12th Sunday after Pentecost (Mass as Life of Christ)

Transcription

1 12th Sunday after Pentecost (Mass as Life of Christ) At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: Blessed are the eyes that see the things which you see. For I say to you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them; and to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them. 1. In the early 14 th Century lived a little saint in the town of Castello, Italy. Blessed Margaret was born of wealthy and noble parents but she herself was blind and severely deformed, having a hunchback and one limb much shorter than the other. Out of pride and shame, the parents hid her for twenty years in some of the most inhumane ways. Their patience at an end, they finally sought a miraculous cure for little Margaret at a nearby shrine in Castello. When the miracle was not forthcoming, they abandoned her at the age of 20 years old blind, crippled and friendless. But she had the Divine Friend from her earliest years 2. During the last years of her life, she revealed to her confessor that whenever she attended Mass she could see Christ Incarnate at the altar. Her confessor sought to give this statement a spiritual meaning. 3. Do you mean, Margaret, that you are conscious in some special way of the Divine Presence? No, replied Margaret. That is not what I mean. I see our Lord. But how is that possible, when you are blind? I do not know, was the unperturbed reply. 4. The confessor was silent for a moment, pondering her statement. Then he said: Margaret, do you see the crucifix, the missal, the candles on the altar? No, Father. Do you see the priest or the altar itself? No, Father. There you are! he exclaimed triumphantly. You do not actually see our dear Savior; apparently in some way you sense His Presence. This I can readily understand. 5. Margaret remained silent. Isn t my explanation correct, Margaret? Father, she replied with the utmost tranquility, you have commanded me to reveal to you in confession the innermost secrets of my heart. Since I am obliged to speak, I must repeat what I have said before: from the Consecration until the Communion I do not see the priest, the crucifix, the missal, or anything else. But I do see Christ our Lord. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. 6. In order to continue our reflections on the Holy Mass, the perfect prayer, the unbloody re-presention of Calvary, let us now reflect on a simple and

2 beautiful way to understand the entire Mass namely, to see how this perfect prayer is a re-capitulation a summary of the life of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That is, when we attend Mass, we are seeing the Christ reliving His Life! And what is more not only is this recapitulation done symbolically but after the consecration until the Communion of the Priest it is in real time just as blind Bd. Margaret indicated. 7. Let us begin in the Sacristy: the priest, who is Christ s vicar at the Mass, is, as it were, in the womb of Blessed Mary, vesting with the priestly vestments of Christ so that He can die on the Cross for us. As Christ was in the virginal womb taking up our human nature to go forth to Calvary so the priest with his vestments in the Sacristy. Thus, each part of his vestments relate to something of Calvary. 8. Amice blindfold; Alb seamless garment; Cincture scourged & bound; Stole led like a slave; Chasuble Herod s garment the one the soldiers divided into four parts. Each of these have a cross on them as a reminder that every Mass takes us back to GOOD FRIDAY. 9. Next we recall that St. John the Baptist preceded Our Lord and preached repentance to prepare for His coming. Thus, to prepare for the coming of Christ at Mass we pray the prayers at the foot of the Cross, begging the Lord for mercy. Confiteor mea culpa etc. 10. The Introit is the first Word spoken from the Altar with the sign of the Cross being made in silence. This is the Annunciation and Incarnation made possible by the silent and mysterious work of the Most Holy Trinity. 11. Kyrie the Visitation. 12. Christ is born at Gloria in excelsis Deo. If you are ever wondering what to do at Mass, return to the Gloria it contains the four basic purposes of the Mass, namely Laudes, Gratiae, Preces, and Oblatio giving God praise/adoration, thanksgiving, petition and offering Him expiation/atonement or sacrifice, indicated by naming Our Lord as LAMB of God. Thus, He, the Lamb of God, comes out of the Virginal womb and receives our prayers at the Collect. This is the presentation in the Temple with Simeon the priest offering up the Child Jesus. Notice that as we make our way to Calvary, the priest holds his hands apart when praying to indicate that these prayers will only be answered through the Crucifixion. Whenever Moses prayed for big things in the Exodus, he had to hold a wooden staff with this arms apart

3 13. Having coming out of the womb, Christ now enters His public life of preaching and working miracles. Thus, we have the Lesson and the Gospel. The people sit on the grass (the pews) for the sermon on the mount which is what we are doing right now. Then the faithful respond by professing their faith in the Creed. Hopefully whatever the priest says coincides with the Creed. 14. We then go to the Last Supper at the Offertory. This is done in silence so that we can form our intentions and place ourselves, our loved ones, our concerns on the paten and in the chalice and ask for transformation. Lord transform me into Thee as Thou wilt transform this Bread and Wine into Thy Body and Blood. This is one of the very reasons why the Mass is a recapitulation of the life of Christ so that we will be transformed into HIM. 15. Notice the wording of the prayers here indicate that the Sacrifice of Christ is somehow already present. One reason for this is the Last Supper was real it was indeed a Sacrifice. He really laid down His life in an unbloody manner in the Mass at the double consecration the night before the Jews and Romans took it the next day. Thus, no matter how much they tried, they could not do anything to His Majesty that He had not already done to Himself in the Upper Room. Would that we would give ourselves so compleletly at Mass that no power on earth could overcome us no fear of pain or death after we leave No one on earth or under the earth could do anything to us that we had not already done to ourselves! 16. After the Supper was over, His Majesty sang a hymn of praise before going out to the Garden of Olives. Thus, we have the Preface and Sanctus, after which we fall down kneeling in the Garden of Olives at the start of the Canon This is the time to beg graces be showered down upon the Church, especially her leaders, and all of our loved ones that we persevere in faith and charity. St. John the Baptist comes back here to alert us that the Dove of the Holy Ghost is once again descending upon the Lamb of God We hear John s voice in the bells ringing at the epiclesis. Shortly before the Consecration. 17. The manner in which the Crucifixion is re-presented is by the separate consecrations of the bread and the wine. The bread is transsubstantiated to become the Body of Christ and the wine His Precious Blood. They are consecrated separately. This shows us the presence of SACRIFICE which is the separation of body from blood. Again, St. John is heard in the bells saying, Behold the Lamb of God.

