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What I receive from the Lord I pass on to you, isn’t that the whole purpose of the teaching of the Church? This is why the Church has authority, why the Church speaks with absolute authority, with the confidence of the Holy Spirit in her midst because the Church receives from the Lord and passes on. And what is the heart of what is passed on? Well the death and resurrection of  our Lord, and His death and resurrection being present in the Eucharist which is the heart of what the Church does.
The second Vatican Counsel said this: "At the last supper, on the night He was betrayed our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood. This He did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until He should come again and so to entrust to His beloved Spouse the Church a memorial of His death and resurrection, so that the mind, our hearts, our wills could be filled with grace, and a pledge of the future glory is given to us." The council Fathers are saying thirty years ago, that on the night our Lord was betrayed, the institution of the Eucharistic sacrament took place, and why? In order that the cross would be perpetuated in our midst, and we would be able to participate in the cross and resurrection of Christ until he comes again, so when we receive the body and blood of Christ, instituted on the night of the Lord’s betrayal, we participate in the cross of the Lord, we participate in His resurrection, which as the Council Fathers say, is a pledge of future glory given to us. Isn’t that a wonderful phrase? You and I have received a pledge of future glory; and what is the glory? To be sons and daughters of God, and we see that glory dawn on us each time we receive the Eucharist, by which the Cross is made present and His resurrection we receive as a pledge of hope.
So the Council Fathers tell us its instituted the Eucharist on the night of our Lord’s betrayal, therefore the Mass is not a human development, is not something that wise men came up with in Rome centuries ago and decided that it would be a good thing to do. The Eucharist is a result of the last supper of the Lord, where He says: "Do this in memory of Me". And at the end of the first century the Mass had already taken on the same basic form that you and I are familiar with. If you and I went back to the year 80 and we went to a Mass, lets say we went and we wound our way through the darkness, into the apartment of one of the early Christians and there in secret is an early, early presbyter, an early priest of the Church. And he’s gathered some of the early Christians around him and they very quietly for fear of the Romans; they celebrate the Eucharist. Then the words the Gospel of Saint Luke give us a summary of what those early Christians did.  Our Lord with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus interpreted to them what referred to Him in all the scriptures. That’s called what? The Liturgy of the Word, the readings from Sacred Scripture. As they approach the village to which they were going, He gave the impression He was going on further but they urged Him: "Stay with us for is nearly evening and the day is almost over", and so He went in to stay with them; and it happened that while He was at the table, He took bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to them.
What did we say were the four words, last week, that summarize the Eucharist? ...Took, blessed, broke and gave. Here in the Gospel of Saint Luke, written a few short decades after our Lord’s death what words are used for our Lord’s being with the disciples after His resurrection, "He took, blessed, broke and gave". And with that their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, but He vanished from their sight.
Were not our hearts burning within us as He explained the Scriptures to us ...Liturgy of the Word. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized Him ...Liturgy of the Eucharist. The structure for the Mass is right there in the Gospel. How can we deny that this is from the Lord? This is not a human institution.
