Prayers for all Occasions, Needs, and Intentions

HOLY MASS - A SACRIFICE OR CELEBRATION

The Catholic Mass

THE MASS COMMEMORATES

The Mass commemorates and re-creates two cardinal events in the Life of Christ; the Last Supper and the Sacrifice of the Cross.

The Mass Re-enacts what took place at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday. At the Consecration the priest repeats the words and acts of Jesus our High Priest. Secondly, the Mass also recalls and sacramentally renews the Sacrifice of the Cross on good Friday.

Jesus died shedding His Blood for us. In the Mass, the bloody aspect of the death of Jesus is not re-enacted. It is recalled, however, by the fact that on the altar, the host which becomes the Body, and the wine which becomes the Blood of Jesus Christ are separate, as His Body and Blood were separate on Calvary after His death. But on the Cross, Jesus, while shedding His Blood to the last drop, offered to His Divine Father, the suffering and death He was enduring for us. Now in the Mass, Jesus again offers to His Father the suffering and death He endured for us on Calvary.

In the Mass, there is something that was not at the Last Supper or upon Calvary. It is not only Jesus Who offers Himself to His Father on the altar, and not only is He offered by the celebrating priest, but also by all those participating in the Mass. Moreover, the priest and all those participating in Holy Mass offer themselves to God with Jesus. With Jesus, they offer up to God the Father, their joys, their sufferings, their whole lives. It is well to recall that, although it was by the Cross that Christ redeemed us, it is chiefly through the Mass that He brings us the benefits of that Redemption. The Cross without the Mass would be a sealed well; the Mass without the Cross would be an idle ceremony.