The Second Vatican Council, in its constitution on the Sacred Liturgy reminded us that the Mass “is the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives, and manifest to others, the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 2). It is important that our worship at Mass be marked by reverence and devotion in every instance. The Council of Trent, which revitalized the Church following the Protestant Revolution of the 16th century, emphasized this:
“That great care is to be taken that the sacred and holy sacrifice of the Mass be celebrated with all religious service and veneration each one may easily understand who considers that, in Holy Scripture, he is called accursed who does the work of God negligently; and if we must confess that no other work can be performed by the faithful so holy and divine as this tremendous Mystery itself, in which that life-giving Victim by Whom we were reconciled to the Father is daily sacrificed on the altar by priests, it is also sufficiently clear that all industry and diligence is to be applied to this end: that the Mass be performed with the greatest possible inward cleanness and purity of heart, and outward show of devotion and piety.”
The way in which the priest celebrates the Mass, and the manner in which the Faithful unite themselves to that celebration, manifest what we believe is taking place at the Sacred Liturgy. At its core, the Mass is a sacrifice; it is the perfect Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary, Who offered Himself for us and for our salvation, to free us from our sins and make us holy. Even though He offered that Sacrifice once and for all, nonetheless He gave us the Mass because we have not ceased sinning once and for all. We have an ongoing need for salvation and sanctification, something our daily faults and failures prove to us. The Mass is the way that Jesus takes what He did on the Cross and applies it to each of our lives in this time and in this place. He instituted the Mass to bring us to the foot of the Cross so that we could stand beneath Him and be washed in His Blood from our personal guilt and for our own offenses. The Mass makes it possible for us to transcend the bounds of time and space so that we can be present at the very moment when Jesus gave up His Body for our salvation. It is this Sacrifice to which we are called to unite ourselves at Mass, and if we understand this it should be manifest in the way we worship.
We come to Mass to worship God. We hold a precious Victim at Mass: we hold the very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, and offer Him to His Father for our salvation. We stand in the presence of the Living God when we attend Mass, and our whole focus and attention must be given over to this fact. The Mass is the holiest, most divine, most outstanding means we possess of worshipping God, and everything we do at Mass must be performed with interior cleanliness and purity of heart (meaning: free from any attachments to sin, especially grave sin – go to confession!), and this interior purity must give rise to the outward show of devotion and piety. How we act at Mass and the spirit with which we enter into the Mass reveals what we believe is taking place. Everything – from the sound of the music to the fervor with which we recite our prayers, from the way we stand and sit to the way the priest handles the vessels and administers the Eucharist – everything we do must be marked by humble devotion and heartfelt piety, with devotion and love for Our Jesus Whom we offer, and with reverence and awe for the God Whom we worship and serve at Mass. May God bless you in the week ahead and may Mother Mary lead you more deeply into the Sacred and Merciful Heart of Jesus. I remain,
Affectionately Yours in Christ,
Fr. Hess