I want to read one more thing briefly. Back in the year one hundred and fifty five one of the Fathers of the Church, Saint Justin, was describing to the Emperor Antonius Pius what Christians do. There were all these rumors that Christians would sacrifice children and drink their blood and eat their body, and there was all this horrendous stuff being said about the Christians, so Saint Justin wrote to the Emperor and he said in the year one fifty five, this is what we do. This could’ve been written yesterday : "On the day we call the day of the Sun, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place, the memoirs of the apostles and writings of the prophets are read as much as time permits, when the reader is finished he who presides over those gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things", what do we call that? The Homily, of course. "Then we all rise together and offer prayers for ourselves and for all the others, wherever they may be so that we may be found righteous by our lives and actions, and faithful to the commandments, and so attain eternal salvation", what we call that? Prayers of the Faithful, exactly. We pray for the needs of the Church. "When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss" what’s the kiss? The sign of peace, exactly. Here the sign of peace takes place right after the prayers of the faithful before the offertory, we’ve shifted it later in the Mass, but is the same thing, just takes place in a different part. "Then someone brings bread and a coup of water with wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren" what do we call that? The offertory. "He takes them, offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and for a considerable time he gives thanks, in Greek Eucharistia, (the Eucharist), the giving thanks that we have been judged worthy of these gifts", what is that long prayer called? The Cannon of the Mass. How many Eucharistic prayers do we have? We have four main ones and there is a number of other ones, but we have four main ones, they are right in the Sacramentary of the Church. We have this book and we have these prayers which are rooted in this letter, from the year one hundred and fifty five. "When he has concluded the prayers of thanksgiving all present give voice to an acclamation by saying" what word? "Amen" that’s what it says here. "When he who presides has given thanks and the people have responded, those whom we call deacons give to those present the Eucharisted bread" Interesting word, ‘Eucharisted bread.’ "Wine and water, and take them to those who are absent", sound like the Eucharistic ministers of today. So Saint Justin describes in almost exact detail what we do today, so if you got your time machine and went back to the year one fifty five, and went to one of these Masses, you would feel completely at home; for what they were doing then we do today. Why does this not change? Why does the Mass remain essentially unchanged? Little things change, like the language its offered in, some of the customs we have change, but the Mass remains unchanged. Why? Because of the cross of Christ Jesus doesn’t change; His resurrection doesn’t change, the gift to Himself to us doesn’t change. And the way He gives Himself to the Church by making His cross and resurrection present until the end of times does not change. And so the Eucharist. The bearer of Christ to the Church does not change.
The fact that we have the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Church, tells us that we are in the age of the Church. Christ saves His people; how? Through the Church. Christ gives Himself to us; how? Through the Church. Christ answers the needs and prayers of His people; how? Through the Church. Christ gives salvation to mankind; how? Through the Church. And so the Church can say: "Outside of the Church there is no salvation." All of mankind is saved through the Church. To all of mankind, Christ Jesus’ presence is given to them through the Church. The things of salvation are entrusted by Jesus to His Church, to be dispensed, to be given publicly until He comes again. This is what the Liturgy means. When we talk about the Liturgy of the Church, which means all the prayers, all the Sacraments; we pray the Liturgy of the hours, the Psalms, the readings. All the Liturgy of the Church. That word simply means: "Public works." The public work and service, in the name of the people and in behalf of the people. The Liturgy with the Mass at its center and high point is the participation of the people of God in the work of God. So when we come to mass, we are seeing the high point of the Church’s Liturgy; when we use the word Liturgy we are saying the public prayer; the public works of the Church. Every time the Church gathers as two or more, the Liturgy of the Church is taking place. And when we gather, the participation of the people of God, we participate in the work of God. And what is God’s work? Our salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If all of mankind is saved through the Church, and the works of the Church, which is the Liturgy, why does the Liturgy cause such a division? Why does it cause such a division? If is the will of Christ that His cross be made present and all of mankind is gathered to the cross through the Liturgy of the Church. If it is to be the cross, is the point of unity for all mankind, the Liturgy is the way that we approach the cross and the cross is made present to us; why does the Liturgy causes such a division. For example, there are many Christian denominations, right? And it is a law of the Church that you cannot receive the Eucharist in any other Church other than the Catholic Church, and someone who is not Catholic cannot receive the Eucharist. It seems like the Eucharist is a cause of division, doesn’t it?
This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, paragraph 1336: "The first announcement of the Eucharist, divided the disciples, just as the announcement of the passion scandalized them...This is a hard saying, who can listen to it? The Eucharist and the cross are stumbling blocks, it is the same mystery, and it never ceases to an occasion of division. ‘Would you also go away?’ The Lord’s question echoes throughout the ages as a living invitation to discover that only He has the words of eternal life, and that to receive in faith the gift of His Eucharist, is to receive the Lord Himself."
