The Family of God

 God of peace, with Jesus as the capstone you draw us together as members of your household.....

We recently missed our regularly-scheduled weekend Mass, and my husband wanted to attend the 7:00 am Vietnamese Mass instead.  My first thought was that I would miss the social connection I always experience at Sunday mass -- seeing the people I know and recognize, finding out how people are when I don't see them very often, etc.  In addition, I knew that I would not understand a word, as the entire Mass and homily are in Vietnamese.

My actual experience, however, was quite different from my expectation.  In spite of my not understanding the language, I was drawn in by the music and the warmth of the congregation.  Of course, I knew the rubrics of the Mass, so worship was not a problem, but entering into the difference in cultural expression of the worship was a real joy.  The Vietnamese bow to the priest and to one another at the kiss of peace, whereas the Americans wave, point to one another, and grin.  The Vietnamese chant every response of the Mass, and their participation seems to be full and heartfelt.  I left Mass feeling "at-one" with the people and with God.

Most of us consider attending Mass to be a solitary event, I think.  What we experience but fail to reflect upon is how much we are drawn together as a family by our worship of the One God.  Despite our backgrounds and cultural differences, our common worship makes us one family.  St. Paul addresses this issue in the book of Ephesians:

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the ...dividing wall of hostility....His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility...For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit....And in him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (2:14ff.)

Most of us give little thought to the Covenant God has made with us through Jesus Christ --- mainly because the word "Covenant" has little meaning to us today for a variety of reasons.  Especially in the western culture, we tend to think in terms of individualism rather than family.  But God's plan has always been to make us part of His own "family" -- the Trinity.  We are to be one with Him, as the Son and the Spirit are One with the Father.  Our place at the family table is in Jesus Christ, as members of His Body.  Rather than separating us from one another, our differences add to the richness of our relationships.

There is no other place on earth we can experience this oneness except at Mass, where there is no "first place" at the table of the Lord.  All are welcome; all are accepted; none are excluded.  All of us have access to the Father and to one another.  If we go to Mass often enough and long enough, we will eventually begin to discover and to experience the gift of family!