Day 185: Thanksgiving, Memorial, Presence (1356-1361)

• It’s Day 185!!

• THE SACRAMENTAL SACRIFICE: THANKSGIVING, MEMORIAL, PRESENCE

• THANKSGIVING AND PRAISE TO THE FATHER

• We are at the heart of talking about the Eucharist which is beautiful

• Everything we give to God is giving to God what HE IS GIVING TO US

• If I give Him my heart, He gave me my heart

• If I give to a charity, God is the one who made it possible for me to have the means to do so

• Everything we give to God originates with Him

• The same is true when it comes to the Eucharist and the Great Sacrifice of the Mass

• We will talk about how the Eucharist is thanksgiving and praise

• At the heart of it, it is a sacrifice

• Why?

• Because the heart of religion is WORSHIP

• The heart of worship is SACRIFICE

• So let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father, we know that you love us. We know that you have given your own Son, so we can have life and have it to the full. We know what He has done for us in offering Himself in sacrifice to you-a sacrifice of love, a sacrifice of praise, a sacrifice of thanksgiving. We know that that sacrifice has changed the course of every one of our lives because that sacrifice, that sacrifice of your Son, made it possible for us to have access to you. Help us to participate in this sacrifice, the sacrifice of the Mass, with our whole heart. Help us to participate in the sacrifice of the Mass as if every time we approach the Mass, we approach as if it’s our first Mass, our last Mass, and our only Mass. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• We are introducing this incredible reality of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ

• Let’s go back to the Book of Exodus….

• Actually, let’s go all the way back to Genesis…

• Remember, in Genesis there were the two sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel

• What did they do? 

• The first thing we see them do is offer sacrifice

• Remember the heart of religion is WORSHIP

• The heart of worship is SACRIFICE

• Abel’s sacrifice is accepted and Cain’s sacrifice is not accepted

• It’s not that God doesn’t love Cain

• We don’t know what it is

• All we know is that it is

• God speaks to Cain and protects him even after he’s slain his own brother

• There is something about Abel’s sacrifice that is right and accepted and something about Cain’s sacrifice that is not accepted

• So the heart of every human being is, what does God want?

• Now let’s jump to Exodus

• The Hebrew people are enslaved in Egypt

• God turns to Moses and tells him to go to Pharaoh and say, “Let my people go!”

• Fr. Mike is telling the story of Moses and Pharaoh….let’s listen

• The whole line should be, “Let my people go, so that they can go and worship me.”

• The point of freedom in this life is being led to be able to worship God

• It’s not just freedom FROM something

• It’s freedom FOR something

• So that they can enter the Promised Land and be that dynasty, become a worldwide blessing, that God can keep His promises

• BUT…

• They also have freedom for worship

• Ok Fr. Mike is continuing the story…

• Moses doesn’t know how God wants to be worshiped yet

• Pope Benedict XVI wrote about this in a book called “The Spirit of the Liturgy”

• Moses wasn’t trying to trick Pharaoh

• The truth is that we do not know what God is going to want and we want to give God what He wants

• Our temptation is to give God what WE want to give God

• AND YET…

• True worship is when we ask God what HE wants

• This is why in the Book of Exodus they had to take all of their stuff to be led from slavery and death into freedom and life

• So that they can worship God as He wants them to worship Him

• What does Jesus say on the eve of His Passion?

• He takes bread, breaks it, blesses it, and gives it to His disciples

• “This is my Body. Do this in remembrance of me.”

• Same thing with the chalice filled with the fruit of the vine

• “This is the chalice of my Blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, to be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.”

• This is the key thing

• We now know how God wants us to worship Him

• And the Church has preserved this

• Why?

• Because this is the heart of everything

• What saved us is the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

• The self offering to the Father

• The sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross

• We get to participate in that sacrifice at every Mass 

• Paragraph 1358 says, “We must therefore consider the Eucharist as: -thanksgiving and praise to the Father; -the sacrificial memorial of Christ and his Body; -the presence of Christ by the power of his word and his Spirit.”

• We have not just been allowed access

• That’s one thing if they let us through the door

• You can come in if you want

• We have been invited, and you might say commanded, into…

• (SQUIRREL!! 😉)

• It matters to God whether you or I show up to Mass or not

• It matters to God whether you and I participate in Mass

• It matters to God whether you and I offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving or the sacrifice of praise

• If we freely choose to not go to Mass that is a mortal sin

• So we can look at it like a guilty thing

• We can look at it like an obligation

• BUT…

• What is at the heart of that?

• IT MATTERS TO GOD!!

• It matters to God whether we show up

• You may think you’re just a person sitting in a pew, standing up and sitting down like everyone else etc. 

• When you are PRESENT then something is DIFFERENT

• When you are ABSENT something is DIFFERENT

• It boggles the mind how the infinite and eternal God, that it matters to Him whether we show up or not

• Paragraph 1359 says, “In the Eucharistic sacrifice the whole of creation loved by God is presented to the Father through the death and Resurrection of Christ.”

• That includes you and me

• The sacrifice of praise to the Father is offered through Christ and with Him to be accepted in Him

• That’s what we say at every Mass

• “Through Him, with Him, in Him. In the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, Almighty Father forever and ever.”

• Through Jesus, with Jesus, in Jesus

• In the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor on heaven and earth is offered to you, Father in Heaven

• INCREDIBLE!!

• You and I get to part of that

• WHAT A GIFT!!

• You might struggle to get there

• You might struggle to stay there

• You might struggle to show up

• You might struggle to focus

• BUT…

• That’s where we are called to be

• We are invited, nay commanded, to be 

• If you wrestle with that…

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!