The mass related to the whole doctrine of the Church

[jimmy]

I was wondering if since the mass on Sunday can be connected with heaven, would it be safe to say that our goal during the week should be to prepare ourselves for Sunday mass. Should our goal on monday be to prepare ourselves for the following Sunday, just as our overall goal for life should be preparation for death and judgement? I am kind of relating the week to the whole doctrine of the Church. Preparation during the week(Justification), penance before mass(judgement and purgation), and the culmination with the mass(heavenly worship of God and His Lamb). Or am I just throwing out some strange idea?

 

[Topher]

jimmy:

I was wondering if since the mass on Sunday can be connected with heaven, would it be safe to say that our goal during the week should be to prepare ourselves for Sunday mass. Should our goal on monday be to prepare ourselves for the following Sunday, just as our overall goal for life should be preparation for death and judgement? I am kind of relating the week to the whole doctrine of the Church. Preparation during the week(Justification), penance before mass(judgement and purgation), and the culmination with the mass(heavenly worship of God and His Lamb). Or am I just throwing out some strange idea?

You’re not throwing out something funny at all. The ccc says that the mass is the source and summit our faith. If this is true, then the mass should be the center of our lives. We should prepare for it all the time and draw strength from it all the time. There is a sense in which the mass is our faith becasue all sacred dorctrine is contained in the mass, it is prelude to the heavenly marriage banquet of christ and his church, it is the holy sacrifice in which calvary and the resurrection become present, the sacrifce that makes our faith and sacraments possible, the entire church is present, glorious, suffering, and triumphant. The mass surrounds our entire faith, so I think that what you have stated above is simply good insight.

 

[Verbum_Caro]

Jimmy,

I agree with Topher, your insight into the Mass as preparation for the eternal banquet is very good.

Let me add this: since the Eucharist is both the summit (i.e. the goal) and the source (i.e. the origin) of our Faith, perhaps we can also look at Sunday Mass in the following manner:

Before Christ’s great act of love and his redemptive work, the Israelites celebrated the Sabbath day as a day of rest, because God finished the work of creation on the sixth day, and on the seventh day He rested.

Christ fulfilled all the commandments perfectly, and He fulfilled this one superabundantly as well. Christ’s work of redemption (the NEW creation) was also finished on the sixth day, Good Friday, on Calvary. He “rested” on the seventh day, the Sabbath, in the tomb.

But when He rose from the dead – well that was an entirely new event. That day, Sunday (the first day of the week), was the Lord’s Day – and was so set apart as to be called (figuratively) the EIGHTH DAY because the old work of creation has passed away and a NEW creation began – Christ the first born of the Dead.

So, Sunday the Day of the Lord’s Ressurection is at once both the 8th day (as to set it apart from the old order) and the first day of the new creation.

Old calendars, diaries, schedules, etc always had Sunday as the first day of the week – which makes sense because Saturday was the 7th day of rest (the Sabbath – and still is for Jews).

I find it mentally difficult to remember that Sunday is the first day of the week. i think perhaps because Monday is when we “go to work” and it has been elevated to the day when things “get done”. But isn’t Sunday the real day when things get done? I wonder if the term “weekend” actually meant the two ends of the week (the beginning end and the terminal end – Sunday and Saturday). As time went on I think we have shifted to the idea that the “weekend” are the last two days of the week.

Anyway, in addition to your excellent meditation on the eschatological meaning of Sunday, I would also add the above so that we may view Sunday as the beginning of the week, and view the grace of Sunday Mass flowing into the rest of the week like a river.

Just sharing some thoughts!
What do you think?

VC

 

[gusano]

jimmy:

I was wondering if
**since the mass on Sunday can be connected with heaven, **would it be safe to say that our goal during the week should be to prepare ourselves for Sunday mass. Should our goal on monday be to prepare ourselves for the following Sunday, just as our overall goal for life should be preparation for death and judgement? I am kind of relating the week to the whole doctrine of the Church. Preparation during the week(Justification), penance before mass(judgement and purgation), and the culmination with the mass(heavenly worship of God and His Lamb). Or am I just throwing out some strange idea?

Excellent post Jimmy,
I find that The Mass, when viewed from Scripture, and when we live connected from That Fountain of Living Water…
becomes The New Living Path described in Heb. 10: 20

…that means living connected to The Eucharistic Liturgy, and allowing The Holy Spirit to lead us through the entire week

Then that becomes for us The Exodus which Jesus came to accomplish (in Like 9: 31)

Not only that, I also find that occasionally He "pulls back The veil "… for a moment, while we are worshipping
and allows us to catch a glimpse of His Majestic Glory !

