The Sacrifice of the Mass = Eternity X Time

Victor Ajluni externit time

How often do we go to Mass? Some of us go daily, others weekly. Still others show up for Christmas, Easter, weddings and funerals. I propose that if we truly knew what was happening in the Sacrifice of the Mass, we would not only go daily (if our duties allow); but, we would be trying to get everyone else to do the same. Why shouldn’t we? We all want to go to Heaven, right?   Thanks be to God we can-at every Mass. Bear with me as I attempt to condense an eternal truth to a couple of pages.

As I’ve aged, I have noticed what countless others have noticed before me: time seems to go by faster. Of course, in reality, it does not. It simply feels that way. In thinking on this, I’ve come to the conclusion that this phenomenon is God’s way of preparing us for the “eternal now” that is Heaven. There is no past or future. There is only now. We see “time” as an ever-blurring progression of events.   God sees all things as they are-all at once. Consider this from Edward Schillebeeckx in Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter With God:

“In and through the liturgical mystery of worship that is his sacrifice on the Cross, against the background of the whole of his life in God’s service, the being of the Son of God as “from the Father” and “to the Father” is fully revealed and given reality on the human plane of his sonship. The divine procession of the Son from the Father and his eternal return are completely revealed and made human reality in the man Jesus in the supreme moment of his life: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit”-into thy hands I lay down my life. “

Consider the following from the books of Revelation and Hebrews:

“And all that dwell upon the earth adored him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb which was slain from the beginning of the world.” (Rev 13:8)

“And I saw: and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the ancients, a Lamb standing, as it were slain” (Rev. 5:6).

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8).

In other words, the eternally “now” action of total self-giving of the Son to the Father is made manifest in our midst-the “eternal now” has broken into time. In the Mass, the same occurs. Time and eternity intersect like the beams of Christ’s cross.

In order to better grasp this great truth, it’s important to go backwards in time to the worship of the Old Covenant. In the Jewish Temple, which was a microcosm of Heaven and Earth [the Earthly being a COPY of the Heavenly and a sign of the “good things that were to come” (Heb 10:1)] there were many items.  For example, on the Heavenly side of the veil stood the Ark of the Covenant, which contained “types” of Christ, including the MIRACULOUS manna, which fed the Israelites in the wilderness.  (Have you ever heard of miraculous bread contained in a golden box?) Consider:

    “This Dwelling and all its furnishings you shall make exactly according to the pattern that I will now show you.” (Ex. 28:19)

“See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain” (Ex. 25:40).

“They worship in a copy and shadow of the Heavenly sanctuary, as Moses was warned when he was about to erect the tabernacle. For he says, “See that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain” (Heb 8:5).

“Since the law has only a shadow of the good thingsto come, and not the very image of them” (Heb 10:1).

In other words, the worship of the Israelites was a copy of the Heavenly worship. Not only that, it was God’s way of getting the world ready for the worship of the Father which would be for all peoples “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23).

Now, unless you think that the Heavenly worship is not “in spirit and in truth,” there are great implications for the Christian worship God intended for us. If the Old Covenant worship is a copy and shadow of “spirit and truth,” then what can the New Covenant worship be other than a participation in the heavenly worship?

On the Earthly side of the veil of the Old Covenant tabernacle (among other things) was a golden table with the Bread of the Presence, which was set out on the Sabbath and was so holy only the priests could eat it.

But now, we enter INTO the worship on the HEAVENLY side of the veil:

    No, you have approached (PRESENT TENSE) Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel” (Heb 12:22-24).

If the EARTHLY side of the veil contained the holy Bread of the PRESENCE and the HEAVENLY side contained the MIRACULOUS manna, we need to ask just WHO the FULFILLMENT of that miraculous manna is.  Jesus tells us:

    “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the BREAD that I will give is my FLESH for the life of the world” (John 6:48-51).

Let me conclude with a quote from The Most Holy Eucharist, by Fr Thomas McGovern:

“No man can offer adequate praise and thanksgiving to God, but the Mass bridges the gulf so that Christ, by uniting us with his Mystical Body, the Church, through Baptism and by sharing with us his priesthood and making us co-offerers of himself in the Mass, enables us to reach from earth to the highest heavens, to give God a gift that is worthy of him and to offer him adoration and thanks.”

We give ourselves to the Father through the Son and get God in return-body, blood, soul and divinity. God’s love cannot stop giving.

The next time you are at Holy Mass and look upon the Host and chalice while hearing the words “Through Him and with Him and in Him, oh God Almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours forever and ever,” let your “Amen” ring loud; the angels and saints are beside you.

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4 thoughts on “The Sacrifice of the Mass = Eternity X Time”

  1. Pingback: Pastoral Sharings: "Trinity Sunday" | St. John

  2. Pingback: Chiara Corbella: A Witness to Joy - BigPulpit.com

  3. “The next time you are at Holy Mass and look upon the Host and chalice while hearing the words “Through Him and with Him and in Him, oh God Almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours forever and ever,” let your “Amen” ring loud; the angels and saints are beside you.” AMEN!

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