So, the cross is the rallying point of a saved human race. The Eucharist is the rallying point of a saved human race; and this Catechism reading says that the cross and the Eucharist are the same mystery. And just as the apostles fled the cross, so we are tempted in the world nowadays to flee the Eucharist, which is the sign and the source of our unity...Makes sense, doesn’t it? Did you ever wondered why the Eucharist is a sign of division? Well of course it is; the cross is a sign of division; the cross, I mean, causes division. Is that what Our Lord desires? Absolutely not, He desires all of mankind gathered at the foot of the cross, he desires all mankind to come to the cross through the Eucharist. That is His desire for united humanity. But as long as mankind rejects the cross, they will reject the Eucharist, and it would seem to be a cause of division. But you and I who embrace the cross and the Eucharist, we know otherwise, don’t we. And that is a great challenge, isn’t it. To not flee the cross, to not flee the Eucharist. For when we receive the Lord, we become like the Lord. And what happened to the Lord? He gave His will upon the cross, and you and I, we flee that don’t we? And we become afraid of the Eucharist, because we know that is going to form us into the image of the Crucified One. And so, here is this great paradox, this constant war within the human race; the cross and the Eucharist, calling all mankind to the Father, and yet in division we resist the sign and source of our salvation. But you and I here this evening, we pledge to imitate Him, Whom we receive in the Eucharist while we stand at the foot of the cross.
By the death and resurrection of Jesus, He has destroyed death. And all that He did and suffered for all mankind is caught up in the Divine eternity of heaven, and is now made present in the Liturgy of the Church. That’s an amazing thing, let me say that again; By the death of Jesus, His resurrection, He destroys death and all that He did in the Gospels is now made present in the Church. Why? Because He who has done these things has ascended to the right hand of the Father, and from His throne in Heaven, all of these things are made present through the Liturgy of the Church... Does that make sense?  Christ in time suffers, dies and rises, but going to the Eternal Father, He leaves our time in order that all of these things which accomplish our salvation will be made present in the Liturgy of the Church.
The reason why the Liturgy is not just a memorial, why is not just a reminder of past things is because He has destroyed our death and now seats at the right hand of the Father. We must not call the Eucharist a memorial, it is far more than that, we must not call it just a reminder of what Christ has done for us. Because it is far more than that. All that he has done for us is made present in the Liturgy of the Church. The Second Vatican  Council puts it this way: "Jesus Christ, High Priest of the new and eternal covenant, taking human nature, introduced into this earthly exile that hymn which is sung throughout all ages in the halls of heaven; He attaches to himself the entire community of mankind, and has them join Him in singing His Divine song of praise." Yea I know is kind of high language, but is very, very beautiful. Our Lord Jesus descends from the heavenly heights, He takes on our human nature, through all that He endures in His earthly exile, He brings that with Him to the halls of heaven, the Second Vatican Council says, and there at the heart of the Trinity He attaches to Himself the entire community of mankind, and has them join Him in singing the praises of God the Father for ever in heaven.
So, when we are at the Eucharist of the Lord, we are singing the praises of God the Father in heaven, and is a foretaste of what we are going to do for all eternity.
So, in the Eucharist, we better get used to singing the songs of praises of God the Father; because we are gong to do it for all eternity, Lord willing. So already, through the Liturgy, the Lord accomplishes what will be our glory for ever in heaven; singing the songs of praise of God the Father. We can do this because in Christ we will be united to the Father, and that being united to Him takes place already through the Eucharist, through the Liturgy of the Church.
And again you may have some questions about this afterwards, but it is very, very powerful what our Lord accomplishes here as a foretaste of the heavenly glory.
Let me just close this part by saying: "How does the Mass change us? How does the Lord desire the gift of His body and blood to change us?"  I’ve already said it, I’ll say it again. In the Mass we are joined in a heavenly Liturgy, a heavenly song of praise of God the Father. In the Mass we go to an altar in heaven, which is united to this altar, which is united to the altar of the cross, which is Calvary; upon which the cross was planted. All three of those altars are present when the Eucharist is celebrated; when we kneel before the cross, we catch a glimpse of the angels and saints in heaven, bowing down in praise before God the Father, crying out in wonder "Holy, Holy, Holy, Heaven and earth are filled with Your Glory". It is in the Eucharist that earth is united into heaven in the singing to glory of God the Father.
So when we are at Mass, we ask God to deepen in us a spirit of awe and wonder at having been invited to serve the Redeemer at the foot of the cross, and participating in these heavenly mysteries communicated to mankind through the Church.
In the Mass we kneel in praise and thanksgiving, in the Mass we are in a time machine, where we are at Calvary, or as the eastern Catholics say, we have one foot in heaven and one foot on earth. So in the Mass, the Mass is a time machine and as we look at this altar, we are looking back right through time to the altar of Calvary. And we are looking forward through time to the altar in heaven. Where, Lord willing we will gather for all eternity.
Past and present, Calvary and Heaven, together in this place, as the Church offers the high point of the Liturgy, Christ’s awesome sacrifice on the cross is renewed for us and made present for us. As you are present at the Eucharistic prayer, as you kneel, I urge you to close your eyes, and to place yourself in Calvary, for that is where you are. And as you kneel in awe and wonder, become aware that the Blessed Mother is kneeling beside you; she was there in Calvary, so of course she is present in the Eucharist. Where her Son is there she is present. If the cross is the making present of Calvary, then of course the Blessed Mother is beside you. Look at Christ upon the altar through the eyes of the Mother of God who kneels beside you. And I mean that quite literally, because where the Church is present, she is present. And the Church is no more powerfully present than at the Eucharist. She was there, and even now as the perfectly redeemed one, she remains always at the side of her Son. Become aware, on the other side of you kneels Saint John the Evangelist, the Lord’s beloved apostle. He is one of the foundation stones of the Church, and he remains also by the side of Christ on the cross. You join the entire Church of every generation at the foot of the cross; the price of our redemption. Jesus at the last supper prays to His Father "May they be one as You and I are One, I in them, You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity". John Chapter 17.  Where are we perfected in unity? At the cross, which is made present at the altar of the Eucharist.
The cross and resurrection are renewed at every Mass. Cardinal Ratzinger puts it this way: "At the very heart, the Eucharist is the answer to the question of death, for is an encounter with that love which is stronger than death, that love which is found at the cross, which is stronger than our death, that is the encounter we have each time we celebrate the Eucharist. Jesus awakes us in this Sacrament of love. In Holy Communion Jesus makes of us a home worthy to dwell, Just as Jesus physically dwelled in the womb of Mary the Mother of God, so He physically dwells in us. Body and blood, soul and divinity, joined to our body and blood, our will and humanity. His body and blood, soul and divinity is united to our body and blood, will and humanity. To no other creature does God give Himself in this way, to no other creature is given this dignity of becoming a dwelling place of God. Not even the angels receive in so intimate a way a sharing in the cross of Christ Jesus.
So that we worthily receive this gift, I say to those in RCIA, there is a close connection between the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Confession. If you receive the Lord Jesus in Holy Communion often, receive His forgiveness often, for Saint Paul tells us we must worthily receive, Him whom we receive in the Holy Eucharist. When we desire the Lords Sacrament of His forgiveness, we are assured that He makes us a worthy vessel of Christ Jesus Our Lord.
In today’s world those who receive the body and blood of Christ must be courageous witnesses of the body and blood of Christ. If we are going to allow the Lord to use us in the new evangelization that the Holy Father is calling for, we must be witnesses to Christ, we must be content to be at His cross, to be at the Eucharist. If we want the Lord to use us to convert the lukewarm and the skeptical, we must show by our actions that we firmly believe that what we are receiving is so awesome, so incredibly precious that we are on fire for love of the Lord Jesus.
The new evangelization, that the Holy Father is calling for, is nothing less that the re-conversion of the United States, South America, Europe and all the places of the world where the faith is in eclipse. And there are countless, hundreds of millions of people who are forgetting Christ in this day and age. The Holy Father is telling us ‘Countless souls are being lost’, by the millions are being lost, and the new evangelization is a call for us to be on fire for the love of the Lord Jesus. This is not so very difficult if we are convinced that Him Whom we are receiving is the crucified and risen Lord.
The Eucharist is a foretaste of Heaven, how sad are those who look elsewhere than the Eucharist for their joy.
Peter Creeft says this, you’ve heard me say it before: "The big blazing terrible truth about man is that he has a heaven sized hole in his heart and nothing else can heal it. We pass our Lives trying to fill the Grand Canyon with marbles." Interesting phrase. The big blazing terrible truth about man is that he has a heaven sized hole in his heart, and nothing else can heal it, other than the things of heaven. To look to this world is like trying to pass our lives filling the Grand Canyon with marbles.
You and I then as we serve the Lord as Eucharistic ministers; as we draw close to the Lord as those who are contemplating entering the Church let us be clear what we are drawing near to. We are drawing near to the crucified Lord who is the only point of unity for a divided mankind. Let us not be afraid of the cross and the Eucharist as we draw near. Our Lord asks everything of us, but in order to make this possible, He gives us great joy.
What I want to do now, for the last ten minutes or so is just to talk about some of the things that we use in the Eucharist. Will be a reminder to many of You, might be new for some of you who are just entering the Church.
The Holy things that we use for the Mass have been a part of our tradition for so many centuries. What is at the center of the sanctuary are two altars; the altar of the Eucharist, the altar of sacrifice, and the altar of the word. In both altars Christ is made present to us. At this altar His Word is broken open for us and we receive Him present to us in the Holy Gospel, and in the Scriptures open for us. That this altar of the word exists in order to fill our minds with the knowledge of the things of God, and our hearts with the love of the things of God. Only then could we go from this altar to that altar. And so we always begin at the Liturgy altar of the word, and we move to the altar of the sacrifice. Closely connected to the altar of sacrifice is the Tabernacle, which is the cupboard of Christians; which is always placed centrally, at a place of importance in the Church. It is not an accident that Peter and Paul are at either side of the Tabernacle. They are there for a very calculated reason, because Peter and Paul are you and I, we are the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul gathered around the Blessed Sacrament which is the sign of our unity, the source of our unity. So when you see those beautiful statues, see yourself standing there because you stand beside the living presence of Our Lord Jesus. The crucifix is always placed close to the altar as a reminder that cross and Eucharist are the same mystery, they are both two sides of the coin; and the coin is marked ‘Mankind’s Salvation’. And so the central parts of the sanctuary, the altar of the word, the altar of the Eucharist, the tabernacle, the cross; those three specially form like a triad, they are all different parts of the one Mystery, the altar by which Christ is made present, the cross connected to His presence, the tabernacle is the sign of His enduring presence in the Church until time comes to and end. The candles that are placed on either side of the altar are made of natural things, they are made of bee’s wax, and the candles consume themselves to show forth the light of Christ. Those candles are a reminder of the Catholic life. That just as that candle in the coming weeks will grow shorter and shorter and shorter until it exhausts itself so that it has to be replaced. So that candle is a reminder to us that we are to spend ourselves, being the light of Christ, but for us there is no exhaustion, we are never burned out; the flame is constantly rekindled. But that candle is a reminder to us that we are to be the light of Christ.
The altar is placed as the highest point of the sanctuary, as a reminder that what takes place there is the high point of the Church’s Liturgy.
There are two books that are used for the Holy Mass, there is the lectionary which is simply the Sacred Scripture, it is scriptures organized in a three year cycle. It is organized so that in the course of three years the entire Church has dwelt upon the Gospels in their entirety, the letters of Saint Paul and the acts of the apostles in nearly their entirety, as much as is possible, and the essential parts of the old testament. Even in a three year period it is impossible to cover the entire Sacred Scripture, but the lectionary of the Church attempts as much as it is possible to cover the Scripture in its entirety in a three year period. And so the readings are the Sacred Scripture. For those who say Catholics don’t love Scripture they’ve never seen the lectionary, it is nothing but the Scriptures it is organized in a way that follows the Liturgy of the Church’s year. We talked about it last week which is the summary of mankind’s salvation history; and so the lectionary is organized in this way. The Sacramentary is the Church’s prayer book for the Eucharist. All of the prayers, all of the prefaces, all of the sacred prayers used throughout the year are found in the Sacramentary. The Sacramentary was recently revised in 1970, previous revisions were 1960’s, previous to that quite back to the sixteen hundreds. The Lectionary, its prayers and its organization goes right back to Saint Justin, which we quote in from the year one hundred and fifty five. Thousands of years from now, they will be using a Lectionary, a Sacramentary, we don’t know what its language will be, the language probably is not even been invented yet, but the Sacramentary they use, will be essentially the same that we do. And if Christ returns tens of thousands of years from now and Mass is being celebrated off in some other planet they will be using the same Sacramentary that we use. So the Bishop of Alpha Centurion may be praying in some language we do not know, but the prayers and the words will be the same.
