The Mass
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THE "GIFT" THAT KEEPS ON GIVING...
THE MASS
"[Christ] he [constantly enters] ... into the Holy Place, ... thus securing an eternal redemption." (Heb 9:12)
The preceding is a quote from Pope John Paul II's book, "On The Threshold of Hope".
Someone I know presented this quote to me saying, "That the Holy Father changed the verse to fit Catholic theology, when in fact this very same verse disproves the notion of the Mass!"
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Is this so?
The following is a small part of my response.
God's time is different from our time. We have "linear'' time - past, present & future. God, on the other hand, experiences everything "at once". God's name is "I Am Who Am". "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." [Heb. 13:8]
So, the point in time when Jesus offered up Himself for our sins exists somewhere in God's time and never ends. I hope you can follow where I am leading. Somewhere in time Jesus is literally "entering into the heavenly Sanctuary" right now and forever.
Remember the vision St. John had in Revelation, he saw a "Lamb" in heaven but as though "slain", the Sacrifice of Calvary still goes on in heaven! [Rev. 5:6]
In the Gospel of John the "Beloved Disciple" starts his Gospel with the "First Miracle" of Jesus "The Wedding Feast of Cana" and St. John ends his Book of Revelation with the "Marriage Supper of the Lamb"!
[Jn. 2:1ff] "On the third day there was a marriage at Cana..."
The ancient Jews believed that God was going to provide them with a "Feast" [Is. 25:6] in Heaven. They were thinking "Leviathan" (the sea monster) would be the main course (Barclay), but God had another idea! He gave them His only Son - in Eucharist. The sacrificial Lamb.
St. John starts his Gospel with Jesus providing the "good wine" [Jn. 2:10] to the guests. We can see in Rev.13-22 - 7 chalices (bowls) that are poured out climaxing with the "Marriage Supper of the Lamb" [Rev. 19:9]!
Chapters 4-11, ongoing vision of liturgical worship in heaven.
Closing with the Marriage Supper of the Lamb & the New Jerusalem descending from heaven!
Marriage Supper of the Lamb & the New Jerusalem descending from heaven!Q. Jesus gets married at the "Marriage Supper of the Lamb", who is He marrying?
A. He is marrying us - the Church - we are the bride!
O.K. so, Christ is marrying the Church. Why say the "Marriage Supper of the Lamb?"
Because that is where Christ marries the Church! At the Eucharistic Banquet!
Q. What is the climax of the Liturgy?
A. When Christ feeds His bride! (Only we get much more than cake!)
"I stand at the door and knock, if you hear my voice and open the door I will come in and sup with you and you with me."
Q. What are they going to eat?
John doesn't tell us until the end of the Book of Revelation at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
Why? Because Christ is the New Covenant Passover.
He is the Lamb slain for our sin - He is the Lamb that we must also eat and drink His blood.
In the Holy Eucharist, in Holy Communion - as the Bride of Christ - we are being united to the marital Covenant that we call the New Covenant, every time the Eucharist is celebrated!
The Apocalypse is the "KEY" that unlocks it!
Because it is divided into (2) parts: the first part involves a Book that is read (Liturgy of the Word)- the second half, culminates in a supper where Christ gives Himself to His Bride as the Passover Lamb (Liturgy of the Eucharist)!
Some think we have the Mass and the Sacraments because Catholics believe (they mistakenly think), Christ's finished work isn't enough.
Rather, we have the Mass and the Sacraments because they were established by Jesus!
"Imitation of Christ"
by Thomas A. Kempis
"Let us thank God for having given us the grace of being ... in the Catholic Church where the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is known and constitutes one of the principal articles of Faith which she proposes for our belief. Let us pray God to keep us always in the true Church. Staunch and unwavering in our true faith, let us receive this heavenly food with fervor, and prepare ourselves to receive it worthily."
Prayer:
Excite O Lord, in your servant an ardent desire and fervor for the Bread of Life, the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And at the same time inspire in me the right and holy dispositions necessary to receive It worthily. Amen.
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In the Gospel of Matthew starting with chapter 21, Jesus was heading for His death in Jerusalem.
In v. 33 He begins to tell the parable of the "unfaithful tenants".
In v. 45; "When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them."
In chapter 22 He begins with the parable of the "Wedding Feast".
FCD, p477, "Jesus vividly depicts the bliss of Heaven under the picture of a wedding feast (Mt. 25:10, 22:1ff; Lk. 14:15ff) and calls it life or eternal life. (Cf. Mt. 18:8ff, 19:29, 25:46; Jn. 3:15ff, 4:14, 5:24, 6:35-59, 10:28, 12:25, 17:2). The condition for achieving life everlasting is the knowledge of God and of Christ: "Now this is eternal life: That they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou has sent" (Jn. 17:3). He promises the vision of God to the pure of heart: "Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God in this world (1 Cor. 13:12; 2 Cor.5:7).
(ME) The proper attire is required to enter the "Wedding Feast"; "But when the King came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment;" [Mt. 22:11, RSV * The wedding garment represents the dispositions necessary for admission to the kingdom]. If we are not properly attired we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. The garment is "the white robe" [Rev. 3:5]. "The fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints" [Rev. 19:8]. Worn by, "People who have not soiled their garments" [Rev. 3:4], those who are, "holy and blameless" [Eph. 1:4], continually "striving for "the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." [Heb. 12:14]
Righteousness: "right" attitude toward God, p. 17, footnotes, [Genesis 15:6].
Goodness, virtuousness, uprightness, sinlessness; the perfection of God; and historically, man's state of justification through the Redemption.
The "Gift" that keeps on giving!
[Heb. 9:24] "For Christ has entered, not into a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf." (In other words, He is appearing in heaven on our behalf as our high priest offering a sacrifice of Himself and then turning around and giving us gifts in His own tent, in His own blood, to empower us to do what He's done.)
(ME)notice the phrase "has entered" indicating past tense, also, "now to appear" indicating present tense. This whole section of Scripture is talking about an ongoing event, Jesus "is the mediator of a New Covenant" [9:15], that also happened "once for all" [9:12]! Remember, "There are some things in them [St. Paul's Letters] hard to understand," [2 Peter 3:16].
Paul, in very few words, is trying his best to express this "same" idea that God's "TIME" is somehow different from our "TIME"! [Heb. 9:11ff] (11) "But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (v. 9, the "outer tent" = "present age" or the Old Covenant, then "the greater and more perfect tent" would have to be the New Covenant) (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) (12) he entered once for all into the Holy Place (Heaven) (in our time He went into heaven in the PAST), taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing - Jesus is in heaven at this point - and time is now different) an eternal redemption. (eternal redemption can mean our redemption is forever, not just until the next sacrifice as under the Old Covenant, and it can also mean that the "redemption" is "eternal" = ongoing throughout eternity (perpetual), in other words, a redemption that never stops redeeming. Like the energizer bunny!).
Or in our Holy Father's words; to paraphrase: "Through the shedding of His own blood, Jesus Christ constantly, is "securing an eternal redemption"' (cf. Heb. 9:12b).