By Jacqueline Kelly –
Mass is a mystery. It means that although every year we will grow to appreciate it’s meaning more and more, we will never be able to say, “Now I understand everything there is to know about the mass.” Nor will anyone ever be able to write a complete explanation of the mass.
Mass is a real sacrifice, made by Jesus, as real and actual as the sacrifice of His life unto death on Calvary. In the mass there are two separate consecrations: one, for His Body, the other for His Blood. Jesus is entirely present, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity under each appearance of Bread and Wine. On the altar, Jesus is present in the state of a victim, once immolated on Calvary and now offered again in the Mass. It is one and the same sacrifice with that of the Cross. Christ offered Himself a bleeding victim on the Cross to His Heavenly Father and continues to offer Himself in an unbloody manner on the altar, through the Ministry of the Priests. All this makes the Mass a real sacrifice. In the words of Saint Padre Pio, stigmatist priest, “If we only know how God regards this sacrifice, we would risk our lives to be present at a single mass.”
In the magazine ‘Flashes’ of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the name Mass is same as offering – name given by St. Peter – so significant and mysterious that, in all the nations and languages, it means the same thing. Some say that this word Mass originated from Hebrew, others say that it comes from the Latin verb ‘mitto’ [to send]. In Holy Mass, we offer to the Eternal Father His own Son and for this purpose Mass is instituted. Mass – comes from the word ‘missum’, past participle of ‘mitto’. The Eternal Father sent His Son to be a sacrificial host, on a wooden Cross, to ransom the world from the captivity of sin.
Mass is the effective commemoration of what Christ did for us on the Cross. By the power of His Spirit, he represents this sacrifice in our altars. So, that honour, praise, adoration and thanksgiving maybe continually given to the Father. The Mass is filled with joy and hope because in it we celebrate the Lord’s death and resurrection until he comes again. The Mass is one action which telescopes all time, past, present and future. Christ has died, Christ is risen and Christ will come again. At mass, we must share frequently in the Sacraments, the Eucharist and especially in the Liturgical rites.
There is no worthier oblation, nor greater satisfaction for the washing away of sins, than to offer yourself purely and entirely to God, together with the oblation of the Body of Christ in the Mass and in the Communion. The most Blessed Eucharist contains the entire spiritual boon of the Church, that is Christ Himself. The perfect form of participation in the Mass is whereby the faithful, after the Priest’s Communion, receive the Lord’s Body from the same sacrifice, which is strongly commended.
At mass, the Priest clad in His Sacred vestments holds the place of Christ, in order to pray and humbly to supplicate God for Himself and for all the people. He wears before Him and behind Him the Sign of the Cross of the Lord, so that, he may continuously remember the Passion of Christ. When a Priest celebrates Mass, he honours God, he makes the angels happy, he edifies the church, he helps the living, he gives suffrage to the dead and renders himself partaker of all good things.
During mass, we need to pray and participate in the mass. Prayer is the key which opens God’s Heart. Prayer is as important, as air is important for breathing. In fact, it is the respiration of the soul. It is the oxygen which nourishes our spiritual life. Pope Paul VI mentioned that “Mass is the most perfect form of prayer”.
What do we do at mass?
This then is what we do at Mass. We not only thank God for sending Jesus to save us from slavery to sin, we give ourselves to the Father, with Jesus. We say, “This is my body and my blood – my whole life offered with the sacrifice Jesus made of His whole Life to the Father”.
We especially make the Sunday mass an expression of the way we have tried to live in friendship with others during the week. If I am hurting others in any way or keeping people apart, then my partaking of this meal is a mockery, a pretence. You remember Jesus’ words, “If your brother has anything against you, leave your gift on the altar and first go and be reconciled”. [Matthew 5:24]. We should cast all our sins up on the altar that they maybe consumed during mass.
It is a celebration
Yes, that is what we call the Mass – a celebration.
What is a celebration? A happy event, usually accompanying a meal, shared by friends. This is what the mass should be – not just the dreary and routine fulfilment of a Christian law, but a happy happening, a real celebration looking forward to that day of supreme celebration, when at journey’s end, God’s people are united in the never-ending family reunion of Heaven. According to Saint Thomas Aquinas, “The celebration of Holy Mass is as valuable as the death of Jesus on the Cross.”
Order of the Mass
We have to understand the order of the mass by remembering that during the mass:
We speak to God
God speaks to us
We give to God
God gives to us
We speak to God [in the introductory prayers during mass], God speaks to us [in the liturgy of the word], we give to God [offering of bread and wine] and God gives to us by [transforming our gifts of bread and wine into Himself].
At mass, we offer ourselves with Jesus Christ to His Father. The Father shows that he accepts our offering, our sacrifice, by inviting us to share the gift with Him. God gives His own well-loved Son to us in Holy Communion. That is why one should always try to receive Holy Communion at every mass. Mass is the greatest worship that Christians can offer to God.