The disciples said to Jesus, “Now You are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. Now we realize that You know everything and that You do not need to have anyone question You. Because of this we believe that You came from God.” (John 16:29-30)
This reminded me of the reaction of so many people who have heard Father Jonathan Meyer, an Indiana priest, one of fifty commissioned with preaching on Eucharistic Revival themes of Presence, Communion, and Sacrifice.
Why Do You Go to Mass?
Earlier this year, Father Jonathan Meyer spent 33 minutes explaining the Eucharist as a sacrifice. This talk went viral on YouTube, drawing more than half a million views, and is still growing.
He claims that 90% of Catholics do not fully grasp why they go to Mass.
He says plainly that people offer a variety of reasons they go to Mass: to hear the scriptures, for the music, for the homilies, for the community, and to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord. All those are great and fruits of a well-celebrated Mass. But there is something more on offer at every Mass.
Eucharist as Sacrifice
He explains: “I go to Mass to go to the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus, to go to Calvary, to go to my salvation. It is the Death and Resurrection of the Lord, and I have the ability to unite myself to it.”
“I think there is a great love of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament,” he says, “But is completely detached from the true understanding of His presence being given to us so we could enter into the Representation of Calvary.”
This is the reason at every Mass that we hear the priest say at the Offertory, “Pray, brothers, and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the Father Almighty.”
It is the reason that Saint John Vianney, the Cure of Ars, said, “If we truly understood the Mass, we would die of joy.”
The Representation of Calvary
So, at Mass, we are not looking back to an event 2000 years ago, we are truly present at the Representation of Calvary, and all our joys, sufferings, woundedness, and struggles we unite to the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, who offers them to the Father. Amen.
- To view the Rosary prayer and Mass streaming live, please visit our Facebook page at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, Monday – Friday. Please invite your loved ones to join us too! (If you are not a member of Facebook and a signup window appears, simply select the X at the top of the pop-up message and continue to the livestream.)
