Homily of the Day: Saturday Reading 1 1 cor 10:14-22 My beloved ones, avoid idolatry. I am speaking as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I am saying. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the Body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one Body, for we all partake of the one loaf. Look at Israel according to the flesh; are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? So what am I saying? That meat sacrificed to idols is anything? Or that an idol is anything? No, I mean that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to become participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons. Or are we provoking the Lord to jealous anger? Are we stronger than him? Homily: Good morning my brothers and sisters. Today we are going to talk about a little bit about the sacrifice of the mass. Now for our Protestant brothers and sisters, who often times misjudge what we do in mass, based on their misunderstandings throughout the centuries, hopefully this will clear things up and will be somewhat educational. So what is the sacrifice of the mass? Is it a re-sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for the forgiveness of sins over and over again? Is it an abomination to our Lord because Jesus made it clear that he desired mercy and not sacrifice? Is it merely a repetitious rite that people religiously follow, day in and day out, that they don‘t receive spiritual nourishment from? What is it and why do we celebrate it? The sacrifice of the mass is merely a continuation of Christ’s command to celebrate His life, His last supper, His death, His resurrection and ascension into Heaven. It is an ongoing commemoration of the “once and for all” sacrifice that He made on the cross for the world and for all generations. It is not hundreds of millions of re-sacrifices, but rather, it is a continuation of ONE true sacrifice, and this, perpetual act, unless the ever-increasingly secular government one day shuts us down, will go on until the day that Jesus comes again. Every time we go to mass we have a special privilege of celebrating these four seasons/holidays. For instance, when we make the sign of the cross at the beginning it’s like celebrating the season of Advent. We are preparing for His coming. Just as the Israelites knew that He was coming into the world at some point, we like them know that in just short amount of time, within a couple of minutes, that He is going to meet us in Holy Scripture. When the lector goes up to the pulpit, just minutes later, to begin the process of reading scripture, this begins the celebration of the season of Christmas. Christ is born, He has entered into the world, and now He speaking directly to us through the Apostles and Prophets who wrote down what He, through Holy Spirit had inspired them to write down. The third season that we celebrate is the season of lent. Now Lent is a season of self denial and search of true Holiness and it takes place just 40 days before Easter. Just as we do this in lent, we also do, on a much smaller scale this exact thing in mass… particularly during the consecration of the Host. During the consecration of the Host, the One who is the word, who just spoke to us through the Scriptures and through the priest during the homily, is now going to become flesh, and to dwell among us. And because this is the highest form of prayer. we kneel. We deny ourselves the privilege of sitting and are spellbound by the fact that Jesus is becoming flesh for us so that we when consuming these elements as a community can be filled with His very life. After this season is over we move into the fourth and final season, which is the season of Easter. Now in this scenario, Easter begins with the Lord’s Supper. Because in the Lord’s Supper we are, as this scripture text points out participating in the blessed cup which is the blood of Christ and the blessed and broken bread, which is the true body of Christ. And this my friends is the reason that Christ came. He came to give us His life… and He gives it to us through this sacrament. The Eucharist is the sacrament of eternal life. It refreshes and restores the soul and moves it daily closer to Christ. For people to say that we don’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ, because we might not have perhaps prayed the magic, “sinners prayer of repentance” and were saved for life from that point on, I believe have limited judgment. Now the sinners prayer of repentance is a great one, and in the Catholic Church we have many like it. But for someone to say that a Catholic has never encountered Christ because they didn’t pray that one particular prayer, I think, is incorrect. In the Church, the Church that Jesus founded, the Eucharist serves as our relationship with Jesus Christ. The sacrament of penance is part of our relationship with Jesus Christ. In the sacrament of penance we are restored to Jesus from our iniquities and faults, and in the sacrament of the altar, the sacrament of His body and blood, we are brought into the profound level of relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Our faith is much more than a prayer, our faith is a way of life, and that life is found in Christ who dispenses these graces to us through the Church. So if a Protestant meets you and asks if you have been saved, tell them absolutely. Tell them about what God has done for you. Tell them how He has answered your prayers and that you love Jesus. Tell them that you frequent the sacrament of eternal life. Tell them that Christ is forming and molding you into His image. And then tell them about what Jesus has done for you through the Church. Tell them about the sacraments and how much more they can enhance ones faith in Christ. Tell them about the One Church that Jesus founded, and pray that Jesus will lead them where He wants them to go. Pray for one another and in doing so act in Christian love and charity. Be Christ to One another, and let His name be glorified through you. Let us pray together this Catholicized Version of the Sinners prayer: My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You have already come, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 18:43:47 +0000
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