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Father Maassen's Message - 06/02/24
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On the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, it should be said that every Mass is a re-presenting of Christ’s Great Sacrifice on the Hill of Calvary. Sometimes, one picture is worth a thousand words.
As God is outside of time, when the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered, Christ’s Sacrifice breaks into time to heal, to perfect, to become intimate with our humanity – both at a macro level, but also in the lives of each and every one of us.
As a priest, the Lord God has condescended to let this unworthy soul see healings of the dead, of the living, and the blessing of a people who were present with me at the Mass. I can only imagine what God accomplished through the offering of the Mass by holy and pious priests such as St. Padre Pio, St. John Mary Vianney, and St. Jean Gabriel Perboyre. But even in the hands of a notoriously ‘bad priest’, God’s Work is accomplished from the Work of the Worker – in this case, the worker is not the priest, but the Lord Jesus Christ – Himself.
And when you and I offer our lives in the Mass, God is never outdone in generosity. Even in the hands of a ‘bad priest’, Christ condescends to ‘change the substance’ of bread and wine into His Own Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. And it is said, that when a ‘bad priest’ offers the Sacrifice, Christ is placed in more pain than the pain of Calvary. This is how much Christ loves you: that He is Willing to put Himself through a pain greater than Calvary so that you potentially might know His healing, His perfecting of you, and His Intimacy with you. Though it has been said many times, it does bear repeating: even the greatest of Saints who could speak to Jesus such as you and I speak… such men and women received Holy Communion with the full expectation that their Communion with our Lord in consuming the Eucharist was a greater intimacy by far than being able to speak with Him.
Little Blessed Imelda Lambertini [age 11] awaited her First Holy Communion with great joy and Hope.
When Blessed Imelda received her First Holy Communion, the nuns left her to give her time to offer her thanksgiving. However, time passed, and as they returned to check on her, they found that little Blessed Imelda had died of ecstasy – ecstasy from the reception of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Her body remains incorrupt even after nearly 800 years.
One of the points that Fr. Maassen has worked diligently to drive home is that reception of the Most Holy Eucharist – in a state of Grace – has attached with it a promise given to us by Christ in the Gospel of John Chapter 6: ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.’
Many people wish to make a difference in the world: well, in participation of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, you make a difference. When you and I receive the Sacred Body and Most Precious Blood of our Lord – in a state of Grace, you have Communion with Christ; you have Grace from Christ; you have an intimacy with Christ longed for by the Saints who could talk Jesus like you and I talk. A reminder: Holy Communion should not be received when one has mortal sin on their soul. In such a case, one should go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation first. If one is UNSURE if one has mortal sin on their soul, one SHOULD receive Holy Communion as medicine, telling the priest they have done so at the next Confession.
One final thought: there is a special Holy Communion that can be given as a part of the Last Rites. It is called Viaticum. Obviously: to receive Viaticum, one must be conscious. The ritual is actually simple: if the patient can make a declaration of Faith, they should. Viaticum is then celebrated in the same manner as Communion of the Sick, but, after giving Communion, the minister says: ‘May the Lord Jesus Christ protect you and lead you to eternal life.’ If a priest is not present to hear their Confession, if a person has mortal sin on their soul, Viaticum forgives all mortal sins, removes concupiscence, and makes a soul as ready as it may be to make the jump from time to Eternity.
Let you and I celebrate Mass reverently so as to make our world a better place. Let you and I receive the Most Sacred Body and Most Precious Blood of our Lord worthily so as to have intimacy with Christ.
Let us be careful out there!
