Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Mary’s of the Lake:

(Below is Part 1 of Pope Francis’ catechesis on the Holy Mass on Nov 22, 2017 at the weekly Audience at St. Peter’s Square.
 Continuing with the catechesis on the Mass, we can ask ourselves: What essentially is the Mass? The Mass is thememorial of Christ’s Passover. It makes us participants in hisvictory over sin and death, and gives full meaning to our life. For this reason, to understand the value of the Mass, wemust first understand the biblical significance of ‘memorial’. Itis ‘not merely the recollection of past events but makes themin a certain way present and real. This is how Israel understands its liberation from Egypt: every time Passover is celebrated, the Exodus events are made present to the memory of believers so that they may conform their lives tothem’ (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1363). Jesus Christ, with his passion, death, resurrection and ascension into heaven brought the Passover to fulfillment.And the Mass is the memorial of his Passover, of his ‘exodus’, which he carried out for us, so as to lead us out of slavery and introduce us to the promised land of eternal life. It is not merely a remembrance, no. It is more: it is making present what happened 20 centuries ago.
 The Eucharist always leads us to the pinnacle of the salvific action of God: the Lord Jesus, making himself Bread broken for us, pours out upon us his mercy and his love, as he did on the Cross, thus renewing our hearts, our existence and our way of relating to him and to our brothers and sisters. The

Second Vatican Council said: ‘As often as the sacrifice of thecross[,] in which Christ our Passover was sacrificed, is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption is carriedon’ (Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 3).

 Every celebration of the Eucharist is a ray of that never setting sun that is the Risen Jesus. Taking part in the Mass, particularly on Sunday, means entering the victory of the Risen One, being illuminated by his light, warmed by his compassion. Through the Eucharistic celebration the Holy Spirit makes us participants in the divine life that is able to transfigure our whole mortal being. In his passage from death to life, from time to eternity, the Lord Jesus also draws us with him to experience the Passover. In the Mass we celebrate Passover.

We, during Mass, are with Jesus, who died and is Risen, and he draws us forth to eternal life. In the Mass we unite with him. Rather, Christ lives in us and welive in him: ‘I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ’, Saint Paul states, ‘who lives in me; andthe life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,who loved me and gave himself for me’ (Gal 2:20). This iswhat Paul thought. [to be continued]

Thursday August 15 will be the Assumption 
(a holy day of obligation).
Masses will be 8:30 am & 6 pm in Lakewood
and 4 pm in Wabeno.

 

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