Pastor's Points: The Altar and a Kiss

Pastor's Points: The Altar and a Kiss

In the June 2018 edition of “The Priest” magazine, Fr. Ronald Patrick Raab, CSC,  writes about the Nourishment in the Intimacy of the Mass. Speaking about priests he writes:

Our altar kiss as we begin the Eucharist is not for ourselves, not for our prestige or power or place within our communities. This kiss is not a flimsy gesture;. The kiss is not a privilege but a challenge to let God change us. This kiss commands us to faith, a visceral reminder that God longs to be with his people in intimacy, compassion and forgiveness. This kiss is a public covenant to our people that we priests will finally let God work within us, finally give ourselves over to love so that other people will also understand their place in God.

Our kiss is a remembrance that we bring with us all the chaos, violence, confusion and poverty of our world.  We turn to the altar of God because we know what is coming next, that it will be the resting place on which salvation presides. Our kiss on the solid altar is not just an acknowledgment of Christ’s housing for brief moment in the Eucharist, but also a challenge that we are to speak out for people who remain voiceless, uncared for and unhoused, well beyond the altar.  

When I read that, I was really struck and said to myself, “yes!”  At the start and end of Mass, the priest and deacon kiss the altar, the primary symbol of Christ in the church, out of reverence, but we do so mindful of all those things mentioned above. We bring to that altar, you, our people, and all that you have brought to church that day. We bring pain and confusion, sorrow and despair, struggle and sin, and we pray that Christ will somehow redeem it all there. We pray that when simple bread and wine are placed on the altar later in the Mass, those meager elements will serve to fill the emptiness of all of our hearts and redeem the hurt that is within us.  I have especially thought of this in the recent weeks as we all struggle through the current crisis in the Church.  It is at the altar where we can place all of our pain, suffering, hurt and anger and ask that somehow God will redeem it and make us whole.  Next week, you  will be receiving an email from me about some opportunities that we are developing for discussion and prayer around all of this as we together find ways to voice our feelings and seek healing.

The kiss by the priest and deacon at the altar is a very intimate moment. I often say “my Lord and my God” when I do so. I acknowledge the One whom we worship and whom we receive. I kiss God in a way and God kisses back. What is a kiss? A sign of love. God kisses back at the altar.  He gives the gift of Himself there. The covenant of the Cross comes to the covenant of the altar. 

The altar is a very intimate place. The altar is where love and hope are spoken to us. The altar is where miracles happen. The altar is where we fall in love over and over again with God. The altar is what brings us together as a Catholic people. It forever tells the love story of a God who never wanted us to be alone. The kiss that clerics place upon the altar expresses gratitude for this gift, and also pledges that we, God’s holy people, return that love over and over again.