We have all heard of the old adage, “Out of the mouths of babes…” acknowledging that true wisdom often comes from the hearts and mouths of children when we least expect it. I had that sort of experience on June 17 when, as part of the route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage through the Diocese of Pittsburgh, a large group of the faithful walked the 17-mile Procession with the Blessed Sacrament through Beaver County. It was a 97-degree day with high humidity and no breeze. Needless to say, we were a group of overheated pilgrims. Along the way, a young family with small children joined the procession. One member of that family was a little girl who told me she was eight years old. She was wearing a straw hat that looked too big for her size, and was carrying a rosary in her hand. Smiling from ear to ear, she kept pace with no difficulty at all. Others were lagging behind a bit. I asked the little girl, “Don’t you mind this very hot day? You look so happy!” Without missing a beat, she offered, “Oh, no! Jesus offered the biggest sacrifice of all on the Cross. I am just offering my sacrifice of walking with Him to His.” Wow! That little girl is a theologian who puts what she believes into practice. Jesus’ Sacrifice on the Cross is the one that redeems the world. We are called to unite ourselves and our sacrifices to His Sacrifice made present at Mass.
The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council taught what the little girl on the road in Beaver County asserted. In Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitutions on the Church, they wrote, “Taking part in the Eucharistic sacrifice, the source and summit of the Christian life, they (the faithful at Mass) offer the divine Victim to God, and themselves along with it” (#11).
We are called by our baptism to offer every thought word, and deed of our daily lives along with the Sacrifice of Jesus on the altar at Mass. While it is true that it is the priest at Mass who offers the Sacrifice of the Cross, the priest does this because, by virtue of his ordination, he stands “in the Person of Christ the Head” at the altar; he becomes “another Christ.” The faithful, however, offer the Sacrifice of Christ in a spiritual way at Mass. They are called to offer themselves, their sorrows, their sufferings, their joys and their whole life along with Christ’s Sacrifice.
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal states, “The Church’s intention, indeed, is that the faithful not only offer this unblemished sacrificial Victim but also learn to offer their very selves, and so day by day to be brought, through the mediation of Christ, into unity with God and with each other, so that God may at last be all in all” (#78).
When we come to Mass, we want to fully, consciously, and actively participate in the Sacred Liturgy. In order to be able to do so, we must recognize that at Mass, the greatest act of love is made present on the altar—the very Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Then we must participate in the offering of that Sacrifice through the hands of the priest. From our heart and soul, we strive to offer that great deed of mercy—Jesus’ offering of Himself on the Cross. With that one perfect Sacrifice offered once and for all on Calvary, we offer ourselves, our lives, our suffering, and our love. That, dear friends, is needed for full, conscious, and active participation in the Mass. You see—that little girl was absolutely right!
Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh