I know as Sunday Mass is coming to an end many of you are focused on getting ready to leave; especially those of you with little ones in tow. The announcements can seem like they are keeping you from getting on with the day. Yet the announcements tell an important part of our story as a community of faith. In them we hear about what is coming up in the parish during the next couple weeks. We announce those things that describe what is important to us. Occasionally I ask other people to make the announcements because they have worked hard to prepare events, and they are excited for you to know about them.
There are reasons that they are best put at the end of Mass before the dismissal. After Communion what follows is really all part of what’s called the “Rite of Sending.” It’s as if we’re saying: “We can’t stay here, we have work to do,” and so the announcements bring us back to the concrete tasks of building the Kingdom of God. It gives us an idea of some of the ways in which we can carry on our Eucharist outside of Mass. Then we are blessed for the task and dismissed as a community. Who could ask for more fun than that!