Auxiliary Bishop Michael Woost guided attendees at a recent Theology on the Rocks West gathering through a program explaining the Mass.
Before beginning his presentation, the bishop’s youngest brother, Father Tom Woost, pastor of St. Brendan and St. Richard parishes in North Olmsted, introduced him by sharing three vignettes.
In the first, Father Woost said the seeds for his brother’s vocation likely were planted when he attended kindergarten at Our Lady of Angels School in Cleveland’s West Park neighborhood, where he encountered the Franciscans who were responsible for the parish at that time.
“I was born on Mike’s 12th birthday,” Father Woost said in the second vignette. “He also got a BB gun. Where is that now? I’m still here … I didn’t have my own birthday, my own name (all seven Woost brothers share the middle name Gerard) or even my own vocation,” he quipped. Three of the Woosts were ordained to the priesthood: the bishop, Father Tom and Father Dave Woost, pastor of Divine Word Parish in Kirtland. Another brother, Jon, is in formation for the permanent diaconate.
And in the third story, he recalled his brother the bishop sharing the news of his appointment. “I kissed him on the head and told him he is our apostle,” Father Woost added.
The bishop began his talk by laying some groundwork for the liturgy, reflecting on the Old Testament and prophets including Isaiah, Solomon and Samuel hearing or seeing God. He said these extraordinary supernatural encounters with God saw God in a vision of heavenly liturgy, heard God as a voice calling out in the night and the prophets were overwhelmed by God in a cloud of glory.
Later, after Jesus’ birth, he talked about others –– including Simeon and Anna –– who saw something “supernatural, divine and extraordinary yet appearing commonplace, unremarkable and totally ordinary.” They were in the temple when Mary and Joseph, following Jewish law, presented their son Jesus. “They were ordinary people who saw nothing unusual,” the bishop said, yet both knew there was something special about the young Jesus. “They came upon an ordinary scene and recognized something extraordinary.”
The bishop said often people remark that nothing extraordinary happens at Mass. “But when we come to the celebration of the Eucharist, we’re encountering the presence of the living God. Salvation begins in the here and now, not just after death. God reveals himself to us, embraces us so we can experience his love in the course of our ordinary living by being in a relationship with Jesus and allowing him to be at the center of our lives,” he said. “All this happened because of the incarnation. God became like us in every way except sin. He became human so humans could become divinized.”
By virtue of our baptism, we are much more than “just human,” the bishop, said, explaining that we share in God’s life and divine nature.
“Every one of us is called to be a saint and that begins in the here and now,” he said. “We share in God’s divine nature through incorporation into Christ’s mystical body, the Church.”
The bishop noted that divinization is the transformation of a human person into the full image and likeness of God through the gift of sanctifying (deifying) grace and supernatural charity. He used the example of saints like Mother Theresa and her work among the poor to illustrate this.
He also discussed how theologians and philosophers like St. Thomas Aquinas shared this concept.
“At confirmation, we are told we are living temples of the Holy Spirit. God is dwelling within you and inviting you to a deeper relationship through the Eucharist,” he said. “We need to pray and read Scripture to come to know Christ. He uses humanity as a bridge to divinity.”
The bishop explained that the whole Mass “is Christ speaking to us, embracing us. Come for the whole Mass. Come early and prepare for Mass. The celebration of Mass is an encounter with the presence of the living God.”
As a Roman Catholic, we have the privilege of being able to receive the Eucharist every day, Bishop Woost said. “God will change our lives.”
In addition to the presider and other ministers, everyone attending the Mass is encountering the presence of the living God, he added. "In fact, every sacramental experience is an encounter with God. We should walk out of the Mass different (than when we enter) each time we attend because God has touched our lives.”
There are two major parts to the Mass: the liturgy of the word and the liturgy of the Eucharist,”: Bishop Woost explained. He said every pope has encouraged the faithful to read the Scripture readings before Mass and to pray with them. He suggested this would be a good practice for Lent, noting it could prepare us to hear the readings in a new way.
“Listen for something different (in the readings). What might the Lord be calling you to leave behind? Listen to the homily also, to hear how God spoke to you,” he said.
Then, in the liturgy of the Eucharist, presenting the gifts to the celebrant represents offering ourselves as gifts to God, the bishop said. “Think about what God is asking you to offer to him.”
When we receive Communion, Bishop Woost said “we feast upon the divine presence,” adding there are three reasons Jesus gave us the Eucharist: to be with us in a unique, sacred way, to join us to an ongoing desire to save us and so we would grow as a community.
“God excludes no one from his love and neither should we,” the bishop said.
When Mass ends, we are dismissed or sent in order to live the mission, to bring the presence of God into the world through our lives, the bishop said. He encouraged attendees to think about how God is inviting them to make a difference.
He referred to Bishop Edward Malesic’s recent pastoral letter, “A Flourishing, Apostolic Church,” in which he invites us to share God’s word, to pray and to do service.
“Tell people why it’s important for you to attend Mass. Share your witness. It will plant some seeds that could change hearts … Become what you receive,” he said.
“From Punk Rocker to Priest” is the topic of the next Theology on the Rocks West program. At 7 p.m. March 10 at the West Side Irish American Club, 8559 Jennings Road, Olmsted Township. Speaker will be Father Joe Menkhaus, parochial vicar at St. Bernadette Parish in Westlake. He will bring his guitar, stories and insights to kick off the Lenten season. Click here to reserve a seat.