by Jim Sano
David said, “I’ll have to admit that I don’t get the Mass, and it does seem a lot like those descriptions.”
Tom replied, “Good. I like honesty. Well, let me see if I can give a little context and meaning to what is happening in the Mass and see if that changes anything for you; kind of like knowing the game of football to really appreciate and enjoy it.”
Tom stood at the back of the church facing the altar. “Think of the Mass as having four main parts. In the first part, we come together to worship and spend time with God as a community. Now, follow me down the aisle.” When they reached the front, Tom knelt on one knee to make the Sign of the Cross. “I’ll let you know why I did that in a bit, but normally people come into the church and spend a few moments getting their heart ready for Mass by kneeling and praying. Note that there are no divisions or preferences for anyone worshiping, the rich and poor, all ethnic backgrounds, young and old, male and female, all pray together because we are all members of the Body of Christ. The priest will wear vestments to cover his own self to act ‘in persona Christi’ or as Christ at the Mass. That doesn’t mean he is Christ or better than anyone else, but a successor of the apostles given the authority for this role. At the beginning of the Mass, what do we do first?”
Pooja responded, “We sing an entrance song.”
Tom smiled. “That’s correct, but I was thinking about how the Mass itself begins. We all make the Sign of the Cross together.”
Mike asked, “Why do we make the Sign of the Cross so much?”
Tom answered, “A really good question. We make the Sign of the Cross in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to remind ourselves of our baptism and that we belong to God, putting ourselves in his loving protection. In this moment you realize the important truth that your life is about God and not about you.”
Tom seemed to let that point sink in for a moment. “At this point, we continue standing together to call to mind our sins, realizing we are a community of sinners and that we can only be saved by God’s grace and forgiveness. God never gives up on us and wants to forgive us. The second part of the Mass is the Liturgy of the Word, where we hear the sacred stories from the Old Testament or the story of God and Israel, then one of the Psalms, followed by a reading from the New Testament, such as the letters of Paul. Finally, we stand to hear the Gospel stories and teachings of Jesus Himself, showing how the Old Testament is fulfilled in Jesus. Catholics believe these readings are not only the inspired words of God, but that the Word is God Himself. The very first verse of the Gospel of John says. ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ Following the readings, the priest’s homily hopefully provides some insights to the scripture readings and how they relate to our lives today. This part of the Mass is completed by everyone standing and saying the Creed, in which we make a statement of what we believe as Christians.”
Marge raised her hand. “A lot of this is done in the Presbyterian Church: songs, readings and a homily. We even read the Apostles’ Creed sometimes. We don’t kneel or have the statues, incense, and crucifixes.”
Tom smiled. “Does anyone know why you see these things in Catholic churches?”
David remembered Tom talking about them but remained silent.
“Remember that most people didn’t read or write until the sixteenth or seventeenth century and the poor are often not educated, even today. We are human beings and Catholics who take in and live the faith through all of our senses. The pictures, carvings, and statues teach about the faith and the saints to children and adults. The sense of sight, smell, touch, sound, and even taste are all used to take in and live the faith through our whole being. It also reminds us we celebrate the Mass as one Body of Christ, not only around the world but with the community of saints in heaven.
“This is a great lead into the next part of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, which literally means to ‘give thanks,’ just as Jesus celebrated the Passover meal in the Last Supper the night before he died on the cross. Simple gifts of bread and wine, for the Eucharistic meal and sacrifice, represent the entirety of creation to be offered up to God and are literally changed into the true presence of Jesus Himself. This is the tough part for most people to absorb and believe, but it is the most incredible gift Jesus left for us—Himself.”
Pooja asked in a soft voice, “Father Tom, do you think most Catholics truly believe in this? I would think if they did, they’d come every day and would come to the altar on their knees to receive Christ into themselves.”
Everyone was very quiet, and Tom was very taken with the depth of her inquiry. “Pooja, that is a beautifully stated question and a very important one. Unfortunately, I agree that many Catholics don’t fully realize what the Eucharist is. Most don’t even practice or come to Mass because they’ve found something else to be the center of their lives. That is why it’s so important for us to be a visible witness to others and share this gift.”
David raised his hand. “So, if you don’t believe this is possible, does that mean you can’t become Catholic?”
“You certainly shouldn’t receive something you don’t believe in. This is a critically important part of the faith of the Church from the earliest days.”
David queried, “How is it even possible for bread and wine to magically turn into the actual body and blood of Jesus and still look and taste like plain old bread wafers and inexpensive wine?”
Moving in closer to the group, Tom continued, “Do you believe in God?” Everyone nodded and then Tom asked, “Is anything impossible with God?”
David looked ahead and said, “No.”
“Then it would be possible if God wanted it to be so, right?”
Everyone said, “Yes.”
David pondered aloud. “Okay, anything is possible, but how do we know this bread and wine actually changes into the actual body and blood of Christ? How do we know this just isn’t a pagan ritual that the Church has told us to believe?”
Tom glanced from face to face. “Does everyone wonder even a bit about what David just asked? It’s an important question to ask, so don’t feel embarrassed. Be honest.”
Heads were nodding, and Ben said, “It’s a tough one to try to explain, especially coming from a Baptist church that doesn’t have a great opinion of the Catholic faith. How do we know, Father Tom?”
“We’ve been through the Gospels and why it makes sense for us to trust them. At the Last Supper, Jesus knows this is His last night with the closest people in His life whom He had been teaching and living with for three years. It only makes sense that everything He says or does on this night has significant meaning.” All heads nodded in agreement.
“Think of what has happened this week for Jesus. It was the week of the Jewish Passover when they celebrate this feast as a commemoration of their liberation by God from slavery in Egypt. On the tenth day of Nisan, the lambs are brought into Jerusalem to be inspected and only those without blemish would be sacrificed at the Passover meal to commemorate God’s protection of the Jewish homes with the blood of the lamb marked on their doorposts. On this same day, Jesus came riding on a donkey and is greeted as a king, but He is also the lamb being brought in for inspection and the ultimate sacrifice.”
Mike said, “I’ve heard of Jesus being referred to as the Lamb of God, but I didn’t know what that meant before. And I’m not sure I totally get it yet either.”
Tom offered, “Let’s keep going with the events of the week, and I think it may become clearer. So, the Jewish people are bringing in their lambs for inspection for a sacrifice to God, but an imperfect sacrifice to be sure. Jesus is led in at the exact same time. During this week, He is being inspected by the people, and by the high priests with questions, traps, and finally a demand for his arrest and death. Being good Jews, Jesus and His apostles plan to celebrate the Passover meal, but the apostles don’t get the true meaning of what is about to happen. If you remember, Jesus tells the apostles that one of them will
betray Him that night, and Judas ‘leaves Mass early’ to do just that.”
Everyone laughed softly but listened intently as Tom continued. “Judas is paid thirty pieces of silver, same as the price to release a slave from bondage and says he will identify Jesus to the guards. In the meantime, Jesus is breaking unleavened bread and sharing the four cups of blessing in the wine, as was the Passover tradition. Jesus breaks the bread and says to His apostles at the meal of sacrifice and celebration, ‘Take this, all of you, and eat it, this is my body which is given up for you. Do this in memory of me.’ And then Jesus takes the wine and says, ‘Take this, all of you, and drink from it, this is the cup of my blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me.’
Tom took a few seconds before asking, “What words stand out to you?”
Ben answered, “Is.”
Mike glanced over at Ben with a puzzled face and asked, “Is?”
Ben turned to Mike. “Jesus said, ‘This is my body,’ and ‘This is my blood.’ He didn’t say to think of it as or it’s a symbol of— One of His last acts was to change those simple things—bread and wine—to something else. How else would you interpret His saying ‘is’? It seems pretty clear.”
Mike responded, “Oh. That’s a good point.”
Marge added, “I heard, ‘It will be shed for you.’ It makes me think of that song, ‘I’ll never know how much it cost, to see my sins upon that cross.’ It gets me every time I hear it. Even though Jesus gave His life two thousand years ago, He did it for my sins today. It makes me feel ashamed and thankful at the same time.”
A silent pause fell over them until Pooja spoke. “He said, ‘Do this.’ I guess if He only meant for this to happen once, He wouldn’t have told the apostles to ‘do this.’” Everyone could see from the expression on Tom’s face he was very pleased and impressed with what they said.
Tom said, “Now, the Passover celebration begins after dusk on the fourteenth day of Nisan and ends at dusk the next day. Before they could drink from the final cup or the ‘consummation cup,’ the Passover feast is interrupted. Jesus knows His hour has come and experiences the agony in the garden. Think of the Garden of Eden. Jesus isn’t only the sacrificial lamb but the new Adam who fully trusts in God’s will. Jesus asks for the apostles to stay awake with Him saying, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and watch with me,’ but they fell asleep in his hour of agony as He sweats blood from His brow, something that happens at the time of extreme anxiety. Remember that Jesus is man and divine, so He has two wills. His human will may have been weak and afraid but needed to trust and follow along with His divine will. In the garden, He says, ‘My Father if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’ Notice that Jesus had not taken the fourth cup of the Passover meal saying, ‘I shall not drink from the cup until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’
“Judas betrays Jesus and turns Him over to the guards and Peter denies Him three times that evening. The high priest questions him and charges Him with blasphemy in believing himself to be the Son of God, and they turn him over to Herod, and then to Pilate to have him convicted and executed. Pilate questions Jesus and concludes, ‘I see no fault in this man.’ Remember that Jesus is the true Lamb of God and only those Passover lambs without a blemish, ‘without fault,’ are acceptable for sacrifice. Jesus is beaten severely and then Pilate washes his hands of the affair as the people chose to free the murderer Barabbas over Jesus. Jesus, without sin, took the place of the real sinner on the cross as He does for us. On the cross, Jesus refuses the wine mockingly placed up to His lips, but as vinegar is placed on the hyssop branch to His lips, He gives himself over saying, ‘It is finished,’ with this final cup of consummation.” Tom stared up at the crucifix at the ultimate act of love by God and Jesus and closed his eyes for a full minute.
