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God's entire place of salvation leads us to the saving death of Christ, when we were given access to Heaven and to the Father through Christ. For a Christian to choose consciously not to pray through Christ, by joining in the prayer of non-Christian religions, is in effect to say that God's plan of salvation in Christ was not necessary. It is a way of denying our need for Christ.
In a New Covenantal Sacrifice, Jesus Christ poured out His Precious Blood on the Cross, Victim of sinners yet praying for sinners; and that same Sacrifice is re-presented, at every Mass, yet in a Real but sacramental manner: an un-bloody offering.
The Mass is far more than a sacred meal. The Sacrifice which Christ once offered on the Cross, as He prayed for sinners to be forgiven, and gave up His life without complaint to conquer sin and death, is available for every generation. Christ has marvellously arranged that He is Really Present in every Mass, in every era, praying for sinners just as He prayed from the Cross, though He no longer suffers. It is the same Sacrifice, however, since the same Victim offers Himself, on the altar as on the Cross; and His true friends attend, and adore Him, and receive Him in Holy Communion, and receive the graces He won.
Some people decide to ride on a ghost-train at a fun-fair, and to find excitement in being shocked and terrified for a short time. Their shrieking is short-lived. The Lord wants everyone to know what people risk by deliberate grave sin: it is to be terrified, in the power of the demons, in Hell, not for a short time but forever. Christ was willing to come to earth, and die a horrible death, to speak the truth about sin and forgiveness, and to save us from the plight of the damned.
Christ's self-sacrifice, for the fulfilment of the Father's plan, was total. A priest, more than anyone, can only benefit his Sacred Ministry fully and the people he serves if he imitates His Master's self-sacrificing love even to accepting celibacy, willingly, so that he is totally committed to Christ and His Church, without reserve.
We are wise to pray for God's help, and to ask for the prayers of Our Lady, so that we will use time well. Those who waste time, spending their lives in acting against God, will end up in Hell with the demons who also act against God - but who hideously mistreat all who are in their power. Christ died to save us. We are foolish if we do not turn to Him for forgiveness, and Divine power.
Our faith will increase, if we accept the truth taught by the Church: that the One Who suffered on the Cross on Calvary, shed His Blood for sinners, and died, is the very Son of God Who comes amongst us at every Mass, made Present at the Consecration, to pray with us, and for us, in the presence of His adoring Angels.
In Mediaeval times, people were taught the truth about the Mass, the central act of our religion, and the greatest means of praising God - through His Son, and His Son's Holy Sacrifice, re-presented in the presence of the Saints, the Holy Souls and the Angels. What is important are prayer, adoration, and the knowledge that we join in the worship of Heaven. (It is because most children are taught only that the Mass is a community meal, that there are so many images given, through Radiant Light, of every aspect of the Holy Sacrifice. The Lord wants every effort made to teach the truth about these Holy Mysteries.)
Saturation Coverage: The Lord wants everyone to know that the Mass is Christ's Holy Sacrifice. The Lord said that just as commercial people ensure saturation coverage of their products, placing images as widely as possible, He is doing the same, through Radiant Light, though not for monetary profit but spiritual benefits for all - spreading and using those paintings of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. That is why He has given me so many hundreds of images of the Mass.
It is tragic that people think that God is cruel, to allow people to go to Hell. He is reaching out, all the time, to save us from the consequences of our sins, warning us of the total loss of joy and peace when people freely choose to try to live without His love. He even sent His Son to earth, as man, to speak to us, and to plead with us to repent, and lead holy lives in union with Him, in preparation for Heaven. He sacrificed His life for this - but still, many people walk away.
Some people wonder how we can believe that the Mass is a Sacrifice. At every Mass, by Divine power, Jesus Christ is made truly Present, under the appearance of bread and wine. He is God as well as man; and in being with Him now, we are also present to the events of His earthly life which - because He is God - always remain powerful and significant, including His Passion and Death. At Mass, those events are made effective for our salvation, through our union with Christ and His Church.
At the Mass, we are present as Christ prays for us to be forgiven. When He is made Really Present at the Consecration, it is as though we have a pathway, in Him, through time and space, to be present to all He has done for us in His earthly life, supremely to the once-for-all Sacrifice of the Cross, on which He suffered to win forgiveness for sinners, including ourselves. By His Precious Blood, He sealed a new Covenant between Heaven and earth. By His Resurrection He conquered sin and death.
At the Mass, we are present as Christ prays for us to be forgiven. When He is made Really Present at the Consecration, it is as though we have a pathway, in Him, through time and space, to be present to all He has done for us in His earthly life, supremely to the once-for-all Sacrifice of the Cross, on which He suffered to win forgiveness for sinners, including ourselves. By His Precious Blood, He sealed a new Covenant between Heaven and earth. By His Resurrection He conquered sin and death.
Christ invites each priest to renew his trust in Him. Even when a priest approaches the altar with heavy footsteps and a leaden heart, and feels so lacking in love or fervour that it's as if he is offering the Holy Sacrifice in a frozen waste, surrounded by snow drifts and icy winds, Christ never fails to come to the altar at the Consecration, as if leaning down from the Cross to say to the priest: Yes, I am here! I love you. You are doing My work, offering My Sacrifice. Persevere, and you will become joyful.
We can save souls, by the grace of Christ, through our prayers and sacrifices. No matter how sick we are, nor how feeble our efforts, if we offer up our prayers, and our pains as penances for people trapped in sin and in danger of falling into the Abyss (into Hell), and if we offer everything in union with Christ's Sacrifice, we join in His work of salvation.
We give glory to the Father, and fulfil His plan for us, through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Jesus Christ is made Really Present to us under the appearance of bread and wine, we are made present to His one Sacrifice, once offered on Calvary. It is re-presented here, so that we in our generation can benefit from its saving power and receive the "Sacrament of salvation".
A Mass can be offered anywhere appropriate, even in a private house, with due respect and reverence. But a domestic setting should not be an excuse for informality, or disregard for the rubrics. Jesus Christ is no longer a carpenter, but King of Heaven, and glorious in His Majesty. It is better if there is room to kneel, as we adore Him, and offer His praise and His sacrificial prayer to the Father in Heaven.
The power of prayer, offered in the name of Christ, is extraordinary, especially the greatest prayer: the Sacrificial prayer of Christ in the Mass, offered for the faithful departed as well as the living. A soul in the depths of Purgatory can find himself brought suddenly, swiftly, towards the light of Heaven, as he cries out with joy because he has not been forgotten, but has had a Mass offered for him by a fellow Catholic.
God has revealed Himself to His people in ancient times; yet from the first Mass, Christ has been made Present amongst His friends; and it is His love, His prayer, and His Sacrifice on our altar, that seem like a pillar of fire: a fire of love that reaches as far as Heaven. We who love Him and offer ourselves with Him, can be sure that our prayers reach Heaven.
Just as God arranged that all who were bitten by serpents could gaze upon the bronze serpent and by spared, so God arranged that His own Son, Jesus Christ, would be lifted up on a cross; to look on Christ, and believe, brings healing from sin, a healing that, if continuing, leads to life with Christ in Eternity.
Showing 141 - 160 of 163