6. The act of “Entering the Church for Mass:”

In many ways, St. Julies Church is organized like any other public building designed to accommodate many people:  It has a large parking lot, a wide entrance, and ample seating . . much like an auditorium or conference hall.

- Therefore, it is easy for us to approach and enter the Church as we would any other building without giving it much thought.   We park the Car. We walk through the door.  We find a seat.

However, as we come to understand Mass as something unique and distinct from other experiences or activities: It is more helpful to recognize the Church as a building which requires us to arrive with a different consciousness:  We are conscious that we are about to encounter the presence of Jesus in the mysterious form of the Sacrament.  We are conscious that, if the Lord is really becoming present under the physical signs of bread and wine, then He has, somehow, broken through the barrier between heaven and earth within our Church.   Because the church building was built and dedicated, and consecrated especially for this purpose, we are conscious that it is like a special “doorway” or “threshold” with Eternity.

Hence, when we enter our Church, we do things which we do not do upon entering other buildings:

o   We bless ourselves with Holy Water:  This is a “sacramental” . . . a sacred action which both reminds us of our status as born-again into a new life by our Baptism, and a renewal of the Grace of that sacrament within us.

o   Because Christ becomes physically present in this building under the form of the Bread and the Wine, it becomes the place where heaven touches earth.  Our faith in this sacred mystery should help us enter the church conscious of the fact that we are about to have a special encounter with our Risen Savior, Jesus.

o   Before we are seated, we “genuflect.”  This act of bending a knee to the ground is a direct response to the words of the Bible which tell us that “at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bend.”  (Phillp. 2:10)

Entering the Church is part of our preparation for worship.  One way of getting the most out of Mass is to be conscious of where we are, what it means, and what our gestures mean.

o   Jesus reminds us that “we are not of this world, any more than he is of this world.”  By stepping into the Church for Mass, blessing ourselves with the Holy Water, and genuflecting before the tabernacle, we are, momentarily, stepping out of the world, and anticipating our destiny to live in Christ for Eternity.