These are the things that are in the Sanctuary. Upon the altar is placed the Holy things that are used for the Sacrifice of the Mass.  The veil is a reminder of the veil that covered the Holy of Holies in the Old Testament, and was a reminder that as people walked into the temple of Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies was veiled from sight. And in the tent that carried the Ark of the Covenant, that tent was a veil keeping from sight the Holy things of God. And so the Mass begins with the holy vessels that are obscured from our sight as a reminder that these are holy things, but unlike the veil of the old Temple that was never parted; at the Liturgy of the Eucharist, this veil is removed because with Christ’s death this veiled has been opened. And so at the Liturgy of the Eucharist the veil is always removed to remind us that this is a sacrifice of the New Covenant not of the old. And the vessels that are used are always of noble, as noble construction as we can make them. The patten for the Body of Christ the Chalice for the Blood of Christ. Again such ancient vessels that have been used from the very beginning. These are the central things that are used for the Eucharist, the other things that are used are kind of peripheral things like the bells to remind us ‘Pay attention, the Lord is coming into our midst in a physical way’. The incense that we use in some Masses is a reminder of our prayers going up to Heaven. All of the things that are used for the Mass are to be as beautiful and as noble as we can make them. And as beautiful as the Chalice it is unworthy to hold Divinity; the Body and Blood of Christ our Lord.
The priest always wears vestments that are a reminder to us of the connection of the priesthood to the Eucharistic sacrifice. The white that the priest wears is a reminder of our baptism. A child wears white in their baptism, a child wears white in their first Communion, a bride wears white in matrimony, and when you die the color placed on your casket will be white. Is a sign of the dignity that is ours as a baptized people of God. And so they call it albus which is Latin for white. And then the priest always wears a Chasuble and a Chasuble is simply Latin for a little house. And is really a Liturgical equivalent to a Mexican serape which is worn over the shoulders during the day and becomes a place of refuge and warmth at night. An so that’s really what the Chasuble is, it means ‘a little house’... interesting.
And so, this is the priest vestment he always wears under the Chasuble a stole which is used only during the Sacraments of the Church and is a symbol of the priest’s authority, the priest’s in the name of Christ making present the Sacraments of the Church. Different colors are worn different times of the year; green is worn most commonly for the ordinary time and so is a color of hope. Ordinary time remember is a time of the Church, is the time we are in; between Christ’s resurrection and His coming again in glory. This week to come we are celebrating the twenty-eight Sunday in ordinary time. Ordinary time will come to and end with the feast of Christ the King. And so ordinary time is a reminder that we are in a time in between His first coming and His coming again in glory. We are in the age of the Church, when all of God’s grace is given to us through the Church. At Easter, at Christmas, at the feasts of the Saints we wear white, a symbol of Joy; at advent and lent we wear purple, a reminder of penance that you and I are to be a people who do penance out of thanksgiving for all the Lord has done for us. And finally the color red, which is worn for the feast of the Holy Spirit and for the feast of the martyrs and feast in honor of the sacrifice of Christ, the blood of Christ; and a symbol of the fire of the Holy Spirit.
That’s just a very, very quick summary of some of the things that are used in the Mass.
What just ask you, especially those who will be entering the Church. These symbols are very ancient and have been in use for many, many centuries; and when you see them what you are seeing is a visible sign in all the things I’ve explained, are visible signs of invisible mysteries. Our Lord uses our senses in the Mass, our hearing, our sight, our smell, our taste and touch; He uses all these senses of the body in order to place us at the center of an invisible mystery. Because we are people we need to see the Holy things, and in seeing them in the Eucharist we are reminded of the invisible reality which is Christ made present, cross, Eucharist, come together for the unity of mankind until we are all united singing the praises of God the Father for ever in Heaven.