The mass.

The mass is the re-presentation of Calvary. Not the representation, the re-presentation of what happened on Golgotha over 2000 years ago.

What happened there on the first Good Friday is exactly what happens when mass is offered.

It doesn't matter what kind of mass is being offered. It could be in Latin or English. It could the Tridentine rite, the Sarum rite or the Novus Ordo. It's all the same. Whether it's celebrated by the Pope himself or your local parish priest. It's doesn't matter.

It's Jesus standing in the priest who consecrates the host. At the moment of consecration, it's not the priest offering mass, it's actually Our Blessed Lord himself extending his hands over the bread and wine. This then becomes his body and blood. After the host is consecrated, it really is the body, body blood soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. This is not the dead Christ, it's the living Christ. We have the death and resurrection of Jesus in the mass. We celebrate the fact that Jesus died for our sins and we take joy in the fact that there's now a new and everlasting covenant between us and God.

Jesus offers himself to the Father on the altar on our  behalf during the mass. And we offer ourselves with Him.

The priest asks the angel to take the bread and wine to the throne of God and asks for the blessing that it may become the true body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. And that we who receive it may be divinised and become the body of Christ. 

Before holy communion, the priest holds up the large host and the chalice. This is the lamb which has been sacrificed/the sinless offering who became sin for us. 

It is believed that during mass the guardian angel of the church prostrates himself in worship before the elevation of the bread and wine. Revelations 7:11 lends support to this as do the teachings of Saint Francis de Sales who had a special devotion to the angels who were charged with the guardianship of the tabernacle.  It is to the angel of the church to whom one's petitions should be addressed before mass. He will place them on the altar where they will ascend into the throne room of the Lord of Hosts during the offering.

Please note: you can make requests of church guardian angels any time or place. He will make sure you petitions are laid on the altar.

A visible sign of God's love: During the mass we see the sacrificial lamb's blood being spilt. We bear witness to Christ on the cross paying the price for all our sins.

He is risen and he gives us his body. By his wounds we are healed. And God the Father must look through the body of His son hanging on the cross every time He looks at the world.

We, the faithful, have the confidence to offer ourselves in union with Jesus. We offer sacrifice. Alongside the ordained priests, we are also priests. Through our baptism we are baptised into the life, death, resurrection and ascension into glory of Jesus Christ. We are baptised into his priesthood. We are a royal priesthood. We commune with Jesus and we are the mystical body of Christ.

To summarise: The Eucharist is perhaps the most central tenet of the Roman Catholic Christian faith. It was established the night before our saviour died on Calvary and consists of a meal and the sacrificial death of Jesus who is priest, prophet and king. Importantly, though, the mass is also a memorial of the renewal of the covenant between God and man. This covenant was made possible because Jesus (who was of king David's lineage) was a sinless and just man. It was a covenant between God and man and because of our Lord's holy purity it becomes an everlasting covenant with God. As the covenant was established when Jesus shed his blood it doesn't make any difference whether we sin or not, that covenant cannot be broken because Jesus can never break it. Jesus holds all things together. The unbridgeable chasm has been bridged. However, there are occasions when we step outside of the covenant because of sin. However, through the sacrament of reconciliation God re-establishes us at his table in his house. As mentioned earlier, the rite of mass is celebrated by an ordained priest who acts in proxy to Christ himself. It's through his prayers that we are brought together in unity to celebrate the worthiness of the lamb being slain on the altar in this covenant of love. Jesus is our God, we are his people. We are celebrating our redemption and Christ's victory over sin and this is why Satan hates the cross. He knows that when we cast him out in the name of Jesus that he has to go. He is a foe but nevertheless he is a vanquished foe. It follows therefore, that he also hates the rosary because it's the story of Our Lord's journey to the cross which is our salvation.

Some thoughts:

It is a celebration which has its non-catholic critics. Their main point of argument is that the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ is not fully present in the Eucharistic host. It is their belief that the Eucharist is simply a memorial of Christ’s crucifixion. Aside from the many Eucharistic miracles recorded throughout the ages there is holy scripture to consider. Firstly, there’s the wedding at Cana where Jesus changed water into wine. Then there’s the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. The question must therefore be posited: if it is indeed possible for water to be turned into wine and if we are to believe that the loaves and fishes were indeed multiplied then that puts us on course to believe in the Catholic reality of the living God being present in the Eucharist.

A further question can be asked: if it is possible for those with the gift of healing to heal in the name of Jesus and for those with the gift of tongues to speak a language only known to God, then why is it impossible, at the words of consecration, for the nature of bread to be changed? 

There was only one crucifixion and therefore only one sacrifice. The eternal sacrifice. It does not need to be repeated again as it is a constant which is presented on the altar during mass. It is the re-presentation of the once and for all sacrifice. The crossbeam of the crucifix spans the universe and the beam which runs from top to bottom has no beginning or end. Therefore, every time one casts an eye heavenward one sees the crucified Christ hanging on the cross. What this means is that God the Father must now look at the world through Jesus hanging on the cross. It's a limitless cross and because of what Jesus did, God can be nothing other than infinitely merciful. This is the celebration of the Eucharist. This is why, in the liturgy, we say “Lord, by you cross and resurrection, you have set us free. You are the saviour of the world”.  

After the mass, the remaining consecrated hosts are placed in the tabernacle. You'll find this in the sanctuary area or in the Blessed Sacrament chapel. We adore the blessed sacrament who resides inside the tabernacle. We do this because Jesus is risen and we form part of his mystical body. He is the head.

Benediction

There's always a large consecrated host which is kept in the tabernacle which is brought out and placed in a monstrance and we take part in a service called Benediction, which means blessing. It's a beautiful service where the priest holds the monstrance and blesses the congregation making the sign of the cross.  

We  praise God and sing hymns in Latin. There's incense and the monstrance (an ornate container to house the body of Christ) is on display with the sacred species. It's a wonderful preparation before one receives holy communion.

Sunday mass.

As you know, Sunday is the Lord's day - it's a sabbath. This means we take our rest. However, with life running at the pace it does, it's sometimes difficult to down tools and relax into the Lord. For there is always so much to do.

Nevertheless, we must take as our inspiration from the instance with Martha's sister Mary who sat at the feet of Jesus. She had chosen the best portion. Taking rest fullfils a number of functions: we keep the commandment, we can praise God by doing it and we're also putting him first. Fullfilling out Sunday mass obligation is a way of prioritising God. Keeping the sabbath is being obedient.

It's not totally a selfless act though. In Isaiah 58 we see our reward:

"If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath,

from doing as you please on My holy day,

if you call the Sabbath a delight,

and the LORD’s holy day honorable,

if you honour it by not going your own way

or seeking your own pleasure or speaking idle words,

then you will delight yourself in the LORD,

and I will make you ride on the heights of the land

and feed you with the heritage of your father Jacob.”

It's the second from last promise which means so much to me: and I will make you ride on the heights of the land. Come and get me Lord.