14 March 2023

The regular public reading and praying of the Scriptures in services of Daily Prayer provides both clergy and people with a rhythm for the spiritual life. The Daily Office is one thing – a thing the clergy are obliged to pray whether in company or alone – the daily mass is quite another.

The daily mass will not be for every parish. However, perhaps it might be thought of a bit like the Anglican model of auricular confession: “none must, all may, some should.” In my own diocese of Melbourne there are roughly 200 parishes. So far as I have been able to discover only at the Cathedral and in one parish church (St Peter’s Eastern Hill) is the Eucharist celebrated every day. I have found a further two that offer the Eucharist every day except the vicar’s day off, and a similar number that offer three weekday masses. All of these are in the inner city. Many other parishes offer one, occasionally two, additional opportunities for Eucharistic worship on weekdays.

The offering of a daily mass is a very major commitment in parish ministry, especially if the parish only has one priest. Unlike morning and evening prayer, the Eucharist cannot be lay-led, and in Anglican understanding it requires at least some congregation to be present if the service is to continue beyond the Intercessions. A priest may not say a “private mass” on their own. It requires commitment therefore not just from the vicar, but also from the congregation. But even a single weekday celebration can be challenging to start from scratch. In parishes where there is no tradition of weekday masses, introducing them requires careful and patient preparation and teaching, and perhaps some experimentation with timing. And even with the best of will and intentions, not all parishes will rise to the challenge even if the clergy champion it.

What, then, is the value and attraction of a daily, or at least more regular than weekly, offering of the Eucharist?

The first and most obvious value is that for some people attendance on Sundays is difficult or impossible. Work or family commitments, amongst other things, make it impractical for some people to attend at a standard time like Sunday 10am. Even those with a strong commitment, such as some elderly parishioners, may be impeded by incapacity from Sunday morning attendance, often because of the lack of someone to provide them with transport. For such as these, an alternate time of worship can be invaluable.

In practice however, most of those likely to attend a weekday mass are also likely to attend on Sunday. So what makes the regular weekday provision of the Eucharist an attractive addition to parish life? I would suggest four things.

First, like the Daily Office, it provides a regular programmed opportunity for prayer. Parishes run on prayer, or they should.

Second, the Eucharist is different from the Office; it is quite literally a service of Thanksgiving. It sometimes worries me that whilst many in the church (and I look in the mirror here) are quite good at complaining about everything we see that is wrong, much more seldom do we celebrate and give thanks for that which is right. The Eucharist is, or should be, such a celebration. To make that celebration frequent, even daily, can actually change the tone and tenor both of a parish and a ministry.

Third, along with celebration, Eucharist contains an element of sacrifice. I will not here venture in to disputes about what “sacrifice” means in the context of the mass, but simply say that to have a more regular reminder of what Jesus did through his passion, death and resurrection, and of his promise to be with us forever, is surely a perfect way to reinforce the central mission of the Church.

And finally, as with the daily office, weekday masses may have a pastoral function. They bring priest and people together in prayer in a manner that may be quite intimate – much more so than the larger Sunday celebration. For those having a rough time in life this can be exactly the sort of worship that can be healing in its effect. Christ’s brokenness speaks to our brokenness, and his love expressed through fellowship around the table can be deeply comforting.

So let me ask the question: how often does your parish community celebrate the Eucharist? And would your parish benefit from additional weekday opportunities to give thanks to the Lord our God?