LOVE JESUS IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST AND LIVE THE HOLY MASS BETTER.
Pope Francis wrote that the Holy Eucharist is
“the mystery of the Passion, Death, And Resurrection of Christ. The Eucharist is THE SUMMIT OF GOD’S SAVING ACTION: the Lord Jesus, by becoming bread broken for us, pours upon us all of His mercy and His love, so as to renew our hearts, our lives, and our way of relating with Him and with the brethren. The Greek term “Eucharist” means “Thanksgiving”: “it is THE SUPREME THANKSGIVING TO THE FATHER, WHO SO LOVED US THAT HE GAVE US HIS SON OUT OF LOVE. This is why the term Eucharist includes the whole of that act, which is THE ACT OF GOD AND MAN TOGETHER, THE ACT OF JESUS CHRIST, TRUE GOD AND TRUE MAN.”
Attending the Holy Mass then is attending and witnessing THE SUBLIME PASCHAL MYSTERY of Our Lord Jesus Christ in order to have a personal encounter with Him and through Him, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.
– The Holy Mass has an infinite value which goes beyond our own tastes: whether the priest preaches well or not, handsome or not, or the choir sings marvelously or otherwise…We must overcome this merely human and tangential perspective and center on what is essential when we attend the Holy Mass.
– We cannot get accustomed to our mere presence in the Holy Mass but rather, as the Second Vatican Council “Sacrosantum Concilium” suggests, the faithful should ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE IN THE CELEBRATION OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST.
– WE SHOULD PUT OUR MIND, WILL, HEART AND SENSES INTO THE HOLY MASS, JUST AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE IF WE WOULD HAVE BEEN PRESENT IN THE LAST SUPPER AND IN THE CALVARY.
– WHAT WE WANT IN THE HOLY MASS IS TO HAVE AN INTIMATE ENCOUNTER WITH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, GOD THE FATHER AND GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT: the three Persons of the Holy Trinity are working in a wondrous and mysterious way during the Holy Mass.
HERE ARE SOME TIPS:
1. Put your faculties and senses on what is going on following perhaps the mass leaflet or your missal in order to avoid distractions.
2. As a suggestion, remember that the Holy Mass has 4 ends or finalities: to give THANKS (THANKSGIVING), to ASK for our necessities (PETITION), to ASK PARDON (REPARATION), to ADORE (ADORATION) = T.A.R.P. or better, P.A.R.T.:
P for petition (or asking for our needs) A for adoration, R for reparation or asking pardon for our sins, and T for for thanksgiving. TRY TO FIND WHICH PARTS OF THE MASS WHERE THESE FINALITIES ARE BEING FULFILLED.
– PETITION: We ask our Lord for our petitions in the universal prayer, during the “Memento” (Remember) for the living and the dead, for the Pope, the Church, the Bishops, the dead…We also ask during the Our Father those 7 petitions…
– ADORATION: We adore Our Lord during the Consecration and this is the reason why we kneel down, as a gesture of adoration and faith. We can say acts of faith, hope and love when the priest raises the Body and Blood of Our Lord ( for example: “My Lord and my God”, “Adoro te devote, latens Deitas,” “Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, the Soul and Divinity of your Son Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world); – We also adore Our Lord during the Final Doxology: “Through Him……all glory and honor is yours, Almighty Father.”
– REPARATION: We ask pardon for our sins during the penitential rite (I confess…Lord have mercy…Lamb of God…)
– THANKSGIVING. For example, we give thanks during the the Preface (“Let us give thanks to the Lord Our God”), and the entire Eucharistic Prayer.
3. We also ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE when we RESPOND or SING those parts which correspond to faithful, putting our mind, will and heart to what we pray and say. For example
– Saying the AMEN (“So be it”) with our mind and heart;
– DIRECTING OURSELVES TO WHOM WE ARE SAYING The VARIOUS VOCAL PRAYERS (to God the Father, to God the Son, to God the Holy Spirit) AND REALLY MEANING TO SAY THEM so that they won’t just be a mere and automatic utterance of empty words;
– We could also benefit more when we try to DISCERN WHAT OUR LORD WANTS TO TELL US IN THE LITURGY OF THE WORD (readings, psalm and Gospel), and for this we have TO LISTEN ATTENTIVELY. In this regard, if there is a homily, we, priests should try to be as concrete and concise in imparting God’s teachings and this requires preparation on our part. A homily which is more than 10 minutes may be counterproductive.
4. Regarding the Holy Communion, the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us:
– “Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion MUST BE IN THE STATE OF GRACE. ANYONE AWARE OF HAVING SINNED MORTALLY MUST NOT RECEIVE COMMUNION WITHOUT HAVING RECEIVED ABSOLUTION IN THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE (Catechism 1415).”
– “Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ INCREASES THE COMMUNICANT’S UNION WITH THE LORD, FORGIVES HIS VENIAL SINS, AND PRESERVES HIM FROM GRAVE SINS. Since receiving this sacrament STRENGTHENS THE BONDS OF CHARITY BETWEEN THE COMMUNICANT AND CHRIST, it also reinforces the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ (Catechism 1416).”
– Out of delicacy with Our Lord, we must observe the Eucharistic fast of one hour prior to receiving the communion.
Dear friends, these are some practical tips which one can freely choose to practice in order live better and participate actively in the most sublime Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. As you can see, IT TAKES EFFORT, SPIRITUAL COMBAT AND PATIENCE TO LIVE THESE SMALL DETAILS, BUT LET US NOT FORGET THAT LOVE CONSISTS PRECISELY IN SMALL DETAILS AND OUR LORD DESERVES THE BEST FROM EACH ONE OF US. Moreover, THE FRUITS OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST WILL BE APPLIED TO US DEPENDING ON THE HOW WE LIVE IT: HENCE, THE STRUGGLE IS WORTHWHILE!
LET US ASK THE HELP OF OUR LADY AND ST. JOSEPH, TO HELP US LOVE JESUS MORE BY LIVING THE HOLY MASS BETTER IN THESE SMALL DETAILS OF AFFECTION AND WITH THE THREE OF THEM, MAY WE HAVE AN INTIMATE ENCOUNTER AND DEALING WITH THE MOST HOLY TRINITY. As Pope Francis said:
“A celebration may be flawless on the exterior, very beautiful — but if it does not lead us to encounter Jesus Christ, it is unlikely to bear any kind of nourishment to our heart and our life. Through the Eucharist, however, Christ wishes to enter into our life and permeate it with His grace, so that in every Christian community there may be coherence between liturgy and life (General Audience, Feb 12. 2014).”
SEE AS WELL:
CHURCH AND MASS ETIQUETTE: TOP 9 REMINDERS here
JUST A FRIENDLY REMINDER ON THE PROPER ATTIRE INSIDE THE CHURCH here.
PREPARE YOURSELF WELL FOR HOLY MASS here
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Thanks and God bless you and your loved ones! Fr. Rolly Arjonillo.
