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After the Consecration, we can be certain that Christ is Present amongst us: Christ Who died on the Cross, praying for sinners, and Who is Present now, praying for us in our day, and offering the same sacrifice.
Christ is substantially Present with us in the church, in the tabernacle, and is made Present on the altar at the Consecration in the Mass. Crowds of adoring angels surround Him.
When the bread and wine are consecrated by a Catholic priest, they are changed into the Sacred Body and Blood of Christ; and Christ transforms the Communicant, by His Divine life. It is no small matter, that many people, perhaps through no fault of their own, or through not knowing the truth, receive only bread and wine, in Christian bodies which do not have valid Orders.
It is no small matter, that through a break in Apostolic Succession at the Reformation, many Christian leaders have invalid orders. Not being priests, they cannot consecrate bread and wine. They and their followers receive only bread and wine at their Communion Service. It may not be their fault, but they do not receive the transforming food, Christ Himself.
Two holy Angels stood at each side of the altar, during the Mass, in honour of Christ, Who was made Really Present at the Consecration.
Truly, when the priest has pronounced the words of Consecration, Jesus Christ is Present, in His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. This is Jesus, Who once appeared to Moses, in the burning bush, as fire.
When the Priest has pronounced the words of Consecration, and Jesus Christ is Sacramentally and substantially Present in His Blood and Blood, Soul and Divinity, we are very close to Our God and Saviour. Truly, this is Jesus, who once appeared to Moses, in the burning bush, as Fire.
At the Consecration, Christ said, of His Sacrifice on the Cross: "This is what sin did". He wants everyone to know that everyone who kills an unborn child commits a grievous sin. Each abortion is like the suffering meted out to Christ in His Passion: a crucifixion of the innocent.
Christ is pleased to see the traditional form of the Mass encouraged, yet Christ is Really Present in His Risen glory, after the Consecration, in every valid Mass offered by a Catholic priest, whether the words used are the traditional Canon in Latin by a priest facing, with the people, towards God the Father, or by a priest using the more recent form of words, as the priest stands behind the altar.
At the Consecration of the bread, it is changed into the Scared Body of Christ, Who is Present with us, in His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity: whole and entire. His radiance shines upon all who are present there, with an outpouring of graces for those willing to receive them.
At the Consecration of the bread and the wine, these change into the Sacred Body and Precious Blood of Christ Who is therefore Present in our sanctuary. From our midst, He prays for sinners today, just as He once prayed from the Cross. That is why it is so important that we attend Sunday Mass, as the Church requests.
When Christ is made Really Present, at the Consecration, He prays for the Whole Church, to the Father in the Spirit; yet those who are bodily present gain special graces from being willing to be near their Saviour, in obedience and reverence and love. What great loss is suffered, therefore, by Catholics who are so lazy, or whose faith is so lukewarm, that they rarely take part.
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.
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.
Christ saw with dismay that many Catholics, after the last Council, were not content to be lowly, in church. Even at a time when these were forbidden, some insisted on presenting girls as altar-servers, or receiving Communion in the hand. Others wanted to preach the homily, or to introduce unauthorised dramas or prayers, or even dance troupes during the Mass, and some refused to kneel at the Consecration, and in other ways showed not education but pride.
The Real Presence is not a myth or a fairytale, but a work of God. Christ wants everyone to know the meaning of 'Real Presence'. It means that, in what appears to be bread and wine, after the Consecration, Jesus Christ is truly Present: our Risen Lord, bodily Present in His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, glorious, loving, sharing His love for us. The same is true of Christ, Present in the tabernacle.
When the Angels bow low, in awe, at the arrival of Jesus Christ, at the Consecration, they demonstrate, by their action, their interior disposition. We can do the same. We can express our adoration and love by reverent gestures, prayers, genuflections, and also by our silence in church, and our modest clothing, and dignified bearing.
There are three more things that many Catholics need to be told about the Mass - especially children. They know about the gathered Church, the Scriptures, and Holy Communion; it is tragic that so few have learned: 1) Jesus is made Really Present at the Consecration, 2) Through Him, we are made present to the One Sacrifice of Calvary, 3) Jesus, today, prays for us: He prays for our forgiveness and our Salvation.
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