"Gathered and Sent"

The Mass is bracketed by two important rites: the Rite of Gathering and the Rite of Dismissal. The Rite of Gathering begins with God's call to gather together in communion, united as the Body of Christ—the "People of God"— to worship, glorify, and give thanksgiving to our God, to celebrate Christ's saving presence among us, inviting us to ackowledge our sins, to listen to God's Word, to profess our faith, offer prayers, and to share and be nourished by Christ's body and blood.¹

After the Priest gives the final blessing "May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit," the Rite of Dismissal ends the Mass with the Priest or Deacon exhorting those present to "Go forth, the Mass is ended," taken from the Latin words Ite Missa est," (literally, "Go, it is the dismissal"). The word "Mass" is from the Latin Missa, which means "to be sent," as if on a mission. Hence, the forms used in the Dismissal Rite have come to mean being sent forth on a mission.²

Each of us are called, through our Baptism, to accept responsibility to participate with the Church to continue the mission of Jesus Christ in the world. We are empowered to do so through God's grace and the presence, inspiration, guidance, and gifts of the indwelling Holy Spirit, through Scripture and the teachings and tradition of the Church. At the end of each Mass, we acknowledge and confirm our acceptance of this continuing mission when we, united with the Church—the People of God—individually and collectively respond, "Thanks be to God."

In essence, the Rite of Dismissal serves as a bridge between the faith we have just celebrated as a community during Mass and the Priest or Deacon's exhortation to go forth and embody that faith in our daily lives. It reminds us that liturgy ("the work of the people") never ends, but continues in and through the lives of the faithful— the "People of God" and the "Body of Christ" (the Church)— to serve Christ's mission to meet people where they are, and to proclaim and witness to them through our love, presence, solidarity, words, selfless actions and our lives, the "Good News" as modeled by the Way of Jesus Christ, of God's presence, unconditional love, truth, joy, peace, justice, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, healing, salvation, and the abundant and eternal life being offered to them.

As St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) aptly reminds us,

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.³

1 For an overview of the various parts of the Mass, see "A Walk Through the Mass: A Step-by-Step Explanation" (Catholic Diocese of San Diego) (accessed June 13, 2025).
2 Until 2008, this was the only form of dismissal permitted in the Roman Missal. In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI allowed three new, alternative forms of dismissal added to the Roman Missal to stress that we are sent as missionaries into the world: "Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord," or "Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life," or "Go in peace". A book that you may find helpful in reconnecting the relationship between attending Mass, our baptismal mission, and how we live our lives the rest of the week is Fr. Dominic Grassi and Joe Paprocki, Living the Mass: How One Hour a Week Can Change Your Life (Chicago:Loyola Press, 2011).
3. https://englewoodreview.org/st-teresa-of-avila-christ-has-no-body-poem/ (accessed June 13, 2025).