Homily originally presented April 26, 2020

The Mass – a re-presentation of the once for all sacrifice!

With the “Stay at home” directive still in place, and still being honored by many, I’ve heard some people ask another,

“What’s the first thing you’re going to do when the directive is lifted?

I’ve heard some women say, “I’m going to go to the beauty shop.”

Some men, like me have said, “I’m going to go to the barber and get a haircut!”

Some kids have said, “We’re going to go to the beach!”

A few others would be very happy just to go to Panera Bread!

We all have our favorite places we’d like to go

and hopefully we’ll soon have the freedom to go out once again.

Now, with Summer coming soon and all the many activities that will be available,

you may well have friends invite you to go do something fun ...

on a Saturday afternoon ... or Sunday morning.

But, you,  still carrying the joy & gratitude of Easter inside will quickly reply ...

“Oh no, I can’t join you at that time, I have to go to Mass!”

They may ask?   “What is Mass?” and “What do you mean ... you have to go?”

How would you answer them?

What is Mass?     How would you describe the Mass?

You might simply say, “Well, that’s when my family and I go to church.”

But that wouldn’t tell them what the Mass is ... or why you feel you have to go.

what if you just thought for a moment and called to mind

the main events we celebrated over the past 2 weeks:

Holy Thursday:

The Last Supper where Jesus gave His Body & Blood to His Apostles as Bread &Wine  

Good Friday:

The Scourging, Crowning, Carrying, Nailing and Jesus dying on the Cross

Easter Sunday:

Jesus raises Himself from the dead and is seen by many

Those 3 events proved that Jesus is the All-Powerful Son of God

and that He loves us so much that He offered Himself ... His very life ...

as ransom so that all of us could be freed from the power of sin and death.

and by Jesus rising from the dead, He showed us that He lives forever

and will always be there to guide us and guard us

and to actually nourish us with His very self on our journey to Heaven.

That’s what the Mass is!

The Mass is ... the re-presentation of the Paschal Mystery,

which is Jesus’ Passion, Death Resurrection!

The Mass is the re-presentation

of the once for all sacrifice of Jesus to the Father

 for the redemption of the whole world.

That explains what the Mass is ...

and why you have to go ... why you need to go ... why you want to go!

You see, our celebration of the Mass gives the Father great glory

for it enables us to present ourselves and our petitions to Him

along with His Divine Son, who is truly present on our Altar.

This makes The Mass ... the most powerful prayer in the world!

In this, you’ve given a concise definition of the Mass

and a powerful reason why you would want to go.

Notice the word used in our explanation is “re-presentation” not “representation”.

A representation is simply an image of something else ... whereas,

A re-presentation is an actual participation in the original event.

And “the Event” ... in this case ... is:

Jesus’ self-offering of His Body and Blood

to atone for the sins of the whole world!

Is that an Event worth celebrating?    Yes, indeed!

Because the sins of the whole world include ‘your’ sins and ‘my’ sins too!

Yes, ‘all of our sins’ have been atoned for by the once for all sacrifice of Jesus!

Notice too, that we say the once for all sacrifice of Jesus ...

                       not the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus ...

as that would indicate a finality to the Event  ...

implying  that what happened 2000 years ago ...  is over and done with.

Whereas, the expression : “the once for all sacrifice of Jesus” refers to ...

the universal breath of redemption ... that it includes all people of all time ...

and it makes no reference to “the Event” being over and done with.

God is eternal ...

and the sacrifice that Jesus offered is eternal ...

which means that the Once for All Sacrifice that He offered on earth ...

is ever present to the Father in Heaven!

And it’s the one and the same sacrifice ... that we get to participate in

in every Mass ... the re-presentation of Jesus’ love for all of us!

Jesus’ sharing of His Body and Blood at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday ...

and

Jesus’ death on the Cross on Good Friday ...

are two Events that are inseparably fused in time.

For just as the Passover of the Old Covenant involved ...

the sacrifice of a lamb and the eating of the lamb in a communion meal.

So too, the Passover of the New Covenant ...

that Jesus established at the Last Supper ... involved ...

the sacrifice of a Lamb ... the Lamb of God ...

and the eating of his Flesh and Blood in a Holy Communion Meal!

It was this Sacrifice ... of the Only Begotten Son of God ...

that won redemption for the whole world!

And it’s this very sacrifice that we get to be present to ... in every Mass!

What is the Mass?

It’s the way that we ... the children of God ...

get to participate in the greatest act of love ... ever.

Recall how Jesus said,

“Greater love than this no man has than to give his life for his friends.”

Well Jesus gave His life for all men and women of all time ...

making His Sacrifice ... the greatest act of love ... ever.

And Jesus wants us to remember His Great love for us ...

which is why He instructed his Apostles on Holy Thursday ...

to: “do this in memory of Me.”

Do what?    Do what He did ... celebrate the Passover of the New Covenant!

Jesus said,

“This is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the New and Eternal Covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Do this in memory of me.”

We call it the Eucharist.     The great act of Thanksgiving!

It’s where we offer Jesus once again to the Father ...

and eat His Flesh in a Holy Meal!

For 2000 years ... the Catholic Church has been doing ...

what the Lord commanded his followers to do ...

we’ve been celebrating the New Covenant in His Blood ...

in the liturgy called the Mass!

And not just on Sundays but every day of the week

 thereby enabling the faithful to participate in ...

the greatest act of Love there ever was ... daily ... if desired!

In Luke’s Gospel today, we heard about the Second Mass ever prayed.

When did it occur?        On Easter Sunday night.

Luke begins by saying, “That very day, the first day of the week,

two disciples of Jesus were going to a village ... Emmaus.”

And what was their experience?

First Jesus, the High Priest, met them on the way and

explained the Scriptures for them to the point that their hearts were burning.

Then at dinner, Jesus “took bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to them.”

And it was then that they recognized Him … in the breaking of the bread,...

 just as He had done at the Last Supper ... at the First Mass ... three nights before!

So, you have a Priest, Jesus, the Eternal High Priest, sharing the Scriptures

and explaining their relevance (what we call the Liturgy of the Word).

And then you have a Priest, Jesus, take bread and bless it, supernaturally transforming it into His Body & Blood (what we call the Liturgy of the Eucharist)

Together, these two components comprise the Mass.

And so the Second Mass was prayed in Emmaus ... just 3 days after the first one.

And the Mass has been prayed ever since ... and today ... all around the world.  

Do you have any idea how many Masses are prayed every day?     364,000!

That means that the praying of the Mass never stops ...

And it will continue to be prayed ... until the end of time. Yes, even in this time of churches being closed to the public, we Priests pray private Masses every day!

It’s the way that Jesus gets to be in union with us in a most intimate way this side of Heaven ... where we receive Him into our Body and become one with Him!

It’s the way that we remember and celebrate His great Love for us!

So when things free up and people ask you where do you want to go, say, to Mass! And if they ask you ... What is the Mass?             and      Why do you want to go?

Hopefully you’ll be able to explain to them that the Mass is way more than a duty.

Yes, it’s the way we honor God’s 3^rd commandment... but it’s way more than that  it’s a participation in the Greatest Love Affair ever-the Love of God for all mankind.

It’s the way we listen to our Lover speak to us and we speak our hearts to Him ...

          knowing that He cares for us and that we’re so dear to Him.

So lets’ never forget God’s great love for us

And let’s celebrate it every week remotely for now but soon here in His house ...

it’s where we hear His word ... and offer the Lamb of God to the Father

and get nourished with the Body and Blood of the Lamb.

You see, there’s no Beach, no Lake, no vacation, no picnic, no sport,

no other event in the world that can compare with this...

the Event of celebrating God’s love for us ... in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

So let’s faithfully and happily come ... and do this ... in memory of Him!