The Mass as Heaven on Earth

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So I’ve been reading Scott Hahn’s book, “The Lamb’s Supper: The Mass As Heaven On Earth” and I have a few question. Hahn writes, “At Mass, we’re already in heaven! That’s not just me saying so, or a handful of dead theologians. The Catechism says so”. This is Magisterial teaching, not to be questioned by Catholics (I am not Catholic so I have the luxury of questioning for now until I have arrived at a position beyond all doubt).

My question is this: If mass is truly Heaven on earth, then how can it exist alongside the apathy, sinfulness, and sometimes irreverence of the laity and priests? Some people even swear during mass or whisper to one another. That doesn’t seem to be consistent with “the worship of Heaven” unless the presence of heaven is truly independent of man. How can Heaven intermingle with the elements of Hell? Maybe I don’t have a solid understanding of Heaven or Hell.

Whenever I go to mass, I do not sense that I am in the presence of Heaven. Instead, I struggle with boredom. Please, understand that I am not insulting the Mass. I am just relating the experiences of one individual for whatever its worth. Perhaps you might be thinking, “emotion does not matter in worship, only the will and the intellect” to which I respond: Worship encompasses the whole person. Emotions are valuable too. Pious affective responses such as reverence are necessary for worship. Emotions should not be dismissed to the realm of the “purely subjective”.
 
God dwells in each and every person, yet we still do bad things in our daily lives. Our poor choices, though, do not affect the reality. How could God choose to dwell in such imperfect beings? Because he loves us.

I think, in the liturgy, Heaven is on Earth, but it does not erase the free will of the people to do less-than perfect things. God was made man in the person of Jesus, and I’m sure some of his disciples swore and spit and whispered to each other, maybe even during the sermon on the mount. But He loves us, and he calls us to love Him.

Mass is an invitation to know Jesus more intimately, and some people don’t try hard enough, and it’s pretty scandalous, but it does not affect the reality that at every Mass, Jesus comes down to us and we worship him in the presence of all the angels and saints.
 
Stephen_says said:
God dwells in each and every person, yet we still do bad things in our daily lives. Our poor choices, though, do not affect the reality. How could God choose to dwell in such imperfect beings? Because he loves us.

I think, in the liturgy, Heaven is on Earth, but it does not erase the free will of the people to do less-than perfect things. God was made man in the person of Jesus, and I’m sure some of his disciples swore and spit and whispered to each other, maybe even during the sermon on the mount. But He loves us, and he calls us to love Him.

Mass is an invitation to know Jesus more intimately, and some people don’t try hard enough, and it’s pretty scandalous, but it does not affect the reality that at every Mass, Jesus comes down to us and we worship him in the presence of all the angels and saints.
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I agree - good answer IMO.
paduard
 
I view the statement as a sort of pious or poetic license meant to help us appreciate the wondrous beauty and value of the Mass. In the strictly literal sense, I’m hoping heaven has a little more to offer.😉
 
felsguy said:
I view the statement as a sort of pious or poetic license meant to help us appreciate the wondrous beauty and value of the Mass. In the strictly literal sense, I’m hoping heaven has a little more to offer.😉
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Not according to Magisterial teaching it isn’t. It is literally a union between Heaven and earth. I understand where you’re coming from though because that’s how my mind is naturally inclined to understand the Mass. To think that most people believe Heaven to be an otherworldly plane of existence where people and angels exist without sin while passing Heaven on a congested highway being honked at by an impatient driver. We all long to escape the world’s pains and sorrows but only by resigning ourselves to our present condition can we truly find Heaven in the mundane. We need to rid ourselves of the painted pictures we often think of when trying to imagine what Heaven is like. Until then, we can never access it.
 
Jesus does what he does at Mass regardless of what many sinners may do or fail to do.
 
Jon_Mallory said:
Not according to Magisterial teaching it isn’t. It is literally a union between Heaven and earth. I understand where you’re coming from though because that’s how my mind is naturally inclined to understand the Mass. To think that most people believe Heaven to be an otherworldly plane of existence where people and angels exist without sin while passing Heaven on a congested highway being honked at by an impatient driver. We all long to escape the world’s pains and sorrows but only by resigning ourselves to our present condition can we truly find Heaven in the mundane. We need to rid ourselves of the painted pictures we often think of when trying to imagine what Heaven is like. Until then, we can never access it.
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Can’t say that i agree with you here. Not sure I understand what you mean by “otherworldly plane of existence where people and angels exist without sin” but I should think that is indeed an apt although obviously incomplete “description” of heaven. Again, to say that we can find Heaven (or even get a glimpse of the reality of the promised afterlife) in the mundane “by resigning ourselves to our present condition” strikes me as questionable asceticism. Given the limitations of the human mind, I shouldn’t think that having a less than accurate vision of heaven would disqualify one from accessing it.
 
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