4 18. With the Double Consecration, we finally arrive at Calvary. This is real time Again, this is why the priest s hands are always held up and apart when praying. At the second Consecration two windows open one to Calvary and one to Heaven. At this point in the Mass we ARE entering into the Kingdom of Heaven! But it is also Jesus Christ set forth before our very eyes as Crucified as St. Paul mentions in Galatians. Recall that this is the time that the blind from birth Bd. Margaret of Castello could see Our Lord! This is a deep mystery indicated by the words mysterium fidei in the Consecration of the Chalice. These two windows are in a row with the window to Calvary opening in front of the window to heaven. Thus, heaven s light and glory silhouette Calvary as it were saying to us this is how to enter here. This also means that all graces flowing down from heaven to draw us up are in the shape of the Cross making us and the world conform to Christ and Him Crucified. 19. Can you not hear Our Blessed Lord cry from the wood of the Cross: I Thirst for souls. Say back I thirst for you, Lord. Help me. Our Lord said that when He is lifted up He will draw all men to Himself. Tell Him you are something something to be drawn up to Him. 20. At the second consecration say something like Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ for Here all the motion is up ascending. This is the time to adore, to thank God for graces received, to offer the Lamb of God for sinners. Time to make acts of faith, hope and charity. Here we are in touch with that unspeakable groaning of Christ on the Cross by the power of the Holy Ghost mentioned by St. Paul to the Romans. 21. At this moment the priest is face to face with God (a fearful thing!) and thus he looks as much as possible at the Host on the Corporal to keep this in mind to keep vigil as Our Lord commanded in the Gospel. He also appears to bless the Lord making many signs of the cross over the oblation on the altar. This seems to bother some people. It should not if we keep in mind what is called a wave offering in the Old Testament where the priest took the offering and waved it in the four directions of the compass, seeking to spread its effects to those four points. So too the oblation on the altar. The priest makes the sign of the cross over it, not to bless but to spread the graces on earth and to those under the earth in Purgatory a New Testament wave offering.

5 22. After the Pater Noster, the Sacred Host is broken at the Fractio to show that Christ is indeed the Lamb that was slain. Our Lord has died. But then, almost immediately, a particle of the Host is placed in the Chalice as the priest says, Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum (the Peace of Christ be with you always). This is the Resurrection, without which there is no true peace. By placing the particle in the chalice, the re-unification of the Body and Blood of Christ is symbolized. The Lamb who was slain is alive again. Now we can say, Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us!... grant us peace! 23. To complete a holocaust sacrifice, the victim must be destroyed. Thus, to complete the Sacrifice of the Cross begun at the double Consecration, the priest must consume both species. Once he consumes the Precious Blood from the Chalice, the windows to Calvary and heaven close (again this is why Bd. Margaret only saw His Majesty from the Consecration to the Communion of the priest). 24. Note that after receiving the Host, the priest has a unique moment to pray in union with Christ on the Cross in real time (because the chalice has not been emptied yet). Thus, the rubrics of the Mass tell him to pause and meditate here before completing the Sacrifice. 25. When Our Lord Ascended into heaven, he commanded the Apostles to go out unto all the world, make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Thus, the priest commands Ite Missa Est (Go! It (the Church) is sent!). As Our Lord ascended into heaven, He gave a blessing. Thus the priest then gives the blessing after the Ite Missa est. 26. There are many more things that could be said here such as the priest speaks or sings out loud 7 parts of the Mass after the Consecration to his Communion, which is in keeping with Our Lord s 7 last words on the Cross. In any case, I hope you can see how the Mass is the re-capitulation of the Life of Christ. We will leave the rest for another time or for your meditations. In the meantime, let us engage in the Mass, love the Mass, conform to the Mass, remember where we are at Mass a place where we fulfill the Lord s commandments a place where Our Lord is lifted up drawing us to Himself to become like Him a place where we can draw close to God who draws close to us: the veil between heaven and earth is thinnest at Mass. A place where we can lay down our life with the Lord such that no power on earth can overcome our faith, hope and charity. The more we conform to the Mass,

6 the more Christian we become; The more we conform to the Life of Christ in the Mass, more Christ conquers in our life and through us, the whole world.