The first thing we do really even before the Introductory Rites, is prepare ourselves, to move into sacred space and sacred time, into the presence of God. You see this in the great basilicas of Rome where you move through different spaces before you enter the Holy of Holies, as it were. Even physically. At Mass we prepare ourselves beforehand, in prayer. But then when the community gathers, we begin with the sign of the cross. Now we begin in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, as a way of saying we are entering into sacred space and sacred time. We’re not exactly leaving our everyday life but we’re entering into another depth and the depth we’re entering into is the depth of the Trinity because, again, it’s God who gathers us. We might decide to go to Mass but, in the end, it’s God who is calling us to share His own life. And the life of God is what we call the Trinity which is perfect communion – a love that is completely unshadowed. And then the priest greets the people who have entered that sacred space and sacred time, the presence of God, with words taken from the New Testament. And so much of the language of the Mass is biblical. The words of scripture are sacred words. They’re words born of the Trinity. So therefore the priest, who isn’t just himself, when he puts on the vestments he becomes something more than himself – he remains himself but he becomes a figure of Christ in the midst of God’s people, and speaking words that are not his own, words that are given to him to speak, from the New Testament: “The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the Communion of the Holy Spirit be with you.” And, the people respond: “And with your spirit." This is the language of Communion, it’s the language born of the Trinity. And that’s where we start.
