Cardinal: If They Understand the Mass, They'll Come

ZNA ^ | June 17, 2008

[NYer]

QUEBEC CITY, JUNE 16, 2008 (Zenit.org).- If Catholics really understood the meaning of Sunday Mass, they wouldn't miss it, Cardinal Josef Tomko said at the opening of the 49th International Eucharistic Congress.

Cardinal Tomko, the Pope's special envoy for the event, presided Sunday at the opening mass of the weeklong congress in Quebec. He will also preside at the closing Mass on June 22, during which Benedict XVI will address the participants live via satellite.

Some 11,000 pilgrims, 50 cardinals and more than 100 bishops have gathered for the inaugural Mass of the congress titled, "The Eucharist, the Gift of God for the Life of the World."

"The Eucharist is a gift of God," said Cardinal Tomko. "Not as an object, as the other gifts of God, but a very special one, because the gift of God himself.

"The Eucharist is Christ himself, a Person with his divine and human nature, given to us. It is the body and blood of the Risen Christ present with us under the sacramental signs of the bread and wine."

Life of the world

The cardinal explained: "Before leaving this world, Jesus wanted to leave to his Church and to the whole humanity the gift of his Presence. He has chosen the form of the bread and wine. Since the beginning of his public life, in Capernaum, he has promised the bread of life: 'The bread I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.'

"On the eve of his passion, in the Cenacle he took the bread and solemnly declared: 'This is my body given up for you.' And he said over the wine: 'Drink from it, all of you, this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.'

"He has accomplished only a few hours in advance of and in a bloodless, sacramental manner, the sacrifice offered in bloody way on the Cross at Calvary. Jesus therefore instituted the Eucharist as his redemptive sacrifice. The Eucharist is a sacramental form of the sacrifice of Jesus on cross, Cenacle and Calvary are just one sacrifice 'for the life of the world.'"

"This sacrifice happened only once," added the papal legate, "but Jesus wanted to apply and to perpetuate it through the centuries. Therefore he gave a commandment to his apostles: 'Do this in memory of me.'

"It is a memorial and a command: not only to remember him with speeches and words, but to do what he has done."

2,000 Years

"From that time," said Cardinal Tomko, "the priests of his Church accomplish this sublime command doing the same action and pronouncing the same words. Through 2,000 years the same words of Jesus consecrating the bread and wine resounds."

"In each celebration of the Mass," he said, "Jesus Christ himself is present with us in the situation of sacrifice as the lamb of God who takes away the sins of our world, of our community, our sins."

"It is not a show, not a pure commemoration or remembrance," he stressed, "it is sacramental representation of this salvific event, a persevering memorial bringing its fruits to the faithful."

The cardinal added, "If we understand in depth the meaning of our weekly Eucharist, we will revise our frequentation to it. It will become clear for us why the martyrs of Abitine in Northern Africa declared to the pagan judge: 'We cannot live without the (Sunday) Eucharist' -- "Sine Dominico non possumus vivere" -- and why they offered their lives for this conviction."

[NYer]

"The Eucharist is a gift of God," said Cardinal Tomko. "Not as an object, as the other gifts of God, but a very special one, because the gift of God himself.

[murron]

Unfortunately, the Mass has turned into a social gathering where anything goes depending on the priest and the pastor. The manner of dress that is allowed is downright abysmal as though people were going to a barbecue or a crawfish boil. There is no reverence, people applaud as though they were attending some sort of a performance, and genuflecting is almost a thing of the past. The meaning of the Mass is lost.

[biscuit jane]

Hmmm...
Possibly they don’t understand the mass because they are not involved in learning the scripture, or understanding what Christ did for us or living a Christ-centered life ? Many Catholics today might not be striving to know Christ at all, and thus would not be too interested in the celebration of the mass because without Christ it wouldl have no meaning.

Maybe if they better understood what Christ did for us they would learn to appreciate the celebration of the mass?
Dunno just a thought.

As for church attire— how do you tell folks what to wear when clearly Christ did not ? I agree some attire is inappropriate but I
quit being irritaed by it when I realised that all believers sit at God’s feet together no matter what we are wearing.

[Salvation]

**If They Understand the Mass, They’ll **

This is so true.

[Salvation]

**social gathering**

I had to ask myself if I was part of the problem (talking out loud)

or

part of the solution (praying quietly.)

I have chosen the second.

Also our priest is very reverent as he celebrates the Mass. It’s hard not to understand the Mass. I have tears streaming down my face sometimes at the miracle of the Eucharist and that Jesus could be so wonderful as to come to me.

I’m not saint, don’t take me wrong. But I very much try to PRAY the Mass.

[pbear8]

Unfortunately, the Mass has turned into a social gathering

Try Latin Mass, you'll see people dressed for Church, in line for Confession and remaining after Mass to make their Thanksgiving. It's heartwarming and gives you hope.

[A.A. Cunningham]

[Ransomed]

Good post. I just attended perhaps the most abysmal Mass I was ever exposed to. I don’t even know where to begin, but I will tell you they used what looked like stale eggo waffles as the communion Hosts and let your imagination take it from there.

Decades with wrong or no teaching from the Bishops will condition the laity to swallow any abuse handed out. In fact, the vast majority of laity, at least in my area, don’t know enough to realize anything is wrong.

Freegards

[murron]

I think it shows disrespect. You are what you wear. Just recently that movie “Sex & The City” came out in my area. Some young girls I know that attend Mass in jeans made a point of buying new dresses to the movie and got their hair done and looked very special. First of all, they shouldn’t be attending that movie in the first place, and secondly, if they can get all gussied up for a movie, then they should have the decency to dress up for Church.

A priest in our area made a point of confronting a mother whose daughter came to Mass in shorts. He asked her if she would allow her daughter to go to a very fancy restaurant in my city, Commander’s Palace, dressed in shorts. She said of course not. He then reminded her that attending Mass was going to THE Commander’s Palace and she should dress accordingly.

[PanzerKardinal]

Hey if you would dress up to meet the President, go to court or attend someone’s wedding or funeral . . . why won’t you dress up to visit Christ?

[PanzerKardinal]

As an aside.

I’ve notice that when I go to “Our Lady of Suburbia Church” everyone thinks it’s ok to dress like you just came from the beach or just got out of bed.

But when I go to Church in poor neighborhoods everyone is in their “Sunday Best”.

Maybe affluence breed sloppiness or is their pride so great that they don’t care about God.

[biscuit jane]

Hey PK good observation.

Also, I am not suggesting that people should dress inappropriately for mass. I am saying that we are all
to help our brothers and sisters in Christ to live according to the gospel. At the same time the church can issue a dress code and folks that show up in inappropriate clothing can be handed a shawl- for women or a shirt/tie for men. However no dress code nor complaining about sloppy dressers will cure the fundamental ills of the church.

Worldly dress and the attitude toward mass are only symptoms (of the disconnect from the gospel). Many people attend Roman Catholic mass because they were raised in the faith, but family tradition doesn’t mean they were taught to appreciate mass nor to live according to the word. The sad fact is the behavior and life style of my many Roman Catholic family and friends do not reflect well on the faith at all and again I think it is related to poor attention to God’s word .