The Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass - Part 1: What is the Mass?

As I promised, I am going to begin a series on the Mass. I will post the audio for this entry on Wednesday (I am back in KS until Tue. evening).  We are going to discuss what the Mass is, why it is "the center and summit of the Catholic faith" and we are going to try to better understand the meaning behind the parts of the Mass. As always, I value your input, questions and suggestions. In this case especially, though, I want to encourage and offer you an open invitation to submit questions and comments. The Mass is the absolutely most important, vital and central aspect of our faith and I want to do ANYTHING I can to help my readers better understand and appreciate this Holy Sacrament instuted by Jesus Christ himself at the Last Supper and fulfilled by his death on the cross.

WHAT THIS SACRAMENT IS CALLED
Before we begin studying the Mass, we need to understand just what is the Mass. The word 'Mass' is actually short for "The Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass." Other names for the sacrament are: The Eucharist, the Lord's Supper, the Holy and Divine Liturgy, Holy Communion and the Memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection. Each of these names is correct and yet each highlight a particular aspect of the sacrament (Catechism of the Catholic Church, ¶1328 - 1332).

THE MASS IS A SACRIFICE
In my opinion, "The Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass" best describes this sacrament. If we break down this title, we can better understand the Mass. First are the words 'The Most Holy' that give insight into the importance of the Mass. The Catechism states: the Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life" (CCC ¶1324). When we use the term Eucharist here, we are referring to the actual consecrated bread and wine that are the Body and Blood of Christ himself and not to the name of the sacrament. Everything in our Catholic faith is oriented toward the Eucharist. Everything in our faith flows from the Eucharist.

The most important word in this title, however, is the word 'sacrifice.' The Mass IS...A...SACRIFICE!!! The Church intends the Mass to be regarded as a "true and proper sacrifice." The Mass cannot be understood whatsoever without realizing that it is a Sacrifice with a capital S. This is not a symbolic sacrifice. It is not simply a reminder of something long ago. It is a real sacrifice. At Mass we participate in and are a part of a true sacrifice, very real and very present here and now!!! It is a true and present sacrifice because Jesus commanded that His bloody sacrifice on the Cross should be daily renewed by an unbloody sacrifice of His Body and Blood in the Mass under the simple elements of bread and wine. The Council of Trent clarified this by saying, "the Mass is in its very nature a "representation" (representatio), a "commemoration" (memoria) and an "application" (applicatio) of the Sacrifice of the Cross" (Trent, Session XXII, para. 1). The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross is made present here and now in the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

If we begin to understand that the Mass is a real and true sacrifice that makes present the one Sacrifice of the Cross, we begin to see that the Mass is not simply another event in our day or just one of the many elements of the Church. Rather, the Mass renews that moment in time when Jesus Christ sacrificed himself on the cross, bringing us freedom, salvation and delivering us from damnation. Because the Mass makes that one, complete, ultimate Sacrifice of Christ present today, it is easy to understand why it is "the source and summit of our Christian life."

That is a lot to think about and digest. Next time we will explore how we participate in the Mass and then we will begin to look at the parts of the Mass. Again, if you have any questions, want something clarified or just have some insight to give, please feel free to leave a comment. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 14:42 | link | comments |