In my last post, I spoke of how assisting at Mass is the greatest thing we can ever do for God. We don't hear the word 'assist' regarding Holy Mass very much anymore. What does it mean exactly? As incredible as it sounds, God NEEDS our help in the redemption of the world and in the sanctification of our souls!! Now, our God, who is infinite perfection, doesn't "need" our help, but our God is a God of Love who knows WE need to help and somehow, mysteriously, His Glory is increased as we participate in the Holiest, most Sacred Work on earth: The Holy Mass. I once heard Rosalind Moss use the analogy of a mother and young child baking a cake together. The mother is perfectly capable on her own of making that cake and will probably do it more efficiently and more quickly on her own, but when her child asks, "Mommy, can I please help you?," the good mother looks into the beautiful eyes of her child and sees longing there and the desire to be close, the desire to help, and the desire for good things. She not only allows her child to help, but encourages her child and makes that child feel as if the success of the cake is due to his or her efforts. The child is probably going to make a mess of things and get eggshells in the batter and so on, but the mother is so full of love for her child that none of that will matter. What will matter is seeing the joy on her child's face and the sharing in the child's sense of accomplishment as they bond even closer...seeing the child develop more fully, to learn virtue, and to grow in love. God is far better than even the best of mothers and His love is infinite; He knows we are going to get eggshells everywhere and mess things up, but He loves us and wants us to grow into ourselves the way He designed us to be. His plan for us is perfect FOR US and He's planned it from all eternity that we were going to "help" Him. Wow!
So how to assist at Mass? We can bring everything to Him and unite it with Him. Nothing is lost. Even our many failings are sanctified through our union with Christ. The right dispositon on our part is the key to it all. God's limitless grace accomplishes all the work, but our desires to love Him with ALL our hearts, ALL our souls, ALL our strength and ALL our minds go a long way in disposing us for the Sacred Work of the Holy Mass. Just to have a recollected spirit and to know that God is present in our very own Church...in our very own hearts. He is REALLY there! Think about it! If Pope Benedict were going to come and visit us in our own local church, what wouldn't we do to prepare for such an honor!? Everyone would be preparing in some way for such a blessed arrival. Well, as beautiful as our Holy Father is, he only represents Christ to us...the "sweet Christ on Earth," as St. Catherine of Siena said. But we don't have a representative of Jesus at each Holy Mass, we have Jesus! Sometimes I don't think we are fully aware of what that means. Let us pray for the grace to be more aware of the gift that God has given us in enabling us to assist Him in the great work of redemption--the great gift He has given us in Himself.
Oh, Lord, who are we and who are You? When I woke up this morning, I thought to myself, "God is actually present right down the street," and I have not been able to stop thinking about it and about you. You, Lord, who created the heavens and the earth and all they contain...You, who come so close to your creation as to actually become a part of it! Thank you, my Lord, for all of the gifts you constantly pour out upon us. I'm going to assist at Mass today and receive you in Holy Communion. If I had a thousand lives, it would not be sufficient to prepare for such a favor and, sadly, how often I have gone up to receive you with other things on my mind...vanities and trifles no less! But today, with the help of your grace, I'm going to love you the whole of Mass and receive you with the most tender feelings of love and adoration at Holy Communion. I'm going to welcome you into the most secret places of my soul and share all of my thoughts and desires with you. And I'm going to console you and cover you with kisses and make you feel so welcomed. There will be no part of me that is off limits to your love tonight, only please, please, keep filling me with your grace and with your love so that I can love you rightly as you deserve. Have mercy on us all and keep us in your tender love. Amen.
Recommended Reading:
- The Mass and the Saints by Thomas Crean, O.P.
- Spiritual Excellence: How to Make Progress in Prayer and Love by Alban Goodier, S.J.