What a beautiful mystery The Mass is !
Last Saturday my daughter and I arrived early and I knelt down to ask for the Grace to offer my body as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12: 1)
getting ready when our Priest invites us to ** “Lift up your hearts”
** and we say; "We lift them up to the Lord"
I began to see the Magnificient Glory of Jesus in and around The Altar…
I could hardly contain my self, tears running down my cheeks like rivers, down onto my chest…
and Mass had not even started yet !

What do you suppose we have available there, that we are not in the least aware of…?

gusano

 

[awalt]

If you read the Lamb’s Supper by Scott Hahn, he says something very similar - that the Mass is actually Heaven on earth, and we are celebrating it with all the saints and angels in heaven. Of course we all also know that Christ is there as the Priest and the victim of the perfect sacrifice.

He really explains it well. It really gives you a great appreciation for the Mass!

 

[jimmy]

So the mass can be looked at as the first and the eigth day. The first being our redemption on the cross, the eigth being heaven. Everything in between is preparation for the eigth day. Both occur at the same time though.

 

[jimmy]

awalt:

If you read the Lamb’s Supper by Scott Hahn, he says something very similar - that the Mass is actually Heaven on earth, and we are celebrating it with all the saints and angels in heaven. Of course we all also know that Christ is there as the Priest and the victim of the perfect sacrifice.

He really explains it well. It really gives you a great appreciation for the Mass!

I have read Scott Hahn’s book. That is not exactly my point. What I am trying to say is to relate the mass and the week between with the salvation process of man. In the mass we have Christ crucified for our sins. We are then sent out into the world to preach and perfect our souls in preparation for Heaven which occurs on Sunday with the sacrifice. In relation to the judgement we are supposed to confess our sins before recieving The Eucharist and we also have the penitential rite at the beginning of Mass.

I may be taking it a little far with my view of it.

 

[gusano]

jimmy:

I have read Scott Hahn’s book. That is not exactly my point. What I am trying to say is
** (A)…to relate the mass and the week between with the salvation process of man… **
In the mass we have Christ crucified for our sins. We are then sent out into the world to preach and
** (B) …perfect our souls** in preparation for Heaven which occurs on Sunday with the sacrifice…
In relation to the judgement we are supposed to confess our sins before recieving The Eucharist and we also have the penitential rite at the beginning of Mass.

I may be taking it a little far with my view of it.

Hi Jimmy,

(A)…I don’t understand how you bring in “Eight day week” in there…
Where does "eight-day-week come from ?
Seems to me a more direct way would be (when The Priest invites us to “Lift up our hearts…”)
to **…“offer our bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, your spiritual worship.” ** (Romans 12: 1)
because That is Scriptural, and I don’t ever recall reading an “eight- day- week” in my Holy Catholic Bible.

(B)…Now, I agree that our souls are made Holy on the Altar…(provided we actually do OFFER OUR BODIES… with His OFFER on the Altar)
and are not there merely as" spectators" or “passers-by”
or “fulfilling some obligation”

According To Jesus, He makes our “Gift” Holy … on the Altar. (Matt. 23: 19)

In the same way that when we “PLACE” our dirty clothes in the Washing Machine… after the process, It gives them back to us “CLEAN.”

What an Awesome Experience Mass is !

gusano

 

[jimmy]

gusano:

Hi Jimmy,

(A)…I don’t understand how you bring in “Eight day week” in there…
Where does "eight-day-week come from ?
Seems to me a more direct way would be (when The Priest invites us to “Lift up our hearts…”)
to **…“offer our bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, your spiritual worship.” **(Romans 12: 1)
because That is Scriptural, and I don’t ever recall reading an “eight- day- week” in my Holy Catholic Bible.

(B)…Now, I agree that our souls are made Holy on the Altar…(provided we actually do OFFER OUR BODIES… with His OFFER on the Altar)
and are not there merely as" spectators" or “passers-by”
or “fulfilling some obligation”

According To Jesus, He makes our “Gift” Holy … on the Altar. (Matt. 23: 19)

In the same way that when we “PLACE” our dirty clothes in the Washing Machine… after the process, It gives them back to us “CLEAN.”

What an Awesome Experience Mass is !

gusano

Thats not the point. I just used the term because someone above used it. It is only a way of looking at it.