The Catholic Mass is Play ??? | Jordan Peterson and Bishop Barron

The Catholic Mass is PLAY!

When I think about “play,” I often think about my favourite game to play as a child (and still today): hide-and-seek.

Once I learnt the specific roles and rules of hide-and-seek, I loved to simply play the game. I enjoyed being able to hide quietly in a dark closet and give little clues of where I was in order to be eventually found. (Hiding is fun but being found in a good hiding spot is even better!) I also loved to be able to find someone, give them a big hug and say, “Found you!”

If some “adult” had questioned me about why I was playing hide-and-seek, I probably would have been at a loss for words. And rightly so. Why? I did not have any practical objective in mind when I decided to play hide-and-seek – like improving my ability to stay still underneath a bed for a long period of time – but rather because the game of hide-and-seek was simply fun to play!

Friends, every time we step into a Catholic church, we are entering into a playzone for the children of God. And what game do you think is being played? Hide-and-seek, of course!

Now, God has set up specific roles for each of His children (i.e., the celebrant and the faithful) and detailed rules (i.e., the rite) that must be followed if we are to enjoy His unique version of hide-and-seek. When we “actively participate” and enter into the “playfulness” of the liturgical game of hide-and-seek, we experience a little bit of what we will do in heaven: play!

Maybe that’s one reason why Jesus said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).

How fitting to describe who we must become like to enter into the “playfulness” of the liturgy.

When we do, if some “adult” questions us about why we are going to Mass all the time, respond with childlike curiosity and freedom that you are not going for some practical objective, like to fulfill your Sunday obligation but rather because you were invited by your Father to play with Him. Ahh…. what freedom!

But there’s more. This is not frivolous, superficial, or goofy play in any way. No. This is “serious play.” We are re-enacting, making present, and renewing the greatest game ever played. In every Catholic Mass, the glorious Christ comes seeking YOU and ME. He is engaged in the most “serious play” of saving us from the powers of hell. He wants to find us, heal us, save us, transform us. And, in a paradoxical manner, He is “hiding” in the Most Blessed Sacrament so that we may take our turn in the “serious game” and seek Him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength.

To conclude, have you ever had the experience of hiding in the game of hide-and-seek and the person who is meant to seek you gives up? It’s pretty lame, isn’t it? Friends, God is hiding in every Catholic church. He goes to the extreme form of humilty in the Eucharist so that we can seek Him without being afraid of saying, “Found you!” and hugging the all-powerful King of Heaven and Earth. Don’t leave Him alone. He is waiting for YOU to seek Him right now.