31 Aug Thu
Adoro Te Devote (IV): How well do we attend Holy Mass?
Jesus, whom now veiled I see,
Bestow on me what I so thirst for;
That I may see your countenance,
Blessed forever in your glory.”
If the Mass were only a meal, then Calvary would be no more than an execution.
Jesus’ priestly offering at the Last Supper transformed his crucifixion at Calvary from an execution into a sacrifice. And thus, God’s ancient promises were brought to fulfillment.
“Having in our souls the same sentiments as Christ on the Cross, we will make our entire life into one ceaseless act of atonement; it will be a constant petition and a permanent sacrifice on behalf of all mankind. Our Lord will make it instinctive for you –supernaturally instinctive– to purify all your actions, raise them up to the order of grace, and turn them into instruments of apostolate. Only thus can we become contemplative souls in the middle of the world, as our Christian vocation requires, and be truly priestly souls, so that everything in us becomes a continuous act of praise of God.”
We must love the Holy Mass and make it the center of our day, uniting to it all our resolutions, our concerns and our joys. “My son, my daughter, St Josemaría writes, think about the Holy Mass: how we should celebrate or attend it. Consider how the Angels are there. Consider that what you are doing or taking part in is something divine. Think how, on the altar, Christ is offering himself once more for you and for me. And you will earnestly desire to imitate him in his humility, in the way he empties himself completely in the Host; and you will be filled with thanksgiving and adoration, desires of reparation, and petitions. You will offer yourself up, your arms outstretched, as another Christ, ipse Christus (Christ himself), ready to be nailed to the sweet wood of the Cross for love of souls.”
We want to love Jesus for those who do not love him; for those who desecrate the sacred Hosts; for those who unnecessarily place them in plastic containers. We want to atone for all the indignities they foist against the Blessed Sacrament.
In union with our Blessed Mother, we learn to enter more deeply into the mystery of the Altar so that “our whole life may be a continuation of our last Mass and a preparation for the next one,” until one day it merges into the praise and thanksgiving of the blessed in heaven.
Listen to the podcast: