I recently read the following and found it inspiring and revealing and wanted to share it with you.
I didn’t get it until 10 a.m. Mass, August 16, 2009.
For years I heard about the Church being the bride of Christ. I’ve read over and over again that marriages should resemble the union of Christ and his Church.
I’ve also heard for many, many years that, during the Mass, we are offered with Christ to the Father.
But I didn’t get it.
August 16, I got it:
“Let your Holy Spirit come upon these gifts so that they may become the Body and Blood of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Our pastor, Father Charles Mitchell, prayed these words over the bread and wine – and over all of us.
· We were part of the offering to the Father; we were united to Jesus in the consecration of the sacred species.
Then came those ancient words, the words uttered by Christ himself, spoken by the priest who is, in this liturgy, standing in, for and with Christ: “This is my Body,” and “This is my Blood” – and there is no longer bread and wine but the living, resurrected and glorious Jesus Christ, completely present, his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
And then we receive him – something marvelous happens.
· We are transformed by Eucharist – really and truly becoming his Body. We take on his flesh as he took on our flesh. We are one with him – intimately united in divine life and love.
And then, in another moment of insight, I saw the Mass as a wedding ceremony, uniting all of us to him as his Church, his bride, with whom we are intimately united.
Consider the Mass as a marriage ceremony:
· The procession into the church is the meeting and greeting of the future bride and groom.
· The penitential rite is the apology lovers make to each other for their inadequacies (although Christ never offends us).
· The Liturgy of the Word is the “getting to know you” period, the courtship.
· The offertory is the proposal and engagement.
· The Great Amen is the vow lovers take.
· Reception of the Eucharist is the “First and Lasting Food” for the couple. (For all of us, it is the consummation of the spiritual, holy and glorious marriage of Christ and his Church.)
· The dismissal, “Go in peace,” is the marching orders to go out and live the union with God in such a way that others want to become what we have become – the Body of Christ.
In baptism we are begin to live the divine life of God himself. He draws us into the divinity and joy of the Most Holy Trinity. We live as one with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Then at the Mass, we have this “marriage feast of the Lamb,” a dynamic and dramatic, face-to-face meeting with Christ. This special encounter deepens and strengthens our union with him. With every Mass and Communion we are invited to dive deeper into the mystery of God’s love and life. We are one with God. God is so great and vast we can never get to the end of him.
But we go deeper and deeper – until at last, we achieve full union with him – and with all the other saints in heaven.
Written by Deacon Henry Liebersat of St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, Altamonte Springs, FL. Used with permission of Deacon Henry.