Part X (Conclusion) - Angelus Press Conference 2014 – The Mass, Heart of the Church
4th Point: The Spirit of the Offertory continued:
St Thomas speaks of that consent, that ‘yes’ to things which are also beyond our control, the general hardships of life, a tsunami, an accident, a cancer, whatever painful falls on you without your control. It is in the Summa when he speaks of the third element of confession, which is satisfaction. (Supplement Q15, a.2)
If the scourges, which are inflicted by God on account of sin, become in some way the act of the sufferer they acquire a satisfactory character. Now they become the act of the sufferer in so far as he accepts them for the cleansing of his sins, by taking advantage of them patiently. Fiunt autem ipsius inquantum ea acceptat ad purgationem peccatorum,eis utens patienter.
They become our asset when we say yes to God’s mysterious will. That is our offertory in our daily life, and life’s unpredictable circumstances. They become ours, if we say yes to God. Fiat, fiat.
Finally, before concluding, I would like to highly recommend to you a little video, professionally made, comparing the Holy Mass and the Passion. It is on YouTube. Just type: A Meditation on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. You will discover new depths in the symbolism, not only of the Offertory, but of the whole Mass.
Conclusion
Let us conclude and sum up what I have tried to do during this little conference.
I hope that you now see more clearly that behind each gesture, each word of the Holy Mass, there are mysteries. Please follow that up with the reading of commentaries on the Mass. It is sad to see that the enemies of the Church often know this better than we do. They knew what they were changing when they made all the liturgical changes, when they changed the signs and the things signified by them.
I hope that you now see more clearly how the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, expresses the mystery of the whole Catholic Church, of the Communion of Saints.
I hope that you now see more clearly the wisdom of these repeated Dominus Vobiscum, particularly the 4th one, asking for the gift of fortitude as we begin the offertory. We ought to daily hand ourselves over to Our Lord asking Him to accept us, and all we have to offer, to offer us with Him to the Eternal Father, to consecrate, to transubstantiate, to change us into Himself, as He does with the bread and the wine.
Dominus Vobiscum!
