Search Page

There is nothing more important in our lives as Catholics than the Mass, where God praises God in God. In ancient times, God revealed Himself as fire, to His chosen people. In Christ, He has fully revealed Himself; and Christ, the Son of God, is truly, substantially Present on the altar, at every Mass.

What happens at Mass surpasses even those theophanies of the Old Testament times. God revealed Himself as fire in the burning bush, and on Mount Sinai, and in the desert, as Moses guided the chosen people. But we who are God's people today are privileged to have God Present with us: Jesus Christ, God-made-man, bodily Present, hidden under the form of bread and wine.

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.

It is true that everyone is to be made welcome, who wants to attend Mass; but this does not mean that people in mortal sin have a right to approach the sanctuary to receive Holy Communion. It is the constant teaching of the Church that, in such cases, people must first be reconciled and receive absolution; then each one can begin a new life of holiness and purity.

Christ looks on with joy, with His Saints, His heart grateful that some of His flock revere the Traditional Mass - now called the Extraordinary form of the Rite - and that some priests offer it, and some of the laity assist because of their love for Christ, first of all;but also because of their desire to support and encourage priests who revere ancient ways.

At every Mass, we can remember our spiritual Communion, through Christ, with those Catholics who languish in jails, in countries in which the faithful are despised and persecuted. What a marvel is our union with others, in the 'Communion of Saints', stemming from our Baptism, and how powerfully we can help one another, through Christ, by our prayers.

We are wise if we adopt a habit of prayer, shutting the door so that we can pray in our 'secret place', as Christ suggested. It is a good preparation for fruitful prayer at Mass. It can also mean that we worship God with our bodies, too, as we feel able to bow, or prostrate ourselves in private before our all-holy God and Saviour.

The Mass is at the heart of the life of a priest. A good priest is pleased to show the place where he offers the Holy Sacrifice daily on the altar; and he can be sure that all part hurts, memories, and failings can be offered up and 'burned up' in the great fire of love which is Christ's sacrificial prayer to the Father.

Many Catholics practice what must be called false ecumenism. A Catholic priest or Bishop acts against the truth if he stands with a Protestant leader and gives what is called a joint blessing. This gives the impression that they each have the same power and authority. And when a Protestant minister is invited to offer a sermon during a Mass, this is against the wish of Christ and His Church. It is forbidden.

An altar is not a mere table. A priest is not just a leader. A priest who lives in dark times - whether interior darkness or external difficulties - should keep in mind the Heavenly realities. The priest who, on earth, has faithfully lived and offered Sacrifice as 'another Christ' will be served by Christ at the Banquet in Heaven; and his past earthly hardships will seem insignificant.

It is shocking that people are indifferent to the pain felt by each baby who is torn apart by abortion, in an age when people are rightly concerned to minimise the pain felt by a lobster as it is killed before being cooked. Pro-abortionists know that to become concerned about pain in abortion is to prove beyond doubt that a human being is being slaughtered, not a mere mass of cells; and they do not want to be reminded.

Priests must be determined to grow in holiness. Men are called by Christ so that the faithful can have a Christ amongst them where they live, and Christ made Really Present in the Blessed Sacrament because of the priest who celebrates the Mass. Amongst pure priests, God sees, here and there, however, a gloomy figure: like an empty space, symbolising a lack of charity, when a priest is in serious sin.

Whoever wants to be at peace with Christ need only take a few simple steps to emerge from misery and isolation. We need only make a gentle confession, regretting our sins, but determined to stop sinning, and wanting to be freed by the graces of the sacrament. Then we can go to Mass and Holy Communion, knowing we have been made worthy to take part!

We need to refocus our thoughts: on Heaven! Someone sad can gain a new perspective, by looking at a traditional scene, and realising that he or she enjoyed many more happy Christmasses than sad ones. What counts is to realise that in every season we are deeply loved by God, as precious individuals whom He wants to bring to enjoy eternal joy with Him.

We are present at Mass to the one Sacrifice of Christ by which mankind was redeemed. This does not mean that everyone is saved. Christ died for all. Everyone is offered opportunities in life, by God, by which to benefit from the graces poured out for souls through Christ's self-giving love; but He sees how tragic it is, that so few of us believe in Him, and follow Him.

Some converts who entered the Church in the 1960s and 1970s found the Truths of the Faith, and the sacraments, and Christ Himself, Really Present. Yet they found themselves in an icy landscape; the ice and snow represent what Christ then saw: the icy hearts of those who were itching for inappropriate changes, and who, by strange acts and exaggerations, caused a thousand disasters, including, in part, a de-sacralisation of the words and gestures of the Mass.

Long ago, the new rite of the Mass was very hurriedly introduced. Through long-standing, tragic ignorance of the Traditional Mass, many people have lost the sense of ascending, together, to Calvary, to offer the Holy Sacrifice. The Traditional rite seemed to be put aside, and the Novus Ordo was in place. But now (in 2010) Christ is encouraging, through the Papacy, a growth in understanding, at last, of the beauty and antiquity of the Traditional Mass, and of its reverent phrasing, and its silences.

Every valid Mass is holy, and admirable; yet the Traditional Mass, now called the 'Extraordinary Form', is admirable especially for its beauty, its antiquity, its reverent phrasing, and its silences which are so little found today. All of these aspects lead us to approach the Father in a spirit of holiness.

Some Catholics foolishly ignore the evidence; that the evil one has been especially active in the Church for four decades, determined to strike at Christ and Catholics by striking at the Mass. The evil one uses all sorts of people and methods to increase ignorance of the Real Presence, to confuse the laity, to discourage priests, to bring about a distorted or truncated presentation of the Faith in catechesis. It's as if he is lurking beneath a procession of the Blessed Sacrament, planning how to lessen our love for Christ and to diminish our fervour.

A Catholic who can not be bothered to practice the faith has a soul so dead, perhaps, as to be almost lifeless - like the frozen landscape pictured here. Where can he go when he dies, except into the Abyss, if he has refused to acknowledge, honour or serve God and enjoy His friendship - if he has refused the help of the Holy Spirit, Who carries towards Heaven, after death, all who die 'in Christ': as friends of God?