The Church teaches that the Mass is the highest form of worship it has. The Eucharistic celebration always includes: the proclamation of the Word of God; thanksgiving to God the Father for all his benefits, above all the gift of his Son; the consecration of bread and wine; and participation in the liturgical banquet by receiving the Lord’s body and blood. These elements constitute one single act of worship.
Liturgical Worship is not an option for a Catholic Christian, rather it is the foundation of Catholic identity, expressing our highest purpose. Worship reveals what we truly believe and how we view ourselves in relationship to God, one another and the world into which we are sent to carry forward the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ.
The Mass is the foundation for our understanding of what worship is. It is what forms and informs our devotions outside of the Mass and it is the end to which we are constantly journeying in all our prayers and works.
To “Pray the Mass” (rather that saying the Mass) is to participate in the Sacred Liturgy with full, conscious, and active participation and with mindful devotion.
The following is an excerpt from a letter Pope Francis published entitled ‘Desiderio Desideravi hoc Pascha manducare vobiscum, antequam patiar’, I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Lk 22:15).
“If neo-Pelagianism (a tendency among some Christians to rely on their own efforts and merits to achieve salvation, rather than on God’s grace and mercy) intoxicates us with the presumption of a salvation earned through our own efforts, the liturgical celebration purifies us, proclaiming the gratuity of the gift of salvation received in faith.
Participating in the Eucharistic sacrifice is not our own achievement, as if because of it we could boast before God or before our brothers and sisters. The beginning of every celebration reminds me who I am, asking me to confess my sin and inviting me to implore the Blessed Mary ever virgin, the angels and saints and all my brothers and sisters to pray for me to the Lord our God. Certainly, we are not worthy to enter his house; we need a word of his to be saved.
We have no other boast but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. (cf. Gal 6:14) The Liturgy has nothing to do with an ascetical moralism. It is the gift of the Paschal Mystery of the Lord which, received with docility, makes our life new. The cenacle (the upper room) is not entered except through the power of attraction of his desire to eat the Passover with us.
But we must be careful: for the antidote of the Liturgy to be effective, we are required every day to rediscover the beauty of the truth of the Christian celebration. The Liturgy is the priesthood of Christ, revealed to us and given in his Paschal Mystery, rendered present and active by means of signs addressed to the senses (water, oil, bread, wine, gestures, words), so that the Spirit, plunging us into the paschal mystery, might transform every dimension of our life, conforming us more and more to Christ.” – Pope Francis
Desiderio Desideravi hoc Pascha manducare vobiscum, antequam patiar (Lk 22:15).
Let everyone be struck with fear, let the whole world tremble, and let the heavens exult when Christ, the Son of the living God, is present on the altar
in the hands of a priest!
O wonderful loftiness and stupendous dignity!
O sublime humility! O humble sublimity!
The Lord of the universe, God and the Son of God,
so humbles Himself that for our salvation
He hides Himself under an ordinary piece of bread!
Brothers, look at the humility of God,
and pour out your hearts before Him!
Humble yourselves that you may be exalted by Him!
Hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves,
that He Who gives Himself totally to you may receive you totally!
Saint Francis of Assisi
A Letter to the Entire Order II, 26-29
At the center of the Mass is Christ’s sacrifice and ours which is joined to His.
On the cross, Christ showed how to render perfect worship to God. In imitating Christ, we too must offer our whole selves to God. This acknowledgement of the debt that we owe to God establishes a relationship between man and his Creator. Sacrifice to God thus leads to communion, as St. Paul said, “The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord? For we, being many, are one bread, one body, all that partake of one bread. Behold Israel according to the flesh: are not they, that eat of the sacrifices, partakers of the altar? (1 Corinthians 10:16-18; Douay-Rheims translation)
The Mass, of course, is not simply sacrifice, but our participation in Christ’s sacrifice, as St. Paul indicates above.
Participation is thus also transformative. We are changed by the way we worship. Sacrifice necessarily requires a change in the one making the offering. And our own offering is purified and elevated through our encounter with Christ’s own sacrifice.
Jesus, our Lord and Savior, died on the cross for us. He did this out of perfect, total, self-sacrificial love. There is nothing more that he could give, because he gave all.
When we go to worship God at Mass, we have a choice to make: how much of our hearts are we willing to give him in return for the “all” he has already given us?
As we prepare for Mass, be it daily Mass or Sunday, let us take some extra time to pray seeking the help of the Spirit of Christ:
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created,
and you shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray:
O God, who have taught the hearts of the faithful
by the light of the Holy Spirit,
grant that in the same Spirit we may be truly wise
and ever rejoice in his consolation.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
