Sermon of Bishop Athanasius Schneider given in Brooklyn on January 5.

“The Holy Mass – our Divine treasure”

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! In these moments we participate in the most holy, in the most great, in the most wonderful and in the most Divine work in all creation and in all eternity: the Holy Sacrifice of Mass. The Holy Mass as in substance the same as the Holy Sacrifice of Golgotha. We are present to the some work which Christ accomplished on the Cross and we are presented to the work which Christ the Eternal High Priest is now and forever acting in Heaven in the presence of the Holy Trinity: the sacrifice of the eternal and everlasting Covenant, which is the sacrifice of the supreme glorification and adoration of the Triune God and because of this it is the unique effective sacrifice of the redemption of humankind and of sanctification of all creation.
Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman wrote: “To me nothing is so consoling, so piercing, so thrilling, so overcoming, as the Mass, said as it is among us. I could attend Masses forever, and not be tired. It is not a mere form of words — it is a great action, the greatest action that can be on earth. … Here becomes present on the altar in flesh and blood, before whom angels bow and devils tremble. This is that awful event which is the scope, and the interpretation, of every part of the solemnity” (John Henry Cardinal Newman, Loss and Gain. The story of a convert, London 1906, pp. 327-329, words of Mr. Willis in Cardinal Newman’s first novel).
The example of love, reverence and devotion of Catholics towards Holy Mass during times of persecution is a powerful lesson which may shake up our souls and enkindle in them a new fire of Eucharistic love and reverence. One of the most moving and glorious historical examples is Ireland’s loyalty to the Mass in the time of persecution and the so called ‘Hidden Saints of the Mass’, described in the book of Father Augustine, OMCap., as follows: “After a tour in Ireland, the illustrious Count de Montalembert published in Paris, in the year 1829, some very interesting letters in which he describes what he had seen and felt in this country. ‘I shall never forget,’ he says, ’the first Mass which I heard in a country chapel. I rode to the foot of a hill, the lower part of which was clothed which a thick plantation of oak and fir, and alighted from my horse to ascend it. I had taken only a few steps on my way when my attention was attracted by the appearance of a man who knelt at the foot of the firs. Several others became visible in succession in the same attitude; and the higher I ascended the larger became the numbers of these kneeling peasants, At length, on reaching the top on the hill, I saw a cruciform building badly built of stone, without cement, and covered by thatch. Around it knelt a crowd of robust and vigorous men, all uncovered, though the rain fell in torrents and the mud quivered beneath them. Profound silence reigned everywhere. It was the Catholic chapel of Blarney (at Waterloo) and the priest was saying Mass. I reached the door at the moment of the Elevation, and all this pious assembly had prostrated themselves with their faces on earth. I made an effort to penetrate under the roof of the chapel thus overflowed by worshippers. There were no seats, no decorations, not even a pavement; the floor was of earth, damp and stony, the roof dilapidated, and tallow candles burned on the altar in place of tapers. When the Holy Sacrifice was ended, the priest mounted his horse and rode sway. Then each worshipper rose from his knees and went slowly homeward. Many remained for a much longer time in prayer, kneeling in the mud in that silent enclosure chosen by the poor and faithful people in the time of ancient persecutions’.” (Ireland’s loyalty to the Mass, op. cit., 194-197).
When we recognize and really believe what each Holy Mass is, then every detail of the rite of the Holy Mass, every word, every gesture is important, is deeply meaningful and spiritual. The greatest reality in the Holy Mass is Christ Himself really present in His immolated and glorified Body in the little consecrated host. Each faithful when approaching the Divine Body of Christ in the moment of Holy Communion has to show towards Him not only the interior purity of the soul but also the exterior adoration of the body and greet Him kneeling down and in an attitude of humility and spiritual infancy opening one’s mouth and allow to be fed by Christ through the hand of the priest who in the Holy Mass is acting in persona Christi. The real greatness is manifested then when it bows down. Saint Peter Julian Eymard said: “Has Jesus not a right to still greater honors in His Sacrament since He multiplies His sacrifices therein and abases Himself more? To Him the solemn honors, the magnificence, the richness, the beauty of worship! God regulated Mosaic worship in its minutest details, and it was only a symbol. … The worship and honors paid to Jesus Christ are the measure of the faith of a people. Let honor therefore be given to Jesus Eucharistic. He is worthy of it; He has a right to it” (The Real Presence. Eucharistic Meditations, New York 1938, pp. 144.147). “Catholics have much reason to blush for their lack of respect in our Lord’s presence. Enter a synagogue; if you speak or do not behave properly, you are expelled. Before entering a mosque, you are requested to take off your shoes. All these infidels have nothing real in their temples, but we have everything. In spite of that, their respect far surpasses ours. Why do we do to our Lord what would offend us so much if it were done to us? Why are we less sensitive when our Lord’s honor is at stake than when our own petty dignity is? Let us, therefore, give our Lord this first homage of a sentiment of respect as soon as we come into His presence” (ibd., pp. 161-162).
Dear brothers and sisters, let us receive the Eucharistic Lord with love, with purity of heart, with a gesture of adoration kneeling down, with a gesture of humility and littleness opening our mouth and receiving the Holiest of the Holy, the King of the universe, in the little sacred host. Saint Thomas Aquinas said: O Lord, our Eucharistic Lord, you will visit us with your graces, you will visit your Church in our time, in the measure, we give you Divine honor in the Holy Mass and especially in the moment of Holy Communion (Sic nos Tu visita, sicut Te colimus, hymn Sacris solemniis). O Lord, when we have You in the Eucharist, we have all things and we will miss nothing. Amen.