Fr. Louis BIRA sx
With the containment and assembly restrictions to control the spread of Coronavirus-Covid-19, there has been an increase in the number of Eucharistic celebrations online . In videos posted online, priests are seen celebrating the Eucharist alone and inviting the lay faithful to follow. Messages from lay people are pouring in on social media calling on priests for such initiatives. In doing so, it is believed that communion among the faithful can be maintained through virtual space that social mediaoffers. Social mediaconstitutesone of the mostpowerful modern tools of communicationfor our time.
Thanks to social media, we can reach a large audience: however, the 'digital community' is different from the 'real community'! Efficiency and profit, these are the two passwords that justify the proliferation of online masses. Social media are efficient because they make possible what is impossible in this time of confinement: the real encounter with those who are far. Fans and promoters of online Eucharist believe that they are taking advantage of these means of communication to maintain true communion through virtual communion. It seems to work, especially if we stick to the number of new online initiatives that are emerging: adoration of the blessed sacrament and preaching.
Social media are necessary means that cannot be ignored today in terms of communication. However, one wonders if the mechanism of virtuality and the logic of efficiency and profit that command them are also applied to religious practices such as the celebration of the Eucharist, without it being distorted. My opinion is that the online Eucharistic celebrations so popular at this time run the risk of emptying the Eucharist of its meaning and distorting the image of the minister who celebrates it. The stand here is that: a mass online is not a true Eucharist. Against a certain Eucharistic fetishism that these online masses promote and in which only priests really take part, it is better to imagine other ways of practicing one's faith wherever one is and with those of one's home in this time of isolation and solitude. With regard to this, the tradition of the Church has an immense potential, especially prayer in family in all its forms! Avoiding fetishism means stopping to believe that the mere fact of seeing a priest celebrating a Mass online allows the viewer genuine and concrete participation in the Eucharist. No, online Masses are still virtual masses. To value them beyond virtuality is to fall into the logic of fetishes.
The celebration of the Eucharist, in order to be true, has to make the Church in the sense of unifying the different members who participate in the Eucharist into one Body, the Body of Christ. It is the fact that peopleare truly united that makes the Eucharist a genuine celebration (I Co 11:18). We remember Father Henri de Lubac's formula: The Eucharist makes the Church and the Church makes the Eucharist. When the Apostle St. Paul speaks of the Eucharist (1Co 11:17-34), he refers to it as a true communion that happens during the celebration between each individual and Christ and simultaneously and inseparably a communion between the different members who all become one Body of Christ. For him, this communion is so real that it involves sharing the meal together, without which the Eucharist received, instead of being a blessing, becomes a curse (I Co 11; 27). This aspect of sharing life between those who participate in the Eucharist is seriously lacking in online Eucharist. Yet it is essential in what makes the Eucharist. Social media are a cult of 'celebrities'. Indeed, the more famous one is, the more online 'followers'one has.
According to the logic of the media, an online mass will be well attended if it collects more likes. That also makes the priest popular, a celebrity. Yet, in the Christian tradition, the Eucharist is the summit and source of all ecclesial worship (Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 10). It is a worship given to God alone. As such, it is the Church's prayer par excellence. The only true celebrity of the Eucharist is the mysterythat is celebrated: the mystery of Christ. The other actors are mere instruments. The fact that the Eucharist is the "Prayer of the Churchpar excellence" questions the image of a priest seen as ‘celebrity’ as it appears on social media. Indeed, in the Gospel, Christ does not only teach us how to pray (Lk 11:1-4), He also warns us against bad ways of praying (Mt 6, 6-7). “Do not stand at crossroads to show yourselfto men and do not rehash when praying.” These are the Master's formal prohibitions.
Were He there today in the age of Covid-19, He would have said to us priests: “social media are your crossroads!”“To avoid being like the hypocrites, when praying, retreat into your rooms, close your doors and pray to your Father in secret.” (Mt 6:5). To fans of online masses, He would have added: “Don't be too extroverted. Pray in the silence of your hearts with those close to you!” Nevertheless, this time of confinement can prove to be a time of grace, above all, for those who celebrate the Mass. Indeed, by celebrating the mass online regularly, there is a risk of making it a habit. The celebrant ends up being like a "public servant" who performs an automatic role for others. We pray for you, we often say! What if this time was the time when priests would pray and celebrate for themselves? Time to rediscover the forgotten virtues of the Mass celebrated alone without noise before Vatican II?In so doing, this time of trial would be transformed into times of grace.
