THE CONCLUDING RITE
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The Concluding Rite of the Mass is very brief, yet it sends us out to be the Body and Blood of Christ for each other and the world.
It
is important to remember that the last prayer of
the Mass is the Prayer after Communion. It is part of
the Communion Rite. It is not a concluding
prayer
and does
not begin the Concluding Rite. The Concluding Rite begins with parish announcements, if there are any that must be spoken rather than placed in the parish bulletin.
Then
we are blessed for our journey. Sometimes this is done simply. During the seasons of the Church year and special feasts,
it is done m
We
are dismissed - missioned, that is, by the deacon or presider. The word
"Mass" means
"sending" or
"mission." What we have done at this liturgy, we
must now do in the
world. Again, Chicago Cardinal
Joseph
Bernardin puts it well, "The dismissal of the assembly is like the
breaking of the bread. We have
become
"the bread of life" and 'the cup of blessing'
for the world. Now we are scattered, broken,
poured
out to
be life for the world. What happens at home, at
work, at meals? What do we make of our time, our words, our deeds, our
resources of all kinds? This is
what matters."
Whether
we sing a dismissal song, exit to instrumental or choir music, or leave
in silence, we know that our Christian work has just begun. As the
Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy
reminds us, "The
liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity
of the
Church"
(CSL no. 9). It rehearses us in who we are to
be and how we are to be in the world.
The
Jewish rabbi and scholar Abraham Joshua Heschel provides us with the
challenge of all who
believe in God.
"Our problem is how to live what we
pray,
how to make our lives a daily commentary on
our prayer book, how to live in consonance with what
we promise, how to keep faith with the vision
we
pronounce."
GIRM
Bulletin 22E Office
for Worship, Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Ó 2003,
Archdiocese of Santa Fe, NM.
Used with permission
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