I
InThePew
Guest
Jesus is the presence of the absence of God. That’s a perfectly good theological statement but doesn’t sound right; for one thing God isn’t supposed to be absent. Saying Jesus is the image of the invisible God doesn’t help much either. Not for nothing is the incarnation one of the most difficult mysteries to understand but in a way that kind of way it’s also the easiest. It’s not difficult to understand who Jesus is because he is like us, but is also Immanuel - God with us.
God came here on earth, took on our nature, touched us, healed us, raised us from the dead. More than this, he delivered himself into the hands of those who hate him, allowing himself to be stripped, beaten, raised on the cross for the world to see a world which did not know him.
The same sacrifice is at the heart of what mass is about, made present in the Eucharist, each time, and every place that mass is celebrated. Our role isn’t simply as spectators, passively watching what unfolds in front of us, but instead as active participants. Christ calls us to give ourselves to him as he gives himself to us – not only do we offer the sacrifice; we are the sacrifice offered on the altar, along with the bread and wine, to be transformed into the body and blood of Christ. Just as the host is not simply bread that somehow contains the body of Christ, so too we become what we receive united with the body and blood blessed, broken and poured out for us - one body, one spirit in Christ.
This is why TV or Internet mass can never satisfy; this sacrifice is what we were separated from and longed for during lockdown and, even now, a liturgy or receiving the Eucharist outside of mass can never be an adequate substitute.
As we heard in the gospel, the sacrifice leads us to true life, sharing the living bread come down from heaven who lives in us and us in him. Christ becomes present to finish the work the Father gave him, and we too have a share in this work. He comes to live in our hearts, to lead us to love God and love our neighbor in God but we still have to respond, still have to lift up our hearts to the Lord.
By recognizing Christ in what we receive, saying Amen in response to what we’re offered, we acknowledge not only Christ’s real and living presence but also respond to the invitation to become one with him sharing his sacrifice, suffering, and love. By sharing in this sacred feast of love, we share Christ’s life with each other as members of the one body; taking what we receive out into the world so others too may not live by bread alone.
So our faith must be more than a series of routine responses, automatic actions, but a response to the call and challenge to recommit ourselves to Christ each day, working with the help of the grace we receive in the sacrament to give our lives to him who leads us through the wilderness, knowing that we who come to him will never hunger, who believe in him will never thirst, but nourished by his body and blood will be kept safe for eternal life.
God came here on earth, took on our nature, touched us, healed us, raised us from the dead. More than this, he delivered himself into the hands of those who hate him, allowing himself to be stripped, beaten, raised on the cross for the world to see a world which did not know him.
The same sacrifice is at the heart of what mass is about, made present in the Eucharist, each time, and every place that mass is celebrated. Our role isn’t simply as spectators, passively watching what unfolds in front of us, but instead as active participants. Christ calls us to give ourselves to him as he gives himself to us – not only do we offer the sacrifice; we are the sacrifice offered on the altar, along with the bread and wine, to be transformed into the body and blood of Christ. Just as the host is not simply bread that somehow contains the body of Christ, so too we become what we receive united with the body and blood blessed, broken and poured out for us - one body, one spirit in Christ.
This is why TV or Internet mass can never satisfy; this sacrifice is what we were separated from and longed for during lockdown and, even now, a liturgy or receiving the Eucharist outside of mass can never be an adequate substitute.
As we heard in the gospel, the sacrifice leads us to true life, sharing the living bread come down from heaven who lives in us and us in him. Christ becomes present to finish the work the Father gave him, and we too have a share in this work. He comes to live in our hearts, to lead us to love God and love our neighbor in God but we still have to respond, still have to lift up our hearts to the Lord.
By recognizing Christ in what we receive, saying Amen in response to what we’re offered, we acknowledge not only Christ’s real and living presence but also respond to the invitation to become one with him sharing his sacrifice, suffering, and love. By sharing in this sacred feast of love, we share Christ’s life with each other as members of the one body; taking what we receive out into the world so others too may not live by bread alone.
So our faith must be more than a series of routine responses, automatic actions, but a response to the call and challenge to recommit ourselves to Christ each day, working with the help of the grace we receive in the sacrament to give our lives to him who leads us through the wilderness, knowing that we who come to him will never hunger, who believe in him will never thirst, but nourished by his body and blood will be kept safe for eternal life.