The Heart of the Mass

We come to the heart of the Mass, found in Eucharistic Prayer I and in all of the Eucharistic Prayers—the words of consecration, the words of Jesus Himself. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity” (#1413). The prayer of consecration is truly the heart of the celebration of the Mass because, at this point, Our Lord Jesus Christ becomes substantially present by the efficacy of the words of the priest, a power given not of the priest himself but by his ordination. These words are spoken for the salvation of not just the priest, but for the salvation of all.
           
In the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Council Fathers taught,
At the Last Supper, on the night when He was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the centuries until He should come again, and so to entrust to His beloved spouse, the Church, a memorial of His death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is eaten, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us” (#47).
           
As Catholics we believe that by these words prayed in faith by the priest a wonderful, dynamic outpouring of God’s love and mercy occurs. It was the will of Jesus that night of the Last Supper, in anticipation of how He would offer Himself on the Cross the next day on Good Friday, to give the Church for all ages the Sacrifice of His Body and Blood in each and every celebration of the Mass. By doing so, He entrusts to the Church the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist that effects the bond of unity of each member of the Church with Him and then with the other members of His Body the Church. By His substantial Presence in the Eucharist, Jesus unites us in His love and makes possible the Paschal Banquet, the supper of the Lamb, by receiving Him in Holy Communion. When He comes to us in this Sacrament, we are filled with His grace, His own life, and a promise of the glory of heaven is given to us.
           
As these words, “this is My Body…this is the Chalice of My Blood” are spoken, we see with the eyes of faith the offering of Jesus on the Cross and the splendor of His resurrected Body still bearing His glorious wounds offered to the Father. This is no empty ritual that refers to  what is past. No, this is the powerful presence of grace and mercy poured out upon the here and now. This is no static symbol of an event that lived only 2000 years ago. No, this is the perpetual Sacrifice of Christ offered in love so that we, and the world, can be transformed in His Mercy. This is not a feel-good meal that focuses on what we do. No, this is an act of love and mercy effected by Christ, the Great High Priest, which makes the Mystery of His Passion, Death and Resurrection present and by which we receive His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
           
This is the heart of the Mass that unites every other prayer and word spoken at the Mass. This is the unifying reality of the Eucharistic Liturgy that draws us all to the Lord and binds us in love with one another.  We can say that the Church, the Body of Christ on earth, is most fully the Church when it is at the altar united in the substantial Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. 
           
We should not be surprised by this, because the words spoken that effect this tremendous Mystery are words that come from the very mouth of Our Lord at the culmination of His life, that for which He had come into the world. These words recorded in the Gospel are the prism through which we come to see what the Sacred Liturgy is all about and, in fact, what our lives are all about.
           
How blessed we are in our faith in the Sacrifice and the Body and Blood of Jesus made present at every Mass! It is the source of all power in the Church. Coming before the altar for this Sacrifice transforms our lives in holiness and empowers us to go forth and proclaim His Gospel and His Presence with us!

Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh