MASS







WHAT IS HAPPENING AT MASS?

 
There has been a tendency since Vatican II to believe that the Mass is simply a communion meal. In effect it has been down graded to a lowest common denominator to the point that numerous Catholic surveys show that many Catholics no longer understand that the Eucharist is actually the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, or understand what is taking place on the altar.



The Mass is in fact the Paschal Banquet and Wedding Supper of the Lamb from the Book of Revelation. At the very moment we receive the Blessed Sacrament this is when we come into Holy Communion with the Mystical Body of Christ. Here we are made fully present at the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. However, it is also extremely important to understand that the Mass is also the Divine Sacrifice of Christ made present, on the Altar, in an un-bloody manner.



 Great reverence* (see below) is required when receiving Our Lord. It is also important to understand that the Mass is a fundamental aspect of the Book of Revelation, and is foreshadowed in the Old Testament.




 
This video from Scott Hahn give us correct theology on what is actually happening at Mass. His book The Lambs Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth is a well known & respected resource for understanding the Mass.


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Revelation 2:17
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Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. 

St. Padre Pio, stigmatic priest
"The heavens open and multitudes of angels come to assist in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass."

Saint Augustine
"When Mass is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled with countless angels who adore the divine victim immolated on the altar." 


The Council of Trent (1545-63)

Declared that "The same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross, is present and offered in an unbloody manner" in the Mass.



Finally, why can we not take Holy Communion 

when we are in a state of Mortal Sin?


St Paul Explains this in.......


1 Corinthians 11: 27-30


So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgement on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.


Council of Trent - Canon XI

lf any one saith, that faith alone is a sufficient preparation for receiving the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist; let him be anathema. And for fear lest so great a sacrament may be received unworthily, and so unto death and condemnation, this holy Synod ordains and declares, that sacramental confession, when a confessor may be had, is of necessity to be made beforehand, by those whose conscience is burthened with mortal sin, how contrite even soever they may think themselves. But if any one shall presume to teach, preach, or obstinately to assert, or even in public disputation to defend the contrary, he shall be thereupon excommunicated.


*THE IMPORTANCE OF REVERENCE 
AT MASS!

In the Catholic Church the word reverence can be replaced with the word piety. Piety has been given negative connotations as a result of the protestant reformation. It is in fact impossible for piety to be a negative action, because the Roman Catholic Church teaches that the Gift of Piety (aka reverence) is a Gift of the Holy Spirit. So feel free to be as pious as you wish, as long as it is genuine, as this is something that is pleasing to God. Also bare in mind that reverence/piety is a witness to others that you truly believe in Christ.  


Reverence/piety is an evangelising

 witness to those both 'inside and outside'

of the Catholic Church.

 

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