The Liturgy Corner - The Dialogue of the Mass Part 7: "Lift Up Your Hearts"

Peter Grodi • Aug 08, 2022

After the conclusion of the offertory (the ‘Amen’ following the priest’s prayer over the offerings), there is a distinct sense of change. At a Mass with a number of concelebrating priests, this would be the moment when they all move behind the altar. It is the introduction to the consecration of the Eucharist. It begins with this dialogue:

"The Lord Be with You."

"And with Your Spirit."

"Lift up Your hearts."

"We lift them up to the Lord."

"Let us give thanks to the Lord our God."

"It is right and just."

The second exchange is undoubtedly the most interesting. “Lift up you hearts. We lift them up to the Lord.” I want to point out an interesting thing about the perceived direction of God. It is an interesting phenomenon that we associate up with God and down with, well, not God. I hope you don’t think that heaven is a place we physically get closer to by traveling up. People in China are lifting up things to our down. Obviously it is a symbol, but an interesting symbol nonetheless.

What is it about upwardness that we associate with God? In this instance, it seems like 'up' means 'out'. Reaching out to God who is more wondrous and mysterious than all the stars of the sky. So, let's dig deeper to see what lifting 'up' or 'out' our hearts really means.

Maybe it is helpful to look at the alternative. What is an un-elevated (or pre-elevated) heart look like? Why are we lifting them up to the Lord?

The heart has had a variety of meanings, symbolically speaking, over the centuries. It can mean love. It can mean the will. It can mean courage, or ‘spunk’. It can mean feelings. For the Jews, it even meant mind sometimes. It also at times means all of these. Or even something deeper that seems to connect all of these thing. The whole self. The core of our person. Our being.

Taking all of these meanings, what is our “heart” turned to most of the time? Well, basically anything and everything. (I think you can figure out for yourself what things your heart is invested in most of the time.)

Now, how much can we voluntarily change the focus of our hearts? How do I change what I am feeling, what I am focusing on, what I want, what I am concerned or anxious about, etc? Well, certainly to a large degree, it is beyond our ability to just snap our fingers and control. However, I think we all instinctively know that ‘willing’ these things to change rather than simply allowing them to go whichever way they want does, in fact, make a difference. Scripture talks about how we have some sort of ability to guide our hearts. “...return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” (Joel 2:12). “Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands to God in heaven.” (Lamentations 3:41). “Love the Lord your God with all your heart…” (Matthew 22:37).

These are just a few of the verses that acknowledge that we can choose, somehow, the focus of our hearts.

So, is this turning of our hearts, our whole selves to God, something we just “do”? Well, yes and no. Yes, because it does require the choice and the full commitment on our part. But then, it is the Holy Spirit that makes the change. God makes a proposal, we accept that proposal, and then God makes it happen. I have said in the past that we need to “fake it until you make it.” That is a rather crude way of saying that we choose to turn our hearts to God, to lift them above and beyond our daily anxieties, loves, and cares even while we feel that it won’t make a difference. And then we trust that God will make it actually happen.

This dialogue before the preface marks the beginning of the process of consecration. The ‘Preface’ is the introductory prayer, you might say, to the Eucharistic prayer. We are getting ready for the most momentous event and the most powerful encounter: Jesus is about to be there on that altar where once there was bread and wine. And so, we make the choice to lift our hearts again. To try to focus even more than before, to beg the Holy Spirit to open the blind eyes of our hearts to what is taking place before us. So, lift up your hearts…or try. If we try, even if we feel like it is a losing battle, God will make it fruitful.

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