Month of June as we pray for the Eucharistic Revival

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, The Feast of Faith: Approaches to a Theology of the Liturgy, trans. Graham Harrison (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006), pp. 92-95.

Pope Benedict XVI reminds us of a central dogma as he writes:

The ut sumatur (“so that it may be consumed”) which you quoted comes in fact from the Council of Trent (DS 1643); Karl Rahner pointed out that it is to be found there, in the chapter which concerns eucharistic adoration and Corpus Christi. Rahner’s intention was to remind us that Trent too had a very clear view of the words of institution and the inner finality of the realities of bread and wine, asserting that it is of the essence of this sacrament (and mutatis mutandis of all sacraments) that it is ordered to reception. But this awareness did not stop Trent going on to say that this “reception” encompasses many factors: to “receive” Christ essentially involves “adoration”. Receiving Christ must involve all the dimensions of Christ; so it cannot be limited to a physical process. It also implies belief in the Real Presence. It is so hard to define this adequately because nowadays we no longer have a philosophy which penetrates to the being of things. We are only interested in function. Modern science only asks “How does it work? What can I do with it?” It no longer asks “What is it?”; such a question would be regarded as unscientific, and indeed, in a strictly scientific sense, it is insoluble. The attempts to define the Eucharist by reference to the level of meaning and the goal (transsignification, transfinalization) were intended as a response to this new situation. Although these new concepts are not simply wrong, they are dangerously limited. Once sacraments and faith are reduced to the level of function, we are no longer speaking of God (for he is not a “function”), nor are we speaking of man either (for he is not a function, although he has many functions). Here we can see how important it is, in a philosophically impoverished era, for sacramental faith to keep alive the question of being. This is the only way to break up the tyranny of functionalism, which would turn the world into one vast concentration camp. When nowadays we affirm that Christ is present at the level of being in the transformed gifts, we are doing something which, up to a point, is not backed up or “covered” by philosophy; therefore the affirmation becomes all the more significant as a human act.

On the relationship of the sacrifice and meal elements, I can only refer you back to the section on “Form and Content in the Eucharistic Celebration”. But I will say this: modern theology is rather against drawing parallels between the history of religions and Christianity. All the same I regard it as significant that, throughout the entire history of religions, sacrifice and meal are inseparably united. The sacrifice facilitates communio with the divinity, and men receive back the divinity’s gift in and from the sacrifice. This is transformed and deepened in many ways in the mystery of Jesus Christ: HERE THE SACRIFICE ITSELF COMES FROM THE INCARNATE LOVE OF GOD, SO THAT IT IS GOD WHO GIVES HIMSELF, TAKING MAN UP INTO HIS ACTION AND ENABLING HIM TO BE BOTH GIFT AND RECIPIENT. Perhaps I can illustrate what I mean here by taking up another small detail: you raised the question “Do we need a priest with the power to consecrate?” I would prefer not to speak of “power”, although this term has been used since the early Middle Ages. I think it is better to approach it from another angle. In order that what happened then may become present now, the words “This is my body—this is my blood” must be said. But the speaker of these words is the “I” of Jesus Christ. Only he can say them; they are his words. No man can dare to take to himself the “I” and “my” of Jesus Christ—and yet the words must be said if the saving mystery is not to remain something in the distant past. So authority to pronounce them is needed, an authority which no one can assume and which no congregation, nor even many congregations together, can confer. Only Jesus Christ himself, in the “sacramental” form he has committed to the whole Church, can give this authority. The word must be located, as it were, in sacrament; it must be part of the “sacrament” of the Church, partaking of an authority which she does not create, but only transmits. This is what is meant by “ordination” and “priesthood”. Once this is understood, it becomes clear that, in the Church’s Eucharist, something is happening which goes far beyond any human celebration, any human joint activity, and any liturgical efforts on the part of a particular community. What is taking place is the mystery of God, communicated to us by Jesus Christ through his death and Resurrection. This is what makes the Eucharist irreplaceable; this is the guarantee of its identity. The reform has not altered it: its aim was simply to shed new light upon it.

