The Mass

The liturgy is the official worship of the Church. It is most perfect because it is a union of prayer to God. Christ, Himself, joins man in the words and the rituals and fuses them into a grand wholeness, which ascends to God as a complete and perfect anthem.

    The liturgy embraces, among other forms of worship, the Mass, the Sacraments, the Divine Office and the Benediction. The Mass, I believe is by far the most important.

    The entire teachings of the Catholic Church, its prayers and doctrines are built upon this enactment of the Crucifixion at Calvary. Here, there is no change in the liturgy. Here, until the end of time, there will be no change.

    Picture to yourself, Mary standing at the foot of the Cross (Mary was officially designated by Pope Paul at Vatican Council II as Mary, “Mother of the Church” taking her rightful place at the feet of her Son). Under the new liturgy, when it would seem that Mary is being pushed into the background, we remember this scene: Mary at the foot of the Cross, her eyes rose to the dying face of her Son.

    At Mass, may we think of Mary sitting beside us while Christ, her Son, steps into the vestments of the priest.

    The priest, a man who takes the part of Christ in this celebration, takes His place at the altar. See Him take the cover off the chalice. See Him offer the bread and wine. Now he looks straight down into our eyes. He invites us, with a look of serenity on His face, to join him. See the priest’s lips move as he says, “Pray brethren that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the Father Almighty.” He is asking us to come in spirit to the altar, while he lifts high the host and the chalice and says to our Father in heaven, “…this is My Body… this is My Blood …” [1]

 Christ is saying “This is I, your Redeemer, offering with you, my redeemed, this sacrifice; this renewal of Calvary, to God our Father. We are doing this together — we, the Mystical Body. I, who am Christ the Head, and you my faithful ones, are the members. Together we are the whole Church — our mutually possessed and mutually loved, Holy Catholic Church.