Jul 9 Thu
Should I attend the Mass as if it were “a presentation”?
Pope Leo XIV called on the faithful not to be passive spectators at Mass, but to offer themselves in union with Jesus Christ.
At the Last Supper, on the night when He was betrayed, our Savior instituted the eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood. He did this to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the centuries until He should come again, and so to entrust to His beloved spouse, the Church, a memorial of His death and resurrection.
He underlined:
When St. Augustine seeks to explain the mystery of the Body of Christ to the newly baptized, he mentions the passage from St. Paul: “You are the body of Christ, and each of you is a part of it.”
And he added: You receive the mystery that is yourselves. To what you are, you answer ‘Amen,’ and by responding thus, you affirm it.
So, you hear: ‘Body of Christ,’ and you respond: ‘Amen.’
Be a member of the Body of Christ, so that your ‘Amen’ may be truthful. Be what you see, and receive what you are.
For Christians, taking part in the Lord’s table means being ‘instructed by God’s word and nourished, giving thanks to God.’
These two parts of the Mass—the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist— are so closely united that they constitute a single act of worship.
Concerning the Word of God, it is important to remember that it is not merely a matter of acquiring intellectual knowledge of the Scriptures, but of receiving the Word that is “living and effective,” spoken by God to everyone and at the same time to each individual.
This Word nourishes and sustains us together with the Eucharistic Bread and leads us from the decay of sin to new life in Christ.
By receiving Him in His Word and in the Eucharist, we become what we receive. We become the Body whose Head is the risen Christ, seated at the right hand of the Father, who prepares a place for us in heaven.
The Eucharist is thus the sacrament of the Kingdom to come. It is the Bread for the journey, which leads us toward our heavenly homeland, until that blessed day when “God will be all in all.”
The liturgical assembly offers the Sacrifice “not only through the hands of the priest, but together with him.” From this perspective, the Eucharist is the form of the spiritual sacrifice of Christians, as the path to union with God and mutual union.
By incorporating us into Christ, the Eucharist teaches us to adopt the very style of life of the Lord Jesus, which was marked by the gift of Himself. This gift draws us into the dynamic of unity, offering a powerful antidote to the forces of division that undermine our world, our communities, our families, and our hearts.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us draw with faith from this source of divine life and allow ourselves to be transformed by the mystery we celebrate.