“In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” With these words, the priest who presides at the Celebration of the Eucharist draws the congregation into the sacred moment of worship. We believe in God who is both one and yet a communion of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Made in the image and likeness of God, who is one God in three Persons, we are called to worship not only alone but also as a community. When I explain the Mass to children, I compare it to a special celebration we would have at home, such as Thanksgiving or Christmas or someone’s birthday. Just as we invite family and friends to celebrate, and usually include a festive meal, so in the Celebration of the Eucharist, the presiding priest invites the parish family to celebrate the mystery of our salvation which includes a sacred meal. And, just as we usually begin our gathering for a special celebration with time to chat and catch up on the news in each others’ lives, so the Eucharist begins with time to hear the timeless Good News contained in Sacred Scriptures. Then, as we do with family and friends, we gather around the Table of the Lord to share a meal.
Although this provides a good foundation for children to begin to understand the Eucharist, it is a very simplistic explanation of this Sacrament. It is very important to recognize that it is much more than just a meal. It is also the one perfect sacrifice we can offer to God. From the very beginning, humanity has striven to develop a relationship with the gods, whom they acknowledged as the ones who created and controlled their world and their lives. And just as we try to return the favor with a gift of equal value when someone presents us with a gift, humans throughout the ages have used a wide variety of gifts – from the first fruits of the land to human sacrifice – to express their gratitude to the gods and to win their favor. No human gift, however, can offer a return worthy of all that God has given us, and no offering we can provide could fully compensate for our sinfulness. In the Eucharistic Celebration, we finally have a gift that is worthy of God, since we believe that Jesus Christ is God himself. At last, as a result of Jesus’ freely offering himself for us, we can offer God to God. And, Jesus offered himself for the remission of our sins as well and, as the divine sacrifice for humanity’s sins, his offering is finally able to compensate for our sins.
In his generosity, however, God is not to be outdone, and so after we offer Jesus, the Son of God, to God, our Heavenly Father – both in thanksgiving and for the remission of our sins – God gives his only Son back to us for our spiritual nourishment as we journey through this life to eternal life with God in heaven.
As you can see, this is clearly a sacred moment, very different from any other human activity. And so we call it a liturgy. Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Catholic Doctrine defines the word “liturgy” as a “public service in the interest of the entire people.” Certainly, our Lord’s offering himself at the Last Supper and on the cross at Calvary is the supreme public service in the interest of all people, as he offers himself for our sins and offers himself to us for our salvation.
This is also a very beautiful moment, in which the all-good God unites with sinful humanity and lifts humanity out of the ugliness of sin to the beauty of God’s love. That is why there is great emphasis on making everything that surrounds the Eucharistic Celebration beautiful. Cardinal Godfried Danneels, the Archbishop Emeritus of Mechelen-Brussels, Belgium, offered these thoughts a few years ago in his intervention at a Consistory in Rome: “God is Truth, Holiness, and Beauty. One can find God through the doors of truth, for truth attracts us. But many of our contemporaries are little Pilates who ask: ‘What is truth?’ and remain outside the door without entering. God is Moral Perfection and Holiness also attracts us. But many will say: ‘Moral perfection attracts me, but I’m incapable of it,’ and they remain outside that door marked by their moral weaknesses. But beauty disarms; it is irresistible….Young students discuss and study courses on questions of dogma (the True) and morality (the Good). But after a performance of the ‘Passion According to Saint Matthew’ by Johann Sebastian Bach, they are disarmed and left speechless. The Church has so many beautiful things to say and to show the world.” This is why we focus on maintaining our beautiful church with all its splendid stained glass windows and have recently purchased a new piano and pipe organ to accompany us when we sing in praise of our God. As St. Augustine taught so well, “He who sings prays twice.”
The Celebration of the Eucharist reveals the Truth and Goodness of our God, and is certainly one of the most beautiful things the Church has to show the world. As we gather to celebrate the Eucharist, let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who works so hard to make the Eucharist a celebration of the Truth, the Good and the Beautiful here at St. Katharine’s. Let us all celebrate the Liturgy of the Eucharist – this beautiful event of our salvation – with great joy!