THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS
continued . . .
12--In what does Christ's sacrifice consist?
1. Our Lord's Sacrifice consists in His complete self-renunciation--an immolation that began with the first instant of His earthly existence and terminated on Calvary's Cross.
2. Our Lord's Sacrifice consists above all in the preferring of God's Will to His own: a preference shown by His oblation, which persists eternally. This perfect love of Christ for His Father was stabilized by His death and will abide throughout eternity.
Death fixes us in the dispositions we have at the moment of dying. Our degree of charity at death will mark our degree of glory for eternity. After death there are no more successive acts. The set of our hearts at death remains as the final disposition of our wills. Our Lord, at the moment of His death on the Cross, attained (so to speak) the climax of His love for His Father. In fact, Christ's life, from birth to death, was the manifestation of His great love for God.
And it is precisely these sublime dispositions of Our Lord toward His Father at the moment of His death that are made actual in the Mass. Now do you see why the Mass is of such great value?
[From 'Your Mass and Your Life', to be continued]
continued . . .
12--In what does Christ's sacrifice consist?
1. Our Lord's Sacrifice consists in His complete self-renunciation--an immolation that began with the first instant of His earthly existence and terminated on Calvary's Cross.
2. Our Lord's Sacrifice consists above all in the preferring of God's Will to His own: a preference shown by His oblation, which persists eternally. This perfect love of Christ for His Father was stabilized by His death and will abide throughout eternity.
Death fixes us in the dispositions we have at the moment of dying. Our degree of charity at death will mark our degree of glory for eternity. After death there are no more successive acts. The set of our hearts at death remains as the final disposition of our wills. Our Lord, at the moment of His death on the Cross, attained (so to speak) the climax of His love for His Father. In fact, Christ's life, from birth to death, was the manifestation of His great love for God.
And it is precisely these sublime dispositions of Our Lord toward His Father at the moment of His death that are made actual in the Mass. Now do you see why the Mass is of such great value?
[From 'Your Mass and Your Life', to be continued]
