Insight to the Mass
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The Catechism gives us a profound insight to the Mass
The greatest event in the history of the world is the Suffering, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
By this event - called the Paschal Mystery
· He saved us from sin, death and the power of the devil
· He began the recreation of the world.
The Paschal Mystery means
· All the saving events that took place from
· Holy Thursday when Jesus celebrated the Last Supper
· His suffering and death on Good Friday
· His descent to the dead on Holy Saturday
· His glorious Resurrection on Easter Sunday
· And His Ascension into Heaven
In the Mass
· The Holy Spirit makes those saving events from the life of Jesus present – Not in our memory, not figuratively, not in our imagination…
· But Truly Present
The CCC (1370) teaches: In the Eucharist the Church is as it were at the foot of the cross with Mary, united with the offering and intercession of Christ.
In the Mass we are at Calvary – united to the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross
The Suffering, Death and Resurrection of Jesus are made present in the Mass
· So that His Victory over Satan, Sin and Death
· may continue in us and in the world.
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From the time of Jesus until now, the Mass has two essential parts: The Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist
Many people love The Chosen, the series on the life of Jesus because it puts our imagination in contact with Jesus. The Mass does something infinitely better, it puts us in actual, in real contact with Jesus and the saving events from His life. It does so through the two parts of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
In the Liturgy of the Word, the readings at Mass are not just a story of something that took place in the past. No, no its so much more, when the Gospel is read in the Mass it makes present events we can’t see.
The CCC says In the Liturgy of the Word the Holy Spirit “recalls” to the assembly all that God has done for us…Christian liturgy not only recalls the events that saved us but actualizes them, makes them present. (1103, 1104 see also 1363).
Think of one scene from the life of Jesus that moves you. Oh, how I wish I could have been there. When those events are read at Mass the grace of the event is made present – for you -like the Leper being cleansed; the call of the Apostles; the forgiveness of the woman caught in adultery – the Holy Spirit makes the grace of those events present in the here and now so that what took place then can take place in us.
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By His sacrifice of Calvary Jesus offered Himself to the Father
In the Liturgy of the Eucharist, Jesus makes his sacrifice present
· So that we can offer ourselves to the Father through Him
The Altar represents the Cross, for it is there that there that His sacrifice is made present.
Before the Consecration the bread and wine represent us
When these gifts are placed on the altar
· It signifies that we are joining the sacrifice of our lives to that of Jesus, that we are mounting the Cross with Christ
· To offer ourselves to the Father through Him,
· through his sacrifice on Calvary which is made present here in the Mass.
When the bread and wine are placed on the altar our attitude ought to be one of:
· Father I give myself entirely to you:
· My prayer, work, joy and suffering,
· I unite it to the sacrifice of your Son made present here.
The Priest will invite you:
· “Lift up your heart”
You will offer your heart to Jesus responding:
· “We lift them up to the Lord”
Now your sacrifice is joined to Jesus and
· Takes on a new value – Infinite Value
· The Greatest Good you can do for your family, friends and enemies is to Go to Mass and offer it for them
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Consecration and Transubstantiation
With the Consecration the priest says:
Take this, all of you, and eat of it,
For this is my body,
which will be given up for you.
Take this, all of you, and drink from it,
for this is the chalice of my blood,
the blood of the new and eternal covenant,
The Epiclesis together with the Consecration is the moment when the bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ
After the Consecration the substance of the Bread and Wine are gone and Jesus Christ is truly present, body, blood, soul and divinity. That is why the Priest genuflects
The CCC (1376) says: By the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change is called transubstantiation.
· We are now in the Physical presence of Jesus Christ.
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Communion
Before Communion the priest says:
Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.
We are about to have God Himself come into our bodies and souls in the Eucharist, so we respond like the centurion from Matthew 8, upon learning that Jesus was about to come into his house: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”
Then we receive Jesus in Holy Communion
We gave ourselves to God in the offertory
· Now He gives Himself to us in the Eucharist.
· What a wonderful exchange!
The Eucharist is Jesus: Body, blood, soul and divinity
This is the closest possible union with God this side of heaven.
Once we receive Him and we come back to our pew
· Give Him your full attention in thanksgiving
· Think about His presence WITHIN you
No words need to be said, just our loving attention
· for 10 minutes let’s be silent,
· close our eyes,
and think about Jesus in us