Sunday, March 18, 2007

The Potency of the Holy Mass

Jesus
Mahalo to Renee for sharing this with me.

My family and I had the great pleasure of attending a beautiful Mass this morning at our parish. The priest actually genuflected as he approached the altar. He chanted the Consecration words while the Altar boy rang the bells. His emphasis was on the Eucharist. He purified the vessels himself and finally, he encouraged all of us to read the Holy Father's new encyclical on the Eucharist. Thank you God! Thank you Fr. Jason!

[adapted from Secrets of the Eucharist]

A single Mass is of immeasurable potency. St. Teresa explained that the world
would long ago have been destroyed but for the Mass. It alone holds the arm of
God. It alone restrains Divine justice.

Without Mass in the world, said St. Teresa, "all here below would perish."

A single, well-said Mass --
attended to with true grace -- can have unimaginable effects. Our requests and
supplications can be offered throughout the liturgy, and I have found it especially effective to do it while the Host is elevated, and also when the chalice is raised. For in the chalice is now the Blood of Christ, and it is that Blood which is most powerful in washing away sinfulness. It is the Blood which was shed for our redemption.

It is the Blood that demons fear more than anything, because the Blood established Christ's transcendence of the world and defeat of evil. It represents His sacrifice. Since our redemption means breaking the bondages to Satan, the Blood is extremely potent in chasing away evil spirits.

During Mass we should plead the Blood of Christ. We should plead it on our lives. We should plead it on family and friends.

We should plead it upon the Church. And society. We should plead it upon every
aspect of existence because the Blood is the greatest of all palliatives --
meaning that in warding off devils, nothing is more effective.

It was the Blood that defeated Satan at Calvary.

"Lord I am not worthy to receive You, but only say the word and I shall be healed..."

These are the cherished moments of Mass. These are the minutes that are special beyond our ability to understand how special they are. These are the seconds when we are touching eternity.

Having interceded for ourselves, our families, and the world, we have cleared the way to concentrating on our purification, and that opens the floodgates of grace, which pour forth during the Eucharist (and Adoration).

Upon reception of the Communion host, we are in Christ and Christ is truly within us. Upon receiving Communion, we have all power over the enemy. As one of the documents from Vatican II proclaimed: "From this it follows that every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the Priest and of His Body, which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others.

No other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to
the same degree (SC 7). From the liturgy, therefore, and especially from the
Eucharist, grace is poured forth upon us as from a fountain, and the
sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God to which all other
activities of the Church are directed, as toward their end, are achieved with
maximum effectiveness."

[resources: Secrets of the Eucharist and The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist]

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