The Essence of the Holy Sacrifice: Understanding the Tridentine Mass
Summary of Headings
- The Declaration of Divinity
- The Mystery of Redemption
- The Moment of Redemption
- The Sacrifice of the Cross
- The Role of Obedience
- The Significance of the Mass
- Devotions and Their True Purpose
- The Altar and the Sacrifice
- Final Reflection
The Declaration of Divinity
What so scandalized the Jews in the Gospel today is the fact that our Lord declared himself openly and clearly as being God. And he said that, I say to you that, Before Abraham was, I am. It was a direct allusion to the definition of God that God himself gave to Moses. I am who am. And so the Jews, recognizing the reference, picked up stones to cast at him, and to strike him down. This is a good reminder for us. Something we just take for granted so easily. Our Lord Jesus Christ is God. Something that should transform our very existence. Should change the very way that we perceive our lives. Our Lord Jesus Christ is God. And because of that, everything changes.
The Mystery of Redemption
How can this man be God? Well the hypostatic union is a mystery. We're never going to be able to understand it. But it is the crucial mystery of our redemption. It is one of the most important mysteries that we have. Our Lord Jesus Christ is God. And if he is God, he is here for a purpose. What is that purpose? Our redemption.
The Moment of Redemption
How did he choose to effect that redemption? Well we well know that we could never repay sin. We could never make up. We could never redeem ourselves. We could never buy back our souls through any merit of our own. We know this because the offenses are against an infinitely good God. And so therefore, it would require an infinite act of sin. And so therefore, it would require an infinite act of sin. Not even one of us can make an infinite action to make reparation for what sin is. But the problem is not one of us can make an infinite action. Not even our Blessed Mother, herself. Not one of us could actually make an infinite action of our own accord.
The Sacrifice of the Cross
So therefore, it requires God himself to be the one to buy us back. So therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ became man so that a human could pay back the price of our sins. So therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ became man so that a human could pay back the price of our sins. So therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ became man so that a human could pay back the price of our sins. But as if that weren't enough for him to humble himself to take on the form of a slave, as Saint Paul says about him, he does more than that.
The Role of Obedience
The moment of redemption, the moment of buying back of our souls, the moment of paying for the price of sin is the moment of the crucifixion and death of our Lord. So more than just the simple fact of becoming man, he could have redeemed us by any action that he could have done. He did while he was here on earth. Just by the mere fact of being conceived. Would have been enough. But our Lord wanted more. He wanted to demonstrate what sin was.
The Significance of the Mass
So therefore he taught us. He didn't want to just redeem us and leave. He taught us. He gave us three years of his life. In which he dedicated himself. To showing us the way to heaven. By teaching us about how we are supposed. To live our lives. He gave us of himself. Every moment that he was here. But as if that weren't enough. It wasn't just enough that he taught us. But then he wanted. He was willing to sacrifice himself.
Devotions and Their True Purpose
But please note. He didn't sacrifice himself in this moment. The Jews picked up stones to cast at him. To kill him. And he walked away from them. He could have paid back. He could have made this his moment of redemption. Where they decided to stone him. And kill him. He could have made this his moment of redemption. But instead he chose a much worse fate. A much more complete sacrifice of himself. He chose the sacrifice of the cross.
The Altar and the Sacrifice
That was his choice. But it was not what his will was. It was his will only because it was his father's will. This was what his father had chosen for him. And he decided to obey. Because as is said in a different part of the gospel. Quoting the Old Testament. That God is not satisfied with the sacrifices of bulls and goats. And whatever else. He is satisfied with the sacrifice of will. The sacrifice of obedience.
Final Reflection
Our Lord Jesus Christ is here demonstrating that. Above all else. He is demonstrating that this was not his time. This is not what his father wanted. And so therefore he hid himself and he went away. And in a very short time he would enter into Jerusalem and triumph. And he would demonstrate. To us all his love in the most amazing and humiliating possible way. Which is his own crucifixion and death. Father if it were possible let this chalice pass from me. But not my will but thine be done.
This is the essence of what the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ is. It is his acceptance of his father's will. This is why it's so crucial for us to appreciate and understand the fact that he is God. And that he is doing this of his own volition. He is submitting himself to the will of his father. And by doing so he is giving us the greatest possible lesson. Of how it is we are supposed to live our lives. And more importantly how we are supposed to sacrifice our lives for God. Because our lives are meaningless if they are not a sacrifice pleasing to the Lord.