At some point in life, a person will witness a series of events that will leave him asking a simple rhetorical question: “Did I just see that?” The encounter may spawn further questions or leave the person confused about what he just witnessed or look for answers. Imagine if the event you encounter was the celebration of the Mass and the actual incident involved an extraordinary minister of the Holy Eucharist who during the Liturgy of the Eucharist went to the tabernacle that was nowhere to be found within the sanctuary, then proceeded to process down the aisle elevating the Ciborium where the Holy Eucharist is safely kept, then proceeded to assist the Priest celebrant-homilist on the altar with the distribution of the Holy Eucharist to multiple patens while the Priest either assisted or observed.
As all this was happening in real-time, my immediate reaction was to correct the liturgical fracas that were happening before my and my family’s eyes. When my wife turned to me expressing a sense of genuine grief and sorrow at the abuses we were witnessing, all I could do was tell myself how I would fix this entire human calamity and second, speak with the Priest after Mass. Ultimately, exercising the virtue of Prudence and taking the time to trust in our Lord’s love and mercy I chose not to cause any unnecessary commotion, though I selfishly wanted to. What added to the liturgical decay of this parish was its lack of kneelers, Stations of the Cross, visible sacred art, and a profound sense of awe and reverence for the Holy Eucharist.
The identity of the liturgy is intimately associated with what the Church describes as the economy of the Word Incarnate or the economy of salvation. What this means is the liturgy a public work of worship embodied within the sacrifice of the Mass is intended to recall the Paschal sacrifice of Christ offered at the Last Supper. This entire drama culminates by affirming Jesus’ death on the Cross and receiving his body and blood in the form of properly consecrated bread and wine-the Holy Eucharist by the Ordinary Minister of the Eucharist-Priest. The Catechism tells us that,
“To accomplish so great a work” the dispensation or communication of his work of salvation “Christ is always present in his Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the Sacrifice of the Mass not only in the person of his minister, ‘the same now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered himself on the cross,’ but especially in the Eucharistic species. By his power he is present in the sacraments so that when anybody baptizes, it is really Christ himself who baptizes. He is present in his word since it is he himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church. Lastly, he is present when the Church prays and sings, for he has promised ‘where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them.[1]
The Catechism describes the work of Christ as the “great work” signifying that Christ actively chose to save mankind through his death on the cross. Christ instituted the path to salvation by Way of the Cross. The significance of the Way of the Cross or the Villa de Crucis, represents our path of suffering associated with Christ and a desire to receive him with great reverence in the Holy Eucharist at mass. The fourteen stations associated with the Way of the Cross specifically identify the path Jesus took to save us from sin and death. Each station depicts the path we must take if our desire is heaven by way of the Cross.
The premise of the Way of the Cross validates why Christ came, to destroy the works of the Devil and at the same time, release us from the pain of sin and death. From the moment Jesus is condemned to death as depicted in the first station to his death on the cross depicted in the twelfth station, the entire salvific sequence reveals God’s intention to save us through the sacrificial death of his Son.
The Mass is at the same time, and inseparably, the sacrificial memorial in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated and the sacred banquet of communion with the Lord’s body and blood. But the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice is wholly directed toward the intimate union of the faithful with Christ through communion. To receive communion is to receive Christ himself who has offered himself for us.[2]
After the celebration of the Last Supper where Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist, he fulfilled his promise as the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the World.[3] This act of love should compel us to approach Christ in the Holy Eucharist with great humility and reverence. We should not forget that the Way of the Cross reveals the depth of Christ’s love for us to the very end.[4]
You fast, but Satan does not eat. You labor fervently, but Satan never sleeps. The only dimension with which you can outperform Satan is by acquiring humility, for Satan has no humility.
St. Moses the Black
[3] Jn 1:29, 1 Pet 1:19
