How many Catholics walk into Mass with a pair of handcuffs, just in case the priest says something that so incenses them that they can chain themselves to the presider's chair in protest?

Apparently, one more than we had thought, based on what happened at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels June 26, when one individual --- "fired up," as he was quoted in the Los Angeles Times, by what Cardinal Roger Mahony said with regard to what the archdiocese is doing about clergy sexual abuse --- walked into the sanctuary after the homily and handcuffed himself to the Cathedra (bishop's chair) for the remainder of Mass. (The man, who described himself as a victim of clergy sexual abuse, was arrested, released and faces charges for disrupting a religious service in a place of worship.)

For some, this incident recalled the infamous disruption of Mass at New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral by members of the activist group ACT-UP, whose desecration of hosts (in protest over the church's policies/teaching on homosexuality) was depicted in a "P.O.V." program called "Stop the Church" that aired on PBS in 1991.

What happened last Sunday at Los Angeles' Cathedral was not quite the same --- the protestor said nothing and did not physically interfere with the Communion procession and distribution --- but it was nonetheless an act of protest that drew attention away from the celebration of Mass.

Some observations:

---It is impossible for one who has not been sexually abused, especially by an authority figure, to know the pain, anguish and anger experienced by one who has. Sexual abuse is a grievous and contemptible crime. Its scars are deep and lasting, and healing from such abuse (and, it must be said, from the church's previous lack of action in response to such abuse) does not come easily, if ever.

---On the other hand, in this post-9/11 day and age, people who act out of the ordinary in public places --- regardless of intent, motive or sincerity of conscience --- cannot help but be looked at with suspicion, even fear. Acts of defiance, in the best of times, are generally not well-received; it is especially true when they disrupt our church's most sacred ritual action.

---It is a core principle of liturgy that every Mass is always about one thing: the life, death and rising of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The Mass, in other words, is all about Jesus --- not about the songs or musicians, not about the priests or the homilies, not about what we wear (and let's not get started on that one), not about you or me and our assorted agendas. All of our actions --- gathering together, proclaiming the Word, professing our faith, preparing and sharing our gifts, blessing and breaking the bread, reconciling with God and one another --- are directed toward the celebration of the Paschal Mystery.

And that celebration is marked by unity --- one bread, one body, one cup (1 Corinthians 10: 16-17). The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy amplifies the point: "Christ's faithful … should be drawn day by day into ever more perfect union with God and with each other, so that finally God may be all in all" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 48).

Almost every Catholic knows that not every Catholic agrees with the way everything at Mass is done. One person's reverence is another person's boredom; one person's show of spirit is another person's act of sacrilege. Yet even the most theologically opposite Catholics find ways, Sunday after Sunday, in parish after parish, to set aside their differences when it is time to approach the table of the Lord and receive His Body and Blood.

At this moment, when we are taking the very person of Jesus into our own bodies, there can be no agendas, no platforms; there can be only communion with Christ and his body, the people of the church. One with the Lord, and with each other --- praying for each other, loving each other, consoling each other, embracing each other.

We will always bring our issues, our anger, pain and sorrow to Mass. People who have been genuinely hurt by what the church, or a bishop, or any Catholic has or hasn't done needs to bring these hurts to Mass. And people who have been sexually abused by clergy, and have found an unresponsive church, need our constant prayers, support and compassion, inside and outside of Sunday Mass.

All of us want and need to be heard if we are not finding the responsiveness that we so desperately need to find healing. But the sacred liturgy is neither the appropriate time nor place for "making statements." Actions such as these do not heal or open dialogue; they only serve to offend and alienate.

Let us bring loving hearts --- not handcuffs --- to our Sunday liturgy.

---Mike Nelson