Far from selfishness, I believe that the "good of the world" for which the Eucharist is celebrated is as much a priority as the good of the celebrant himself. In this time of isolation, praying behind closed doors can be an opportunity to discover the benefits of a Mass for the one who celebrates it. Thus we would escape the trap of the image of a ‘priest-star' spreading on social media. I presume that lay faithful who ask for online masses do so with good faith. Yet, without knowing it, they play the game of social media. Their trick is to make us absent from a minority of people who are close to us and to give us the impression of being present to a huge crowd that is far away from us.
At the end, for those of our house, we are absent-present with the good excuse of following the Mass online. Against this dispersal, a Nigerian sister, Teresa Okure proposed that this time of closure of the churches becomes a time to return to the roots of what it means to be the Church. For her, it is a question of rediscovering the family as a domestic church, a real place where we meet with Jesus. In sodoing, we take the Lord's words seriously: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am present among them.” (Mt 18:20) .
Is there nothing more beautiful in this time of isolation and loneliness than to support each other in a common prayer? Close to each other, we make ourselves Eucharist, gift of life for others at a time when everyone wonders where the help will come from. Our Eucharist in containment mode is to be grasped as solidarity, proximity and not as a time religiously spent in front of one’s computer, one’s Smartphone or one’s tablet to follow a mass broadcast on a screen to which one clings. To draw attention to the risk of fetishism that the masses proliferating online is not an act of rebellion against digital revolution. Neither is a lack of admiration for the zeal of priests who promote such celebrations. There is no doubt that Social media are part of our modern experience. As means of communication, their advantages are well known and appreciated. Besides that, it’s also true that the market logic that haunts the owners of this businesses needs to be revisited and questioned.
Indeed, their logic of efficiency and profit cannot be applied to the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, Christ gives Himself just as He did on the Cross. On the Cross, the lownessbecomes efficiency, weakness becomes power and gift replaces our sense of profit. Lowness, weakness, and self-giving—these are all virtues for which the owners of social media like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twiterare not familiar with. In this time of deprivation and isolation, the way out may beto encourageChristians to spend time together —while respecting the precautionary guidelines issued by health experts —, reciting Christian prayers together, praying the rosary and meditating on the word of God as a family; these are simple Christian reflexes that can be fully embraced at this time.
For the priests, while waiting for the end of the Covid-19 storm, we will have to get used to living without the crowds that participate in the Eucharistic celebrations and learn to celebrate alone in secret for the glory of God, the salvation of the world and our own salvation. Keep safe and healthy, the storm will passsoon!
With the containment and assembly restrictions to control the spread of Coronavirus-Covid-19, there has been an increase in the number of Eucharistic celebrations online . In videos posted online, priests are seen celebrating the Eucharist alone and inviting the lay faithful to follow. Messages from lay people are pouring in on social media calling on priests for such initiatives. In doing so, it is believed that communion among the faithful can be maintained through virtual space that social mediaoffers. Social mediaconstitutesone of the mostpowerful modern tools of communicationfor our time.
Thanks to social media, we can reach a large audience: however, the 'digital community' is different from the 'real community'! Efficiency and profit, these are the two passwords that justify the proliferation of online masses. Social media are efficient because they make possible what is impossible in this time of confinement: the real encounter with those who are far. Fans and promoters of online Eucharist believe that they are taking advantage of these means of communication to maintain true communion through virtual communion. It seems to work, especially if we stick to the number of new online initiatives that are emerging: adoration of the blessed sacrament and preaching.
Social media are necessary means that cannot be ignored today in terms of communication. However, one wonders if the mechanism of virtuality and the logic of efficiency and profit that command them are also applied to religious practices such as the celebration of the Eucharist, without it being distorted. My opinion is that the online Eucharistic celebrations so popular at this time run the risk of emptying the Eucharist of its meaning and distorting the image of the minister who celebrates it. The stand here is that: a mass online is not a true Eucharist. Against a certain Eucharistic fetishism that these online masses promote and in which only priests really take part, it is better to imagine other ways of practicing one's faith wherever one is and with those of one's home in this time of isolation and solitude. With regard to this, the tradition of the Church has an immense potential, especially prayer in family in all its forms! Avoiding fetishism means stopping to believe that the mere fact of seeing a priest celebrating a Mass online allows the viewer genuine and concrete participation in the Eucharist. No, online Masses are still virtual masses. To value them beyond virtuality is to fall into the logic of fetishes.
The celebration of the Eucharist, in order to be true, has to make the Church in the sense of unifying the different members who participate in the Eucharist into one Body, the Body of Christ. It is the fact that peopleare truly united that makes the Eucharist a genuine celebration (I Co 11:18). We remember Father Henri de Lubac's formula: The Eucharist makes the Church and the Church makes the Eucharist. When the Apostle St. Paul speaks of the Eucharist (1Co 11:17-34), he refers to it as a true communion that happens during the celebration between each individual and Christ and simultaneously and inseparably a communion between the different members who all become one Body of Christ. For him, this communion is so real that it involves sharing the meal together, without which the Eucharist received, instead of being a blessing, becomes a curse (I Co 11; 27). This aspect of sharing life between those who participate in the Eucharist is seriously lacking in online Eucharist. Yet it is essential in what makes the Eucharist. Social media are a cult of 'celebrities'. Indeed, the more famous one is, the more online 'followers'one has.
According to the logic of the media, an online mass will be well attended if it collects more likes. That also makes the priest popular, a celebrity. Yet, in the Christian tradition, the Eucharist is the summit and source of all ecclesial worship (Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 10). It is a worship given to God alone. As such, it is the Church's prayer par excellence. The only true celebrity of the Eucharist is the mysterythat is celebrated: the mystery of Christ. The other actors are mere instruments. The fact that the Eucharist is the "Prayer of the Churchpar excellence" questions the image of a priest seen as ‘celebrity’ as it appears on social media. Indeed, in the Gospel, Christ does not only teach us how to pray (Lk 11:1-4), He also warns us against bad ways of praying (Mt 6, 6-7). “Do not stand at crossroads to show yourselfto men and do not rehash when praying.” These are the Master's formal prohibitions.
Were He there today in the age of Covid-19, He would have said to us priests: “social media are your crossroads!”“To avoid being like the hypocrites, when praying, retreat into your rooms, close your doors and pray to your Father in secret.” (Mt 6:5). To fans of online masses, He would have added: “Don't be too extroverted. Pray in the silence of your hearts with those close to you!” Nevertheless, this time of confinement can prove to be a time of grace, above all, for those who celebrate the Mass. Indeed, by celebrating the mass online regularly, there is a risk of making it a habit. The celebrant ends up being like a "public servant" who performs an automatic role for others. We pray for you, we often say! What if this time was the time when priests would pray and celebrate for themselves? Time to rediscover the forgotten virtues of the Mass celebrated alone without noise before Vatican II?In so doing, this time of trial would be transformed into times of grace.
Far from selfishness, I believe that the "good of the world" for which the Eucharist is celebrated is as much a priority as the good of the celebrant himself. In this time of isolation, praying behind closed doors can be an opportunity to discover the benefits of a Mass for the one who celebrates it. Thus we would escape the trap of the image of a ‘priest-star' spreading on social media. I presume that lay faithful who ask for online masses do so with good faith. Yet, without knowing it, they play the game of social media. Their trick is to make us absent from a minority of people who are close to us and to give us the impression of being present to a huge crowd that is far away from us.
At the end, for those of our house, we are absent-present with the good excuse of following the Mass online. Against this dispersal, a Nigerian sister, Teresa Okure proposed that this time of closure of the churches becomes a time to return to the roots of what it means to be the Church. For her, it is a question of rediscovering the family as a domestic church, a real place where we meet with Jesus. In sodoing, we take the Lord's words seriously: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am present among them.” (Mt 18:20) .
Is there nothing more beautiful in this time of isolation and loneliness than to support each other in a common prayer? Close to each other, we make ourselves Eucharist, gift of life for others at a time when everyone wonders where the help will come from. Our Eucharist in containment mode is to be grasped as solidarity, proximity and not as a time religiously spent in front of one’s computer, one’s Smartphone or one’s tablet to follow a mass broadcast on a screen to which one clings. To draw attention to the risk of fetishism that the masses proliferating online is not an act of rebellion against digital revolution. Neither is a lack of admiration for the zeal of priests who promote such celebrations. There is no doubt that Social media are part of our modern experience. As means of communication, their advantages are well known and appreciated. Besides that, it’s also true that the market logic that haunts the owners of this businesses needs to be revisited and questioned.
Indeed, their logic of efficiency and profit cannot be applied to the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, Christ gives Himself just as He did on the Cross. On the Cross, the lownessbecomes efficiency, weakness becomes power and gift replaces our sense of profit. Lowness, weakness, and self-giving—these are all virtues for which the owners of social media like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twiterare not familiar with. In this time of deprivation and isolation, the way out may beto encourageChristians to spend time together —while respecting the precautionary guidelines issued by health experts —, reciting Christian prayers together, praying the rosary and meditating on the word of God as a family; these are simple Christian reflexes that can be fully embraced at this time.
For the priests, while waiting for the end of the Covid-19 storm, we will have to get used to living without the crowds that participate in the Eucharistic celebrations and learn to celebrate alone in secret for the glory of God, the salvation of the world and our own salvation. Keep safe and healthy, the storm will passsoon!