The bread of life

We continue reading today chapter 6 from Saint John’s Gospel. It is the third Sunday on a row and we have two more Sundays to go. Jesus slowly goes deeper in his explanation of the Eucharist. We can look at this mystery from different angles, manly as the Mass, the sacrifice of the Cross, as communion, nourishment for the soul, and his presence in the tabernacle. Today I’d like to focus on the Mass. It is two thousand years old; we always go back to the first Mass at Calvary. This is what the Mass is: a renewal of the sacrifice of the Cross.

We don’t love what we don’t know. Why do so many Catholics not go to Mass? Because they don’t know what the Mass is. Maybe because nobody has told them. There are many good books about the Mass. When was the last time we read one of those? Today I’d like to pick one sentence from the Mass, to see how rich it is. Dominus vobiscum. The Lord be with you. We have heard it many times and we answer automatically: And with your spirit.

If I ask you how many times the priest says it, I bet you wouldn’t be able to tell me. It appears four times, and each time the priest states a different reality. The translation from the Latin is difficult. The Latin expression doesn’t use the verb, therefore it can mean the Lord is here, a statement of his real presence, or the Lord be here, our desire of him to be among us, two different realities in one expression.

The first time the priest uses these words is at the beginning of the Mass, as a form of salutation. The priest greets not only the congregation, but the whole Church. We are all present there, even though there is nobody in that particular church. We are all touched by every Mass, the whole creation, the entire universe. The priest states the presence of Christ among the congregation: “Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am with them.”It is a real presence, not only a desire. Jesus is here among us. Our response is a desire to be with him: And with your spirit. The second time the priest uses this expression is before the reading of the Gospel, announcing that Jesus is here in his Word; he is the Logos. Jesus is going to talk to us through the Scriptures. This is why in solemn Masses we bring the book of the Gospels in procession. After reading the Gospel the priest kisses the book saying: Through the words of the Gospel may our sins be wiped away.

The third time is at the beginning of the Preface. It is a reminder that we are beginning the Eucharistic Prayer, when Jesus is coming to the altar. Lift up your hearts, the Lord is coming. At this moment the priest disappears, and it is now Jesus who is pronouncing the words of the consecration: this is my body. God is telling us like Moses in front of the burning bush: take off your shoes, you are entering holy ground. The last time is at the final blessing.After taking communion, we have Jesus with us. If at the beginning of the Mass we have been brought together, to acknowledge the presence of Jesus among us, now we are sent. We are going to bring Jesus with us to the world.

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