CCC 1085-1112
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I have always loved the opening interviews to the movie The Incredibles where Mr. Incredible, the superhero complains: “No matter how many times you save the world it always manages to get back in jeopardy again. Sometimes I just want it to stay saved, you know! I feel like the maid, “I just cleaned up this mess, could you keep it clean for ten minutes.”
I am sure that is how Jesus feels about us. He saved us by His death and Resurrection and we just keep messing it up again. The fact is, we are constantly in need of being saved because we are constantly messing up our souls. And just as soon as I get feeling confident of my goodness, I fall into sin. It’s like the law of physics called the law of entropy, that everything gradually declines into disorder, everything always tends to fall apart. It applies to the soul as well. I am constantly in need of being saved because I am constantly wrecking my soul.
Well, that is exactly why Jesus gives us the Sacraments – but for a reason that might surprise you. In the Mass and each of the Sacraments Jesus makes the saving events from His life present, so that what took place in Him can take place in us. In the Mass and each sacrament Jesus makes his victory over Satan, sin and death present, so that His victory may continue in us.
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In the Mass and each Sacrament Jesus signifies and makes present His suffering, death and Resurrection.
When his hour (to suffer, die and Rise) comes Jesus lives out the unique event of history which does not pass away: Jesus dies, is buried, rises from the dead, and is seated at the right hand of the Father “once for all. It is a real event that occurred in our history, but it is unique: all other historical events happen once, and then they pass away, swallowed up in the past. The suffering, death and Resurrection of Christ, by contrast, cannot remain only in the past because…all that he did and suffered for all men - participates in the divine eternity…while being made present in them all. The event of the Cross and Resurrection abides and draws everything toward life. CCC 1085
Jesus is an eternal Person. Eternal means “Present.” For God, there is no past or future, only the present moment. Since Jesus is God, every event from His life remains PRESENT. The suffering death and resurrection of Jesus that conquered Satan, sin and death, remains present and is made present to us in the Mass and the Sacraments because we wreck ourselves in little and big ways every day. But our Savior is always there to save us from ourselves with His precious blood in the Mass and the Sacraments.
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How is the Life of Jesus made present so that what took place in him can take place in us?
The Holy Spirit Recalls the saving Events from the Life of Jesus in each sacrament through the Liturgy of the Word (CCC 1099) – when the Gospel is read. CCC 1103 tells us: In the Liturgy of the Word the Holy Spirit “recalls” to the assembly all that God has done for us. This is called the Anamnesis, which means to recall or remember. It is the opposite of Amnesia – to forget.
However, (CCC 1104) The Mass and the Sacraments “not only recalls the events that saved us but…makes them present.” The victory of Jesus “is celebrated, not repeated. It is the celebrations that are repeated, and in each celebration, there is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that makes the unique mystery present.
How does the Liturgy do this? Through the prayer called the Epiclesis
· When the priest prays with his hands palms side down over the bread and wine in the Mass
· Then the bell is rung to wake us up to the fact that the Holy Spirit is making the event of Calvary Present; the suffering, death and resurrection are being made present right at that moment – right there – right then.
That is why 1370 can say: In the Eucharist the Church is as it were at the foot of the Cross with Mary United to the offering and intercession of Christ. And (CCC 1367) In fact, the sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice.
The Mass and the Sacraments are the only place in the world the saving event of Calvary is made present, so that we may stand in the Fountain of Grace and Mercy that poured forth from the Savior’s Heart and drink in His divine life in the Eucharist!
That is why I am a Catholic
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There is an Epiclesis, when the priest prays with his hands palms side down, asking the Holy Spirit to make the saving events of Jesus present in every Sacrament.
· In Reconciliation, as the priest is giving you absolution, he raises his hand over your head and prays and epiclesis…
God the Father of Mercies
Through the Death and Resurrection of his Son
Has reconciled the world to himself…
And I absolve you from your sins…
· The Death and Resurrection are made Present to cleanse you of sin right then and there.
· Now, we should examine our conscience each day and ask forgiveness for our sins;
· But there is something vastly more powerful - the saving death and resurrection of Jesus, in which his blood is poured out for the forgiveness is sins, that is actually made present in the Sacrament of Confession to apply the Salvation of Jesus once again to you.
· The Cross of Jesus takes away sins – the Cross of Jesus is made present in Confession to take away your sins – that is why I feel literally lighter after confession.
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You know, its funny, those who never examine their lives closely think they are good (I’m good)…that their sins are small and insignificant – they almost forget they are in constant need of saving. But those who look at their lives in reality and with humility begin to see more and more just how often and how much we sin…we gossip, we fall through our pride, ego, envy, lust, impatience…and we see more clearly the evil ripple our sins cast in the world. But Don’t despair – God is allowing us to see just how impossible it is for us to save ourselves and just how much we need a Savior. And even more importantly – go to the Savior whose saving work is constantly made present in the Mass and Sacraments so that we may be healed and redeemed.