Overwhelming joy and gratitude

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THIS is how we should feel everytime we celebrate or attend a Holy Mass. If we only know what a Holy Mass really is, we cannot help but be filled with extreme joy and ineffable thanksgiving. If we do not feel it that way yet, then it’s time we do something about it.

What we have in the Holy Mass is what we may regard, if we are to be guided by our faith, as God’s supreme gift to us. He did not only create us, making us his image and likeness and given the charge to have dominion together with him over the whole world.

He continues to take care and to love us all the way even if we have been unfaithful to him. And this he has shown by sending his Son to us. His Son is Jesus Christ, the second person of the Blessed Trinity who became man.

Christ assumed all our wounded condition, becoming like sin himself without committing sin if only to show and give us the way of how we can convert our wounded condition into “the way, the truth and life” meant for us.

For this, what he did was not only to preach and give us good example of how we should live. He offered his life, assuming all our sins and conquering them through his passion, death and resurrection.

And that is not enough. He perpetuated this supreme sacrifice and gift of his to us by making his very passion, death and resurrection continually present up the end of time through the celebration of the Holy Mass where he himself gives his whole own self to us as the Bread of Life.

For sure, if we can only capture this reality about the Holy Mass, we cannot help but be overwhelmingly happy and thankful. Thus, the challenge for us now is how to train ourselves, involving our mind and heart, our senses and feelings, etc., to enter into this most wonderful reality of Christ’s gift to us.

Yes, we have to learn how to step into this wonderful spiritual and supernatural reality and teach ourselves to be truly amazed at what happens in the celebration of the Holy Mass. We should not forget that at every celebration of the Holy Mass, we are made contemporaries of Christ in his supreme sacrifice and gift for us on the cross.

It is this sacrifice of Christ on the cross that conquers all sins and evils in this world. We have every reason, despite our weaknesses and sinfulness, to feel ever confident, hopeful and focused on doing what we are supposed to do, that is, to do a lot of good in this world.

In the Holy Mass, we are invited to also join, in vivo, in that sacrifice of Christ. Yes, there is suffering and death involved, but let’s not forget that all this would lead us to that victory of Christ’s resurrection that takes care of everything in our life.

Indeed, we need to prepare ourselves properly before celebrating or attending a Holy Mass. We should know what is actually taking place everytime the Holy Mass is celebrated. For this, we need time and effort to condition our mind, heart and our whole being to capture this reality.

It cannot be denied that despite our weaknesses, mistakes and all that, we would be filled with overwhelming joy and gratitude after each Mass that we celebrate or attend.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com