Tom then said, “Spend some time with John’s Gospel on the Bread of Life. Jesus talks about the Old Testament’s reference to the manna or bread from heaven brought by Moses and then says the true bread from heaven that gives life is from His Father. Jesus says to His followers, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.’ You can imagine the reaction from Jews who wouldn’t even eat meat unless it had the blood completely drawn from it because they believed you became what you ate the blood of, and animals were lower than man.”
Pooja asked, “But Jesus would be higher than man and we would want to become like Jesus, to have Him in our bodies and souls, wouldn’t we?”
Tom replied, “Beautifully said. People grumbled, though, at what Jesus was saying and asked, ‘Who is this man that offers us his flesh? How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ Many disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it’? And they left. Now, if the Bread of Life was meant to be just a symbol, what do you think Jesus would’ve done as many disciples started to leave him over this?”
After a few seconds of silence, David said, “He would’ve called them back to tell them not to worry, that this wasn’t really His flesh and blood to eat.”
“Right, and the word He used in Aramaic for eating translates as ‘to gnaw,’ so he truly meant to eat in a real way. At the Passover meal, the people ate the flesh of the lamb of sacrifice as a meal of communion. Instead of calling them back, He turned and asked the others if His teaching of truth offended them and they turned their backs on Jesus who turned then to His apostles and asked, ‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus was willing to let people leave over this important truth.”
Ben said, “It would seem as if He were telling all His followers they needed to do this and not just the apostles at the Last Supper. What did the earliest Church believe?”
“Good question, Ben. When Jesus came back after His resurrection, he spent time with the apostles teaching and instructing them and giving them the authority to speak and act as Christ. He also told them He would send the Holy Spirit, who would remind them of all He taught them and guide them in truth. When Jesus was on the road to Emmaus, He traveled with some of His apostles, who didn’t recognize Him until the ‘breaking of the bread’ with them; there He was revealed. The early Church celebrated the Liturgy of the Word, sharing teachings and stories of Jesus, which became the Gospels and other scriptural readings. They also celebrated the Eucharist, sharing the communion meal of bread and wine. You can read the earliest Church fathers and see they absolutely believed in the real presence of Christ in bread and wine at Communion. Jesus said this was essential to their eternal life and didn’t intend to make that offer only to the twelve apostles and no one else.”
Marge asked, “Father Tom, isn’t doing something in memory of someone just a recollection of them?”
“Well, when Jesus said to ‘do this in remembrance of me,’ the Jewish understanding of that word was not just to reminisce or to re-sacrifice Jesus but to make that moment present at this moment. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit do not live in time but outside of time. The Mass is making the sacrifice of love that Jesus made truly present to us now, forgiving our sins now, not only to the people in this particular church but to the entire community of believers on earth and in heaven. It is truly a mind-blowing moment, and once I understood what the Mass was, I’ve never found the Mass to be boring, routine or meaningless again.
“Did you know,” Tom continued, “it’s not the priest who changes the bread and wine into the true presence of Christ but Jesus Himself acting through the priest? It’s a holy moment, and that’s why we kneel or bow before the tabernacle to honor Christ’s presence, a presence He knew we needed. The Bible tells us we’ll go to heaven in body and soul
, and we need to nourish both to live. We need to let go of our human resistance to what seems hard to believe and trust completely in what Jesus teaches us.
“Jesus started His public ministry at a wedding feast. The Mass is like a wedding feast where the lamb is revealed to be the bridegroom and the Church, his Bride. Just as in a marriage, where man and woman give themselves completely to each other and to God, Jesus also gives Himself completely to us.”
Marge said, “And we receive Him completely.”
“Absolutely, Marge. Jesus asks us to give our lives for others, which isn’t only hard but impossible without the grace and strength we receive each week at this celebration of the Mass.”
Tom took the team through the actual Liturgy of the Eucharist, using the words of Jesus, saying the Our Father together, giving the sign of peace to each other, and finally at the end of the Mass where they are ‘sent out’ to share the Good News with others and live the life Jesus came to give us. The group talked for quite a while after Tom finished, asking questions and sharing their thoughts about the things they hadn’t understood before. All were encouraged to come to Mass each week, even though they would have to wait until they were received fully into the Church at Easter Vigil to receive Communion themselves. David was the only one who would be eligible to receive, but he knew he needed to reconcile himself first to be fully in communion with God. David and Tom talked about this several times, one-on-one, to help comprehend the importance of sincerely being ready to receive Christ.
When David returned home that evening, he was glad he met the other candidates and was actively rethinking his negative feelings about the Mass and other beliefs he had rejected over the years. He thought about his father and Kathleen and how much their Catholic faith meant, and he was now beginning to understand why it was so important to them.