Revelation in the Repetition

Right when she needed it, Monica Portogallo discovers new insight in a prayer she's repeated hundreds of times before.

Admittedly, there is a lot of repetition at Sunday Mass. Many of the prayers and responses are exactly the same week after week, year after year. Still somehow God can find a way to give us new insights through a prayer we’ve said literally hundreds of times.

Last Sunday just before we walked into Mass my husband said something that hurt me and insisted he was the injured party, not me. I focused as best as I could during Mass, but with this situation playing over and over in my mind and a fussy baby on my hip, I admit I was a bit distracted.

Somehow, despite my distraction, as I said the words of the Agnus Dei: “You take away the sins of the world,” it hit me: Jesus can take away all sins, even sins committed against me. I can give my anger and indignation about unjust situations to Jesus, and He can take them away. I can let go of resentment and bitterness; Jesus can take away the pain of unapologetic wrongdoings and keep them from controlling my thoughts and my life. I can then address my grievances with calmness and clarity, not with revenge in mind.

After that, the anger that held my attention started to fade, and I was able to receive the Eucharist with an open, grateful heart, not one that was clouded by anger.

Click to tweet:
Mass may be repetitive, but there is nothing more exciting than God revealing insights to you—and He may choose to do so through so-called boring repetition. #catholicmom

So I say to those who say that Mass is repetitive and boring: Mass may be repetitive, but there is nothing more exciting than God revealing insights to you—and He may choose to do so through so-called boring repetition.

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