As part of my goals this year, I'm trying to be more deliberate in my spiritual reading, so to that end I'm working my way through Matthew Kelly's book "Rediscovering Catholicism". In this latest chapter he was discussing how most Catholics feel that Mass is boring and then shares some ideas on how he thinks we can turn that thinking around.
While I don't feel that Mass is boring, I will admit to being highly distracted most days during at least part of it. Matthew discusses two things that can help to make Mass much more "interesting", both of which I've tried with varying degrees of success.
During Lent I've been leading a Miles Christi formation group. We meet once a week and go over materials that are sent to us by the MC priests. One of the things they send is a reflection on the upcoming Sunday's Gospel reading. We read the Gospel then the reflection and then discuss them. This is a great way to familiarize yourself with what you are going to hear on the weekend. This is one of Matthew Kelly's recommendations. I will admit, however, that even though I've done this, most Sunday's I still get to the Gospel reading and don't recognize it, or remember much of what we discussed. Horrible, I know. I think it comes down to too many things going on in my brain and not being able to remember something for that long. It is a great idea, I just need to be able to retain the information for longer than 30 minutes.
His second idea is also something I've done in the past, and that is to bring a journal to Mass and write down things that you feel God is trying to say to you through the readings, songs, prayers or homily. This really engages your brain because you're listening to all the different parts of the Mass just waiting for God to speak to your heart. I'm not quite sure why I ever stopped doing this, however. After reading about this again, I think I might give it another go around.
I got to thinking about how a parish might be transformed if the pastor were to introduce these two things and somehow get the majority of his parishioners to try them out. I think it could definitely transform them. I know that if I do both of them and actually pay attention to them, it will definitely transform me.
If you're looking for a good book to read to rejuvenate your spiritual life, I would highly recommend this book. Every chapter has given me a lot to think about...and remember. I'm still working on the remembering part of it, though.
God Bless!
