“Blessed are we: what pleases God has been revealed to us.” [i] The disciple of Christ is called to enter into His sacrifice, His offering to the Father. We cannot say, “We have in our day no prince, prophet, or leader…sacrifice, oblation, or incense, no place to offer first fruits, to find favor with you.”[ii] Each of us, by our Holy Baptism into Christ, shares in His three-fold mission as priest, prophet and king, and we hope to share in His life in glory and everlasting happiness. Even now, we are being changed though our union with Him. We are called to be SAINTS.
Powered by the Mystery of His Cross and Resurrection
[A]ll “sacred power” exercised in the Church, is nothing other than service, service with a single purpose: to ensure that the whole People of God shares in this threefold mission of Christ and always remains under the power of the Lord; a power that has its source not in the powers of this world but in the mystery of the Cross and Resurrection.
The absolute and yet sweet and gentle power of the Lord responds to the whole depths of the human person, to his loftiest aspirations of intellect, will and heart. It does not speak the language of force but expresses itself in charity and truth.[iii]
Sharing in the Body and Blood of the Lord teaches us that we should die to the world
For God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Indeed our sharing in the Lord’s body and blood when we eat his bread and drink his cup teaches us that we should die to the world, and that we should keep our life hidden with Christ in God, crucifying our flesh with its vices and evil desires.[iv]
We become in reality what we celebrate as mystery in the sacrifice
That is why all the faithful who love God and their neighbor truly drink the cup of the Lord’s love even though they may not drink the cup of his bodily suffering. And becoming inebriated from it, they put to death whatever in their nature is rooted in earth. They clothe themselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not indulge fleshly desires. They do not fix their gaze on visible things, but contemplate things which the eye cannot see. Thus they drink the Lord’s cup by preserving the holy bond of love; without it, even if a man should deliver his body to be burned, he gains nothing. But the gift of love enables us to become in reality what we celebrate as mystery in the sacrifice.[v]
Adoration of the Trinity | Albrecht Dürer, c. 1511
For raised up high on the Cross, he gave himself up for us with a wonderful love and poured our Blood and water from his pierced side, the wellspring of the Church’s Sacraments, so that, won over to the open Heart of the Savior, all might draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.[vi]
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Works Cited:
[i] “Baruch 3:9-15,24-4:4.” Universalis. Accessed October 22, 2022. https://universalis.com/20221022/readings.htm.
[ii] “Daniel 3:38 – New American Bible (Revised Edition).” Bible Gateway. Accessed October 23, 2022. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+3%3A38&version=NABRE.
[iii] Pope Saint John Paul II. “Homily for Mass at the Beginning of the Pontificate of John Paul II.” 22 October 1978, Mass at the beginning of the Pontificate | John Paul II, October 21, 1978. https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/1978/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19781022_inizio-pontificato.html.
[iv] Saint Fulgentius. “From a Treatise against Fabianus: We Are Made Holy by Our Sharing in Christ’s Body and Blood.” Week 28 Monday in Ordinary Time- Office of Readings. Accessed October 22, 2022. http://www.liturgies.net/Liturgies/Catholic/loh/week28mondayor.htm.
(Cap. 28, 16-19: CCL 91 A, 813-814)
[v] Ibid.
[vi] “Preface of the Votive Mass of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.” weconnect.com. Accessed October 23, 2022. https://uploads.weconnect.com/mce/e4dd8a3f00e999f798719337af6085d777f539d5/ SundayMassGuides/Votive_Mass_Sacred_Heart_2020_COVID.pdf.
Posted for November 1, 2022
All Saints Day
