Utilizing Our Distractions During Mass to Our Advantage

                We go to Mass with good intentions.  We desire to be attentive, to benefit from the Mass.  Can we not give one hour of our time to God?  Soon after the Mass begins, however, we begin to lose focus.  (I am, of course, speaking to us who are weak, not strong.)  Our minds begin to wander.  No matter how strong the desire to be attentive, no matter how hard we try, our minds go to a myriad of other things.  What are we to do?      What we need to do is to take these things, capture them, and turn them on their proverbial ear.

            Get to Mass early, giving yourself time to pray, and also bring a notepad and pen.  Pray for the grace to be attentive, to “grow” from the Mass.  Because this is God’s will, we know that he will answer the prayer.  God never says “no;” he either answers the prayer or he does not.  “Surely God does not hear an empty cry, nor does the Almighty regard it.”^[1]  “We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him.”^[2]

            Now, comes the Mass, and would you know it: Your mind begins to wander.  What has occurred?  Did God not answer your prayer?  I had just said that we know that God will answer that prayer; so what has happened?  What has occurred is: God is allowing us to ascertain the “loves” we have before him, above him.  Therefore, when your mind wanders, take up your pen and paper and write down the subject matters of the wanderings of your mind.  These you begin to confess immediately, asking for the grace to overcome them.  Also utilize these notes during daily prayers, praying for the grace to desire—and the resolve—to overcome them.  In this way, we are turning our distractions into good, towards our sanctification.

            Then turn your eyes to the crucifix and fix them there.  Envision every word being spoken as coming from Christ on the Cross, to the Father on our behalf and also to us in order to teach us.  Many times, we forget that the priest in the Office of Christ; we don’t see him as speaking in Christ’s behalf.  However, when every word is coming resoundingly from the Crucifix, it can have a profound impact upon us.  If all else fails, see that on the Cross God died for you.  Why?  Why did he die for us when we can’t even spend one hour with him without our minds wandering to things of the world?  Because his Passion and Death occurred in time and occurs outside of time—eternity—he continues to die for us and continues rises for us.  The Liturgy of the Eucharist shows us this because it is a re-presentation of Calvary.  Not only is he dying for us, but we are dying with him.  It is the great Exchange.  While the inanimate sign of the crucifix can help to direct your attention to the Savior’s unlimited love for us, the Eucharist is the living sign of it.^[3]

            The Mass is efficacious.  We will probably forget the homily; we may even forget the readings; however, let us pray that everything that is occurring during the Mass is affecting us, causing us to grow, being conformed more and more into the image of Christ.  We pray that what we hear in the readings is causing a change in us.  Let us not be ones who are full of pride, living to fulfill their wills, but let us live to fulfill the will of the Creator, the One who created us for a purpose.  Let us not be like those who cry out but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil men.^[4]  Let us confess our distractions in order that they humble us.

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^[1] Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain), The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, (New York: National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, 1994), Job 35:13.

^[2] New American Bible, Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Jn 9:31.

^[3] Jim Blackburn, 101 Quick Questions with Catholic Answers: Marriage, Divorce, and Annulment, (San Diego, CA: Catholic Answers, 2010), 61.

^[4] Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain), The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, (New York: National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, 1994), Job 35:12.