Part Two: Sometimes Catholics find it difficult to explain why the Sunday Mass, our main event, is so important for us. We somehow instinctively know that without the Mass we would be lost.
Because we are so wedded to the Mass, it is often difficult for us to describe the attraction we have for this ritual and pattern of worship and prayer and it is often difficult for us to see it from the outside, looking in. This is my humble attempt to do so.
Apologies already if I get carried away when I imagine myself outside but looking through that window!
Pastor
BIGGER THAN A BIG PICTURE
When we gather every Sunday, we boldly proclaim that the resurrected and heavenly Christ is truly with us - but not simply in our minds or hearts nor by the power or intensity our own efforts.
Instead, when we do what he told us to do at his Last Supper (today called the Mass, or the Eucharist), we not only hear the echoes of his words spoken to us through the Scriptures, we can enter into the reality of Christ's one and eternal sacrifice, and that he, himself, is substantially present in our midst.
Through the Mass, the bread and wine of this creation, by the reality changing power of God, become the first fruits of the promised new and eternal creation that is - Jesus Christ himself, His Body, His Blood, everything He is now in all his resurrected heavenly glory.
THROUGH THE LENS OF ETERNITY
Because we can not see with the vision of the angels and saints of heaven, our the perception of him before us is "naturally" beyond the wavelength of our natural senses. So when we gather around the altar the priest raises up what our natural senses can only identify as a circle of bread and a cup of wine. But what we see is not the reality.
St. Paul would say that from our earth-bound natural experience, we can only see as if looking through an distorted glass. So, instead, if we could actually see clearly from our place before the altar table on Sunday with the true clear vision of angels, what then would we behold before us?
Simply put - Jesus Christ in living reality with all of heaven, all its angelic beings worshiping him and all the saints of heaven doing likewise. It would be a sight that no mere mortal from this earthly dimension could look towards and not be affected.
LOOKING AT THE SON WITHOUT SHADES
Two examples can be given of two disciples who were privileged to see beyond the curtain of human perception and demonstrate the effects of seeing the reality of Christas he is now in all his heavenly glory.
During his lifetime on earth, Saint Paul, then called Saul, was granted a glimpse while traveling from Jerusalem to Damascus. Paul's natural eyes couldn't take it and he was physically blinded. St. John, the youngest of Christ's disciples had better fortune, but he would not describe directly his experience of eternity and Christ's place at the center of it. When he wrote the final book of the Bible, he was literary at a loss for words. All he could use in the limitation of his own human language of his day was colorful and mysterious ritual images and symbols.
MAKING ADJUSTMENTS
For this reason, when we gather to enter into the reality of heaven in our midst during our celebration of the Sunday Eucharist, we will often simply close our eyes like St. Paul. Maybe like St. John we might try to see beyond the rich imagery and ritual expression we have built up around the Mass for nearly two thousand years. This is hard work for a mere mortal like you and me! That is why we prepare by looking within ourselves, listeing outwardly to the Scriptures and reflectin upon what we hear and sense.
So, if what we see at the highpoint of the Mass (bread and wine) is not what we get, but is instead is the eternal reality of Christ in all his heavenly glory, what is he doing? Does he just stand there, look at us and smile?
BEYOND THE EVENT HORIZON
No. Christ initiated his sacrificial offering of his life at the Last Supper and sealed it once and for all in his horrific and bloody crucifixion and death on the cross. When he rose from the death and entered into heaven, he did not say to himself, "thank God that's over!"
In the realm of God's eternity where all time, past, present and future is one, because his love is everlasting, Christ who is fully divine and fully human, still offers himself sacrificially to the Father for us and for our salvation.
If we could see what angels see, we would behold Christ pouring out his sacrificial love before the Father for you and for me. We would see angels adoring and praising. We would see heavenly saints giving thanks and bringing our names and prayers towards God.
BEFORE YOU LEAP
For that reason, before we approach the altar to partake of the substance of heaven, which is Christ's body, blood, soul and divinity, we are cautioned. Knowing ourselves unworthy and, because of our natural earthly attachments, incompatible as we are now with the divine life, we are duty bound to prepare ourselves for Holy Communion.
SUITING UP
Through the waters of baptism we are immersed into Christ's life, including his death and resurrection. Through Confirmation by the Holy Spirit, that new life is sealed. Through the humble Confession of our sins from a repentant heart, we are personally assured by the Church, through her priest, that our life on earth is ready to reflect the life of the saints in heaven who feed off the glory of God eternal.
THERE AND BACK AGAIN
The Sunday Mass is the height and summit of our worship of God. For we can not accept substitutes, imitations, tokens or alternatives to fuel our souls and move us towards the eternal goal - of one day seeing Christ face to face and all creation restored. Only then, we will see God as he really is, and on that eternal day, it will be perfectly reflected in a new heaven and a new earth.
If you are still outside looking through the window, the door is always open.