Miracle registered during the celebration of the Holy Mass

on a photographic film in Bavaria on August 29th 1932.

The picture shows a priest on the third day after his ordination.

The photo was taken by his brother, a disbeliever,

who did not believe that the Holy Mass is the Golgotha of our Lord Jesus Christ.

St. Padre Pio: This is our second to last meeting, so I would like to tell you about the fruits of the Holy Mass. The fruits that I am talking about are the grace of God, which is given to those who desire to receive it. The Holy Mass is the sacrifice of the Golgotha, and thus its fruit is Life. Living the Passion of Christ, constantly accompanying Him under the cross, sensitizes the soul and makes it capable of receiving subsequent graces. And the subsequent graces are: humility, mercy towards neighbours, trust in the Will of God, the desire to repent, and finally the complete transformation of one’s life. Jesus does not call under His cross those, whom He does not want to have on his way of the cross. You are sentenced to accompany Jesus everywhere. The fruit of the Holy Mass is also this grace: the grace of giving glory to God by constantly calling on Him in thought, and noticing the dimension of the Golgotha in one’s own life.

Each suffering, which is dedicated to God, becomes a sacrifice before the Majesty of God and might be a propitiation for the sins of mankind. The sacrifice of man is not worthless if offered to God, but by linking it in the heart and in thoughts with the Sacrifice of Jesus, we step into His dimension of the Golgotha and we nourish ourselves with the fruits of His suffering. And they are: perseverance in bearing life experiences, patience in suffering, trust in God’s mercy, generosity, and love. Living by the life and the death of Jesus teaches us to treat our life as a test, as a time of sacrifice, during which we can make amends to God for all our sins and for the sins of the whole world. A good participation in the Holy Mass changes the vision of the world. The world ceases to be an arena of struggle for existence, and begins to be a sacrificial altar, on which the humble victim submits only to the Will of God, not fighting for what is hers, not seeking anything, because she is in the hands of the highest Priest, who sees to it that the sacrifice is worthy and pleasing to God. How much time on earth we will win thanks to the participation in the Holy Mass.

Each Holy Mass will leave in the soul an indelible trace. How many times we worthily participate in it, as many times God is glorified in it by us. The soul can not forget about her Creator, because the fruits of this Sacrifice are permanent. To participate in the fruits of the Passion of Christ, we must enter into His Passion and participate in it; not in our own. Strength and grace are in the suffering of Jesus; not in ours. Wanting to be new Christs, we can not suffer on our own account. God always accepts the sacrifice by Jesus and with Jesus. Never try to suffer without Him, because it does not please God.

The Holy Mass is the Sacrifice of Christ. He is its center, as an atonement for our sins. We must now move these sacrifices into everyday life, and thus make the Sacrifice of Christ the center of every day, and subject everything to this Sacrifice and this Sacrificer. So let there be not a single suffering that we will not join with the cross of Christ, not a single mockery that we will not place at the feet of Jesus crowned with thorns, not a single temptation that we will not scourge in ourselves at the image of the suffering that Jesus endured for us when He was scourged. Every minute of every day can be holy. In every minute of our day God may be glorified and His wrath assuaged, the hearts of sinners transformed, and our souls lifted towards the eternal reward. However, for this to happen, we must take every minute of our day under the cross of Christ and see it and live it from this perspective, from the perspective of the cross of Jesus, to see how much our life by the grace of God – becomes the life of Christ, our sacrifice – the Sacrifice of Christ, and our reward, what we believe in, – the reward of Christ. Amen.

–Translated from : Tajemnica Mszy świętej według św. Ojca Pio na podstawie Orędzi na Czasy Ostateczne które własnie nadeszły, Grzechynia 2013, p. 51-53