The Mass is a Sacrifice w/ Fr. Bill Casey

Divine Treasure!

The earth is a mere pinpoint in this immense universe, the ends of which remain unknown to man! It never ceases to amaze me that its Creator longs for a close relationship with its human inhabitants, so much so that He humbles Himself and makes Himself available veiled under the appearance of bread and wine to those who will receive Him! Always be mindful of Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist! Thank you Lord for the wonderful gift of your Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, the Nourishment that sustains us on this journey!

Heaven on Earth

Father Larry Richards, in his presentation entitled, The Mass Explained, says this about what occurs at every Mass, ‘eternity folds into the present and the present folds into eternity.’

At the beginning of each Mass we hear the priest say these words in what is known as the Penitential Rite, “My brothers and sisters, to prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries, let us call to mind our sins.”

Yes, the fact that the God of the universe, Jesus Christ, becomes truly present among us and gives Himself to us in the Eucharist is a mystery of faith. As we commemorate Christ’s one redeeming sacrifice for the sins of the world, we join our Blessed Mother and all the angels and saints at the foot of the cross as we give glory and honor to our Savior as He gives us His life so that we may live!

How awesome is this image? And how privileged we are to stand in His presence!

Dr. Scott Hahn, in his book, The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth, uses a beautiful illustration of the Mass as a time “when heaven touches down to save an earth under siege.” Of course Dr. Hahn is referring to the continuous battle we wage against the spiritual forces of darkness perpetrated by Satan and his army of demons.

Now that we have a little knowledge of what goes on at Mass, it should be a place where we all long to be! We should be there as often as possible, and eagerly look forward to each and every celebration of this Holy Sacrifice!

Please pass this on to all our Catholic brothers and sisters, as well as all humanity for that matter – Jesus gave His life for ALL!

How Do We Reject Christ?

I preface the following post by saying that I offer it in the spirit of love, and by no means out of a sense of self-righteousness! I have certainly been guilty of countless instances in which I traded Christ’s offer of an intimate relationship for the things of this world and my own selfish desires!

There is no doubt Christ experienced tremendous physical pain and suffering as he went to the cross for us, but was his physical suffering the thing that caused him the most anguish?

I thought of this during Mass today. I thought of all the times I chose to satisfy my physical needs and desires by making and taking the time to do so, rather than making the time to do the things that would help build my relationship with the God of the universe, the God who longs to be a close friend to this lowly sinner! In other words, I REJECTED HIM! I rejected him no less than those who cried out, “CRUCIFY HIM”!

We must ask ourselves, is it the rejection of Christ’s unending and extreme love for us that caused him the most intense anguish and pain as he prepared for the cross at Gethsemane? How do we feel when we are rejected by those we love? Magnify that feeling trillions of times over and we would only be able to begin to imagine what Christ must have felt and still feels today as we reject his love and invitation to share in his divinity!

We always seem to be able to make time for everything else but for the one who really matters, Jesus Christ!

Jesus strongly desires to be with us! Do we strongly desire to be with him? How painful it must have been for our Lord to know that so many would never respond to, or even give a second thought to what he was about to do out of love for us and a desire to be with us for eternity!

Jesus gives himself to us daily in the Eucharist – please consider preparing yourself through the sacrament of Reconciliation to receive him into your heart with all of the praise and worship he deserves, and then welcome him eagerly under your roof by receiving him in the Eucharist!

The Mass: Why Are We There?

I love seeing full churches at any Mass, and I would encourage all Catholics to attend Mass, not just on Sundays, but whenever possible. I realize that there are many responsibilities and commitments that place great demands on our time, but where there is a will, there is a way.

The more we learn about our Catholic faith, and the more we grow in knowledge of the grace available to us, especially in the sacraments of the Eucharist and Confession/Reconciliation, the more eager we will become to make time to go to Confession and attend and participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

The entire Liturgy of the Mass is one big, beautiful prayer of worship and thanksgiving. I encourage you to take the time to listen carefully to the liturgy, and participate fully at Mass.

My prayer is that all Catholics, including myself, through the grace of Almighty God, will continue to grow in the knowledge of our faith, and to realize what a privilege it is to not only be in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, but also to be able to unite with Him in the Eucharist.

“We thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you. May all of us who share in the body and blood of Christ be brought together in unity by the Holy Spirit.” (from the Eucharistic prayer at Mass)

I am always on the lookout for good resources, especially videos, that will increase our knowledge of what the Mass is all about, which I pray will eventually lead us all into a full appreciation for this most precious Gift we have available to us!

The following is a video I found on YouTube and published by the Diocese of St. Petersburg. The title is Introduction to the Mass. At its conclusion, a series of videos will continue to play, each giving explanations for each part of the Mass.

One of my all time favorite video teachings on the Mass is entitled, The Mass Explained. It is presented most eloquently by Father Larry Richards. There is little doubt that you will find Father Richards to be very informative! He is a great speaker with the God-given ability to hold your attention! This video, along with other great resources can be found at The Reason For Our Hope Foundation.

Please don’t hesitate to share this with others! Thank you for your time, and may our Lord’s peace remain with you always!