The other day, I spoke of how central the Mass is to a proper understanding of what Christmas is all about because Christmas is "Christ's Mass" . One must go to Mass to experience Christmas in its fullness.
"Mass" is just one of several terms that are used to refer to the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is so full of inexhaustible meaning that there are many terms used to refer to it ( "Lord's Supper", "Holy Sacrifice"," Memorial", just to name a few). "Mass" is just one of those terms. A list of all those terms and their meanings can be found in paragraphs 1328-1332 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Eucharist means "thanksgiving" and Mass means "sent forth" (missio). At Mass, we give thanks by participating in the one sacrifice of Christ for our salvation and because we unite ourselves to Him in that Sacrifice, we also rise with Him into heavenly glory. We are then sent forth (missio) from this Sacrifice to live the Paschal Mystery by our dying to self and rising to Him in our daily life, and to announce this Mystery to others, and invite them to experience the realness of it in the Eucharist, where it is experienced in a way it is not anywhere else.
As I said the other day, all this wonderful stuff would not be a reality if Christ did not incarnate Himself among us so He could be sacrificed. We cannot exclude the reality of the sacrifice on the Cross from our celebration of Christmas, (which Catholics do not because they go to Mass on Christmas). We are not just throwing a birthday party for His birthday. We are celebrating the reality that He incarnated Himself for us, so He could sacrifice Himself for us. Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said that Christ was the only person ever born to die. The rest of us were born for life, but Jesus was born to die. This is what Christmas is all about, Christ coming down to be sacrificed, His Mass!
The Blessed Mother is another figure we all know is tied intimately with Christmas. Today's beautiful reading at Mass, in fact, was the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38) , where it was announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary by an angel that she would bear the Son of God. The angel says that Mary is "full of grace", and has "found favor with God". The same angel says about Jesus that "he will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
What a holy moment! So much grace poured out to the world!
Grace is also poured out in supernatural abundance at every celebration of the Eucharist. Just like I said the other day regarding Christmas and its Eucharistic symbolism and connection, I also do not think the Eucharistic character of Mary is fully understood and appreciated. Back in August of 2015, I wrote a post that discussed a little bit the connection between Mary and the Eucharist. I feel it fitting to repost a portion of it here.
There is a tremendous connection between Mary and the Eucharist. Saint John Paul II in 2003 in his Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia (Church from the Eucharist) wrote:
"Mary is present, with the Church and as the Mother of the Church, at each of our celebrations of the Eucharist. If the Church and the Eucharist are inseparably united, the same ought to be said of Mary and the Eucharist" (n. 57).
The Holy Father pointed out three specific ways there is a connection between the two.
1) The Eucharist in an invitation to obedience in faith, and there is no one better than Mary to help us acquire this disposition. Mary had to take a leap of faith when the angel told her of her pending giving of birth (Luke 1:30). She also told the people at the wedding at Cana "Do whatever he tells you." (John 2:5) (They were doubting that Our Blessed Lord could provide wine, but she told them to have faith.) It takes a measure of faith to believe in the Real Presence and Mary can help us with that better than anyone.
2) The Eucharist is a sacrifice, a re-presentation of the Passion, and Mary was more intimately tied to the Passion than anyone. From the beginning of Our Lord's life, when Mary offered him at the Temple (Luke 2:22) , to being at the foot of the Cross (John 19:19), to being a recipient of Our Lord in Communion at the first Eucharistic celebrations of the apostles, Mary lived a life of sacrificial desire and offering, and she can help us more than anyone to unite ourselves with the Sacrifice of the Mass. On Calvary, Our Lord told John "Behold, your mother!" (John 19:27) . Since the Mass is a representation of Calvary, you can say He says the same thing to us at every Mass.
3) The Eucharist means "thanksgiving" and the perfect prayer of thanksgiving is Mary's Magnificat; she can help us with this disposition better than anyone. The Magnificat refers to that hymn of praise Mary proclaimed at the Visitation (Luke 1:46-55). It is said every evening by the Church. The most relevant line from that beautiful hymn, in my eyes at least, is "He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty." What better thing could He fill us with than His Own Body and Blood?
Devotion to Mary, then, will naturally lead one to the Eucharist. Going to Mass, and participating in the sacrificial offering that is the Eucharist, can only lead one to appreciate Mary more and more. If anyone says that he or she has a love for one, but not the other, I ask that you be open to the Lord to develop your faith more deeply, or perhaps the faith you have is not authentic and you need to start over down a better path.
If you really want to love Christmas, you must learn to love the Mass. If you really want to love Mary, you must learn to love the Mass. Love the Mass, and watch the many other "loves" of your life grow and blossom like they never have before.
Please go to Mass this Christmas!
Joseph, spouse of the Mother of God, pray for us.
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