Episode Transcript  

One

Two Images

In this series, we have been meditating on one of the most beautiful truths of the Catholic faith: God’s plan is to make us share in his divine life so that we can cooperate in his saving work.

There are two pictures every Catholic has in mind, but they’re two pictures we sometimes don’t know how to put together. So let’s put them together now.

First, picture Christ hanging on the Cross. You’ve seen hundreds, maybe thousands of crucifixes in your lifetime, on rosaries, around people’s necks, held in the hands of the altar server at the opening procession of Mass, or in movies, on holy cards, in paintings. So picture it right now. Picture Christ on the Cross.

Now, picture the Priest at Mass, raising the Host at the Elevation, right after he says, “This is my body, which will be given up for you.” You’ve seen this image too, thousands of times by now, at every single Mass you’ve ever been to. The priest says the words, then he raises the host up, and he holds it, the folds of his vestments hanging down from his lifted arms as the bells ring. 

Now take these two pictures, Christ on His cross, and the priest holding the Eucharist high, and move them towards each other, till they overlap on your visual field. See the priest raising up the Eucharistic Lord, see Christ Crucified, hanging on the wall behind him.

Those two images are always meant to go together. Because those two images represent the same event. 

Two

The Salvation of the World

We all know that Christ saved the world, atoned for our sins, paid the ransom for our souls, by dying on the Cross. At the stations of the Cross, for instance, we kneel at each station, and say, “We adore you, oh Christ, and we praise you, because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.”

Calvary is Christ’s great work, His magnum opus. When He achieves that final masterpiece of the passion and death, He is able to say, and say truly, “It is finished.”

But even though Christ’s Passion at Calvary is finished, the work of saving the world continues. And it continues by continuing the Sacrifice of Calvary through the Sacrifice of the Mass.

Three

The Supreme Work

The Church teaches that the Mass is the Source and Summit of the Christian Life. It’s the source of all the Church’s Holiness, and the High Point of all the Church’s Holiness. But of course, Christ’s death on the Cross is the source of all holiness and the high point of all holiness. The reason that’s not a contradiction is that the Mass and Christ’s death on the Cross are one and the same.

The Mass is a kind of time-warp that brings us to Calvary and brings Calvary to us. Because it’s Christ’s death that saves the world, but the world didn’t just need to be saved two thousand years ago in Palestine; it needs to be saved right here and now as well.

The Mass is the sacrifice that saves the world. But as the Letter to the Hebrews says, there is no saving sacrifice other than Christ’s, and the Mass is not a sacrifice other than Christ’s. It is Christ’s, Christ’s sacrifice brought to this time and place so that the grace of salvation can come to this time and place.

Which means that just as Calvary is the supreme work of Christ, so participating in the Mass is the Supreme Work of Christians. And it’s not just the work of priests. It’s the work that we are called to assist at.

Four

Those with Christ

It wasn’t just Christ who was at Calvary. And it wasn’t just His sufferings that were holy. Mary, and the good thief, John the Evangelist, and Mary Magdalene, for all of them, that was the most important work of their lives. For all of them, being there, at that moment, with Jesus, was objectively the most important thing they would ever do.

So too with all of us. The most objectively important thing we will ever do is be at Mass, because by being at Mass, we are with Jesus at Calvary.

It’s Mary and John in the pew next to us. It’s the good thief serving at the altar. We are all together assisting at Mass, participating in the one sacrifice of Christ. The priest says, “Pray, my brothers and sisters, that this, your sacrifice and mine, may be acceptable to God the Father.” This is where the supreme offering is made to God. Where we glorify God and summon His grace and mercy over the world. 

There’s nothing any of us will ever do that is more important than being with Christ at Calvary by participating in holy Mass.

Five

Lay Participation

If you ever go to daily Mass, you may sometimes be discouraged by the fact that so many of the people there are retired people. But actually, it’s a good thing to remember that by going to daily Mass, these people are actually leading more productive lives, and doing more important work, than they ever did back when they were going to the office every day instead. And, in fact, the rest of us should actually take example and inspiration from not only the priests and religious, but also the elderly, who devote themselves every day to being present with Christ at the work of saving the world.

Even those of us who work can often make it to Mass on some days of the week. And if we do, we know that our day has not been wasted. No day is ever wasted when you’ve been to Mass. No day is ever wasted when you’ve been at the foot of the cross and seen Christ crucified as He hangs there behind the elevated host in the priest’s hands.

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