Days 11-14: Duck, Duck, Goose

The term “Mass” comes from the Latin word missa, meaning dismissal. In more recent years it has come to be understood not just as a dismissal, but, instead, as a sending forth to perform the mission of the Church. The dismissal is normally sung or said by the deacon at the end of the Sunday morning service or at weekday services when we have the privilege of a larger altar party. When only a priest celebrates Holy Communion, he or she offers the dismissal. When a deacon performs the Deacon’s Mass, he or she dismisses us. Whoever sings or says it, it goes something like one of these:

Let us go forth in the name of Christ.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

Let us go forth into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Spirit.

Let us bless the Lord.

Our reply is always “Thanks be to God!,” with an Alleluia or two thrown in for good measure during Eastertide.

Speaking of the mission of the Church and the Deacon’s Mass, a little history lesson will tell us that, while the deaconate was formed in the very early days of the Church (Acts 6:1-7 – the 1st reading yesterday – Happy "Anniversary" Deaconate!), and celebration of the Deacon’s Mass in the Episcopal Church became popular in the 1950’s and 1960’s, it was not until the old 1928 Prayer Book got a facelift in 1979 that the Deacon’s Mass was “formalized”, and, even then, it could only be performed with the blessing of a Bishop.

Thankfully, such celebrations are now commonplace at St. Peter’s and throughout the Episcopal Church. I am thankful not only because they help me to realize my inbound mission of taking Communion on a daily basis, but because they keep me ever mindful of the outbound mission of the Church, as their dismissal sends me forth in service.

These men and women offer freely their gifts of time and talents as unpaid stewards of the table. (I remember clearly the surprise this non-cradle Episcopalian experienced when I first became aware that they were not paid to serve.)

For some reason, as I reflected today on celebrations of Holy Communion, my musings became entwined in the name of a childhood game – Duck, Duck, Goose, and became, instead, Deacon, Deacon, Priest, Deacon, Deacon, Priest…such was the Tuesday – Sunday rhythm of recent days.

The rules of Duck, Duck, Goose say, “The more players involved in this game, the better. The minimum number of players for this game is 7.” While I would agree that the more people involved, the better, I would also note that we’re jolly lucky the rubrics of the Episcopal Church don’t include a similar minimum, or we’d have locked the doors a few times and my batting average would have dropped to .643, more than good enough for pro baseball but hardly in the Major League of Communion Seekers.

Of greater note, however, is the role the deaconate played in my personal mission to take Communion as many days as possible in a year. Had it not been for the deacons and the celebration of the Deacon’s Mass, I might well have been relegated to the Minors.

So, for both the mission and the deaconate – Thanks be to God!