Fr. John Ryan

 

FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

25th March

Last Tuesday week Pope Benedict's Apostolic Exhortation "Sacramentum Caritatis" was published. It is the result of his reflection on the discussions and conclusions of the Synod of Bishops that marked the end of the Year of the Eucharist in 2005. this document explores the nature of the Eucharist and its celebration. Noting that the celebration of the Eucharist - the Mass - is the central expression of faith and the source of all Christian living the holy Father enters into reflection on its connection with the other sacraments, the meaning of its structure and different parts, and its right celebration.
In paragraph 35 he says: The liturgy {the Mass} is a radiant expression of the paschal mystery, in which Christ draws us to himself and calls us to communion. As saint Bonaventure would say, in Jesus we contemplate beauty and splendour at their source. This is no mere aestheticism, but the concrete way in which the truth of God's love in Christ encounters us, attracts us and delights us, enabling us to emerge from ourselves and drawing us toward our true vocation, which is love. The paschal mystery, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and its consequence for humanity, is expressed in the Eucharist. When we gather to celebrate, and celebrate it should be, we encounter the suffering Christ who sacrifices himself out of love for mankind in order to reconcile us with the Father. The beauty of Jesus in the Eucharist is a beauty recognised in love and in one sense is an inner beauty - the beauty of the spirit. To gather and celebrate the gift of God's love for us and encounter that love in a person, Jesus Christ, is a gift left to us by Jesus, is a privilege shared with his followers and a dynamic expression of faith, hope and love on behalf of the People of God. We are called to enter into the paschal mystery when we gather for the liturgy.
Do we recognise in the Eucharist the Person of Jesus Christ? In our celebration do we realise the dramatic events we are celebrating and entering into? Gathering in the Church for Mass sees us transported to the Mount of the Beatitudes as we listen to the Word, to the Upper Room as we unite ourselves with the Lord at the Last Supper, to Calvary as we acknowledge his atoning, redemptive death on the Cross and to the empty tomb as we rejoice in his resurrection from the death, we could say that transported in love we no longer remain in Tullylease, Freemount or Milford but journey with Christ on his Holy Week.
Crucial to our understanding of the Eucharist is that it makes Christ present to us and links us with the great moments of salvation history. Our own existence is immersed in the mystery of Christ's life, death and resurrection so that our lives may become mirrors of his. It is the source of holiness and calls us to holiness - we can never be too holy! It is the source of forgiveness - and links us to the adulterous woman who experiences the forgiveness of Christ. We too are offered that very same forgiveness. The beauty of Jesus Christ should transform us into beautiful mirrors of his love, mercy and compassion.
It is our duty to do what we can to ensure that this is the experience encountered when we gather together in prayer and worship around the altar.