LET US GO TO CALVARY; LET US GO TO HEAVEN

LET US GO TO CALVARY
LET US GO TO HEAVEN

More than 2000 years ago something great and powerful, (however seemingly insignificant at that time), took place on Calvary. The God-man, Jesus, offered His life in sacrifice on the Cross to redeem mankind. By this once-for-all Sacrifice He made perfect atonement for all our sins, gave perfect worship and thanksgiving to the Father (on our behalf, as our High Priest), and merited for us an inexhaustible flow of grace.

Now guess what, Jesus instituted a means by which His one perfect sacrifice, of infinite value, will be extended through time and space, so that its fruits will be applied to our souls in the here and now. On Holy Thursday Jesus instituted the Sacrifice of the MASS, by which the very Sacrifice of the CROSS will be really and truly made present and offered to God in an unbloody manner, under the external appearances of bread and wine, until the end of time. In other words, Jesus enables us to be present in this sacrifice that transcends time and space.

The Catechism reminds us that “in the Liturgy of the Church, it is principally his own Paschal Mystery that Christ signifies and MAKES PRESENT. … all that he did and suffered for all men–participates in the divine eternity, and so transcends all times while being made present in them.” (CCC 1085). We may therefore say that at every Mass we are MYSTICALLY TRANSPORTED to Calvary (beneath the Cross), not just to be spectators but there (now) to be active participants by the interior act of offering ourselves to the Father, in union with Jesus. For “in the Eucharist the sacrifice of Christ becomes also the sacrifice of the members of his Body. The lives of the Faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer, and work, are united with those of Christ and with his total offering, and so acquire a new value. Christ’s sacrifice present on the altar makes it possible for all generations of Christians to be united with his offering.” (CCC 1368). Sadly, too often we can miss making this interior act, this spiritual offering of ourselves joined to the offering of the Victim, Jesus, in the sacramental mode of bread and wine.

And there's more. [The letter to the Hebrews reminds us that “we have a High Priest who has ascended into heaven” (Heb 4:14) and holds his priesthood permanently because He continues forever. Consequently He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make INTERCESSION for them” (Heb 7:24-25), having entered “not into a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (Heb 9:24).

Therefore at every Mass Christ's eternal priesthood unites Heaven and earth. At every Mass, the Faithful come “to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the HEAVENLY Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to a Judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel” (Heb 12:22-24).

We must therefore realize that “in the earthly Liturgy (Mass) we partake in anticipation of that Heavenly Liturgy… to which we are making pilgrimage.” (Vatican II, SC, #8). “Who among the faithful could doubt that at the very hour of the sacrifice, at the word of the priest, the heavens are opened, that the angels are present at this mystery of Jesus Christ, the Most High itself united with the lowest, earth unites with heaven, visible and invisible become one?” (Pope St. Gregory the Great)]

The liturgy itself teaches this truth, when in the Canon of the Mass the Church prays: “Humbly we beseech Thee, Almighty God, to command that these our offerings be carried by the hands of Thy holy angel to Thine altar on high, in the sight of Thy divine Majesty, so that those of us who shall receive the most sacred body and blood of Thy Son by partaking thereof from this altar may be filled with every grace and blessing: through the same Christ Our Lord.” This clearly shows the identity of the sacrifice of heaven with the sacrifice of earth. The Mass, therefore, is truly a participation in the heavenly liturgy.

May we therefore always come to Mass with a lively faith that we are assisting at Christ's sacrifice on Calvary, offering our very selves in union with Jesus, there to atone for our sins, worship and thank God adequately, and to petition God for graces, all relying on the most powerful intercession of the God-man, Jesus. Then will we be more and more properly disposed to receive the infinite graces available at every Mass–the fruits of Christ's redemption.

May we also have the lively faith that at every Mass we are in the company of Heaven. Indeed, with the eyes of faith we behold Our Blessed Mother, the Angels and the Saints who are all present at every Mass. Truly the Mass is heaven on earth. And so we may not be financially capable of traveling the world, but at Mass we can always go to Calvary and even to Heaven, albeit mystically, there to worship God and be spiritually nourished. What could give us more meaning and consolation in our everyday struggles.

***[ ]quotations as cited in “CREDO” by Bishop Athanasius Schneider