NO, Let the urge to return to church grow within you...
“Holy Mass”: The Vatican calls it - the source and summit of Christian life. Did you know that only 25% of the population attend Holy Mass (excluding the pandemic), If you ask a child why do you attend mass? the answer will be; ‘Mom said so’. Ask a teenager, the answer will be ‘there are sacraments to receive’, ask the youth, they will respond ‘It is a habit, ask an adult, they would say ‘I want to get married, and ask an elderly they would say ‘What else do we have to do’. This is a hard-hitting reality of the world today.
This Pandemic has made things even more difficult, for the people to return to the Holy Mass. As a comfort line has set in, they have got used to attending online masses within the confines of their home, even when the doors of the church are wide open, welcoming all to partake in the Eucharistic celebration.
What is it about the Holy Mass that makes it so special?
So much so that saints lived intensely the passion of Christ, during the Eucharistic celebration, St. Padre Pio would always say, “It is easier for the Earth to exist without the Sun, than the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass”. He celebrated mass with innate dignity, and during the holy sacrifice, his face would become pale and transfigured, he would silently sob from time to time, and wipe his tears with a handkerchief. Everything about him spoke how intensely he was living the passion of Christ, he would often say, “If people knew the value of mass, there would be policemen at the door, to regulate the access to the church, every time a Mass is celebrated”.
What is it that made them long for the Eucharist? What is it that sets them apart from us? When the fact remains that they too attended the same mass, as we do today. What is it that they see differently, that we don’t? The answer is simple - they not only understood and attended the Holy Mass, but they lived the Holy Eucharistic Celebration.
You will be surprised to know, only 3% of people in the world know and understand the Holy Mass, for if the world truly knew it, then St. Padre Pio’s words would come alive.
Holy Mass is a privileged encounter, it is not a jamboree surrounded with Jesus as the theme, it has a deeper meaning. We celebrate the sacred mystery, everything in the mass, right from the candles to the Cross, the priest vestment to the Altar cloth, from the choir to the prayers, everything is a sacred mystery. Mass is the supreme form of worship, and it is so beautifully structured that every step, takes us to a higher level of faith, to help prepare us, to bring ourselves before God. It is not just a re-enactment of Calvary, but the Eucharist is the very same sacrifice made present for us on our Altars at every mass. And we as comrades stand at the foot of Mount Calvary, and with each step of the mass, we take one step closer to the Holy Sacrifice. (CCC 1366 The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents {makes present}, the sacrifice on the Cross.)
Even today many grapple with the truth about the bread and wine and think it to be a mere symbol of Christ’s Passion. This is the sad reality, and it is our constant endeavor to remind all, that what happens during holy mass is NOT A MERE SYMBOL. Ever noticed that during the Eucharist celebration, the priest does not say, " This is my body, and blood", if he had to say that it would mean Life, but the priest first takes the body, and then separately the blood. This separate consecration of the body and blood, is like a mystical sword tearing apart the blood from the body, which is the way Christ died.
Bread? Why Bread? To say it comes from the baker - so to say it comes from the farmer - so to say it comes from the fields - so to say it comes from the soil – all of the universe is present in the bread (the sun, the rains, the soil and work of human hands: all of creation) And the same goes with the Wine! The offering of bread and wine is the reflection of the Jerusalem Temple offering. We truly stand at the gates of Jerusalem Temple during the Holy sacrifice of the Mass.
Christ is truly present? Let me give you an example: If I were to say something insulting to you, it would break you and crush you. But if I were to say a word of appreciation, it would change the course of your life. The power of words can make or break a person. Imagine human words can affect us so much, then how about God’s words?!!! God said, “Let there be light….” “Lazarus Come out….”, and we all know what happened.
So by the power of Christ's words, over these simple elements of bread and wine, they are transfigured and transubstantiated. (At that moment, the priest is fully in persona Christi capitis, speaking not his own words but Christ’s words which have transformative power.)
THIS IS THE MOMENT OF SUPREME ADORATION WHERE CHRIST IS PRESENT AND IT IS NO MORE BREAD AND WINE BUT THE BODY AND BLOOD OF OUR BLESSED SAVIOUR.
And this moment in our adoration to the body and blood of Christ, we become properly aligned to God, we are all reconciled to God, and all of creation is knitted back together.
The Irony of Life is that that, we proclaim the mystery of faith and yet grapple with the truth about the divine mystery!!!
Ever noticed what the priest says before and after the consecration of the bread and wine?
Before Consecration: “Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have this bread to offer the fruit of the earth…….”
After Consecration: “This is Jesus, the Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world …” and our response is “Lord I am not worthy that you shall enter……….” We speak directly to Jesus present before us! And yet we grapple with the truth about his presence! Faith my dear friend is all that you need to believe. Senses cannot grasp this marvel, Faith must serve to compensate.
In this great act of sacrifice, we become fed, and this is the climax of the Holy Mass and the very reason to bring us together. The meal Christ shared with his apostles, he continues to share it with us even today…2000 years have passed by and yet nothing has changed.
The Holy Communion is a Sacrament, and every sacrifice has a sacrament. At your next meal, you may have vegetables, meat, or fruits. Each becomes a sacrament to nourish your body, but before they become a sacrament for your body they have to die. The vegetables are uprooted, the animal is subjected to the knife to shed the blood. So in nature, there is always first a sacrifice and then a sacrament. During the Holy Mass, Christ becomes the sacrificial lamb and we are fed, and this sacrament that we receive is “Life”!!
So don’t be foolish, to think you can go through life without the Holy Mass and the help of Our Blessed Mother, she is found kneeling in adoration during every Eucharistic celebration.
We as a couple, therefore urge you to learn and understand the deeper meaning of your presence at the Mass. Holy Mass is not a way of life, but it is the only way to live life gracefully. We are witnesses to the miracles experienced during the Eucharistic celebration, and we deeply desire for each and everyone to experience it too. It is the greatest of all miracles, where we are given the privilege to stand before God in adoration and worship. And this is the very reason, as to why the curtains in the Jerusalem Temple tore from top to bottom with invisible hands when heaven’s perfect lamb surrendered his life for us…
“Who’s going to save our Church? It’s not our bishops, it’s not our priests and it is not the religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes and the ears to save the Church."
We are to also thank the Priest/Bishop, who with their ordained hands, bring Jesus to us during every Eucharistic celebration. In St. Ignatius of Antioch's words, “A Bishop is a living image of God the Father, and a Priest is the living image of God the Son”.
“Every Holy Mass heard with devotion, produces in our souls' marvelous effects, abundant spiritual graces which we ourselves do not know…” – St. Padre Pio
Additional Inputs were taken from Bishop Robert Baron and Bishop Fulton Sheen's speech.