When we hear the phrase: “The Body of Christ”, we immediately think of the words that that are said to us by the priest or other minister just before receiving Holy Communion at Mass. But the term “Body of Christ” is more than just the Eucharist. In fact, this past Sunday we heard the following words in our Second Reading from St. Paul: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one Spirit with Him.” (1 Cor 15a, 17)
From this and other passages comes our understanding that the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ, and that because of our being united with Him through Baptism, we are united with all who share in that relationship with Him, both the living and the dead. When we come to Mass, we pray as the Body of Christ across space and time, and we pray for the Body of Christ across space and time. The seventh of the main elements of the Eucharistic Prayer detailed in the GRIM articulates this reality of our praying for the entire Church in each Eucharistic Prayer:
The intercessions, by which expression is given to the fact that the Eucharist is celebrated in communion with the whole Church, of both heaven and of earth, and that the oblation is made for her and for all her members, living and dead, who are called to participate in the redemption and salvation purchased by the Body and Blood of Christ.
(GIRM, 79g)
In this regard, I recall a line that I read very early on in my priesthood that has stuck with me. It comes from a book titled Dignity and Duties of the Priest by St. Alphonsus Ligouri. He reminds priests of the grave importance of celebrating Mass each day:
A priest who without an important reason omits to say Mass robs the Blessed Trinity of glory, the angels of joy, sinners of pardon, the just of divine assistance, the souls in purgatory of refreshment, the Church of a benefit, and himself of a medicine.
Thanks be to God, I can count on a single hand the very few occasions when I was not able to celebrate Mass when I could have in my nearly thirteen years as a priest (twice due to illness and once due to an unforeseen travel complication). Even when I am on vacation or have a day off without a scheduled Mass and the temptation might be to take a day off from celebrating Mass, this passage comes to mind and I am motivated by charity to celebrate Mass, believing with a firm faith that that Mass will have a positive impact on the Body of Christ, and my not celebrating Mass would deprive the Church of these benefits.
I think this can extend to all of us when it comes to our praying at Mass. We can sometimes think that skipping Mass may only affect one person. But our failing to go to Mass and actively participate in praying for and with the Body of Christ deprives her of what we alone can offer. We may reason that one person cannot make that much of a difference. But remember the words of the Lord in the Prophet Isaiah, words which we apply to that view of ourselves and how much greater God’s view is of us and the impact our prayers at Mass: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Is 55:8-9)
Only in Heaven will we come to fully realize how God has used our prayers at Mass to benefit the Body of Christ. Perhaps on a day when we struggled to come to Mass was the day when a soul in Purgatory was finally released and brought into the presence of God in Heaven. Perhaps our prayer at Mass one day, even though we were distracted, prompted somebody who had given up on life to turn to God and find new hope in life. This is what is on the line when we come to pray at Mass. How can we ever deprive the Body of Christ of this assistance?
Father Alford