s term for “Mass”. 

 

There were many elements of this liturgy that struck me.  First, there was the universality of the liturgy. Even though the majority of the Divine Liturgy was in Arabic (the native language of Bethlehem), the pastor of the Church allowed the liturgy to be celebrated bi-lingually. For example, the Gospel was proclaimed by the pastor in Arabic, but was then proclaimed a second time in English by Fr. Baima. Fr. Baima then gave the homily in English.  It must be noted that all of those present knew English (to some extent or another) and so this mix of language in the liturgy was easily made possible. Yet even with this, it truly expressed a profound unity between all the members of the Church.  Even though we, the seminarians, are used to the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite of the Mass in English, Spanish, or Polish, and even though the Melkite Catholic community is accustomed to the Byzantine Rite in Arabic, we could all come together under one roof and profess One Faith and partake in the One Sacrament.

Second, the beauty and transcendence of the Byzantine Liturgy was very profound. Perhaps this was due to the uniqueness of the ritual movements, gestures, and words that the Byzantine Rite employs, and being so used to the Ordinary Form  I have lost a sense of the movements, gestures, and words we use. Perhaps this was due to prayers of the Byzantine Rite, which, though very similar in phrase and structure to the Roman Rite, are unique enough to pull my attention to a new element of the liturgy. Yet, above and beyond these examples, perhaps it was just as simple as the Eucharistic Mystery we all celebrated: bread and wine become the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.  Regardless of our original nationality or rite, all of us present were able to gather around one altar and celebrate that one Mystery, which is the Eucharist.

Finally, I would also like to leave you with the most striking part of the liturgy for me, which was the prayer before communion:

“I believe and confess, Lord, that You are truly the Christ, the Son of the living God, who came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first. I also believe that this is truly Your pure Body and that this is truly Your precious Blood. Therefore, I pray to You, have mercy upon me, and forgive my transgressions, voluntary and involuntary, in word and deed, known and unknown. And make me worthy without condemnation to partake of Your pure Mysteries for the forgiveness of sins and for eternal life.…Receive me today, Son of God, as a partaker of Your mystical Supper. I will not reveal Your mystery to Your adversaries. Nor will I give You a kiss as did Judas. But as the thief I confess to You: Lord, remember me in Your Kingdom.”