As a priest, the very high point of every day is the celebration of the Mass, and the high point of each Mass is when I am privileged to pray the words of Jesus at the Consecration.  There are two words in particular, used in both the words of consecration of the Body and for the Blood, that often catch my attention.  They are the words “for you.”

In the consecration of the Body of Christ, we hear the words of Jesus giving us Himself as food, His Body “which will be given up for you.”  Then, with the words of consecration for the Blood of Christ, Jesus speaks of the Blood “which will be poured out for you.”  For you.  For me.  The Eucharist is a gift Jesus has instituted not just for those gathered with Him at the Last Supper, it is a gift that He meant to be shared with you and me every time we come to Mass.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are present with the Lord and His Apostles the night before He was to suffer for our sins, and we are given the opportunity to receive the gift of His very being – Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

I was reminded of this powerful moment in the Mass as I watched Episode 2 of Presence on FORMED.  As the video spoke about the Last Supper and Institution of the Eucharist as being the New Passover, there is a point made about how the Jewish people understood the yearly celebration of the Passover.  They would recall that it was not just their ancestors who were brought out of slavery in Egypt, but that it was them who were also freed in that Passover event.  Their celebration of the Passover was not just a remembrance of something past, but a sharing in the effects of that moment even in the present day.  So when we hear those words “for you”, we should hear them in the same way, not as a remembrance of something in the past, but something that is truly present, every bit as applicable to us as it was to His Apostles.

This is the type of awareness that we are invited to have at each Mass as we hear Jesus speaking His words of offering to us, for us.  Just the thought of that as I write this fills me with gratitude and joy, and all the more excited for the next time I get to celebrate Mass and say those words once again!

This awareness of the gift the Lord offers for you and for me in each Mass should extend to how we view Lent.  We recall Jesus’s Passion and Death during this season, and it can be easy to see it as something that happened 2000 years ago.  But as we reflect on His suffering, on the love His shows for His people, He is inviting us to understand: “I have done this for you.”  Jesus underwent His Passion and died on the Cross for you, for your sins.  When we truly grasp this very personal nature of what Jesus has done for us, how can we not be moved?  How can we simply go to Mass and passively listen without being reminded of the immense love the Lord has for you and for me?

The next time you are at Mass, pay close attention to the words of consecration, and receive those words Jesus meant for you to hear in a personal and powerful way, that the gift He is offering of Himself, shared with us in the Eucharist, has been done for you.

As a reminder, we have a weekly reflection question to keep in mind as you watch the next episode of Presence.  It can be found on the bottom right corner of this page.

Father Alford     

I hope that all of us have experienced the Stations of the Cross at some point during our formation as Christian disciples. The Stations are a prayerful way to share in Christ’s walk to Calvary, from his sentencing to death by Pontius Pilate until he is laid in the tomb. A common hymn to accompany the praying of the Stations is called the “Stabat Mater,” or in English, “At the Cross her Station Keeping.” This hymn has been associated with Mary as Mother of Dolors (sorrows) since the 13^th century. It imagines how Mary must have felt during her Son’s suffering and death. Jesus suffered the utmost physical pain while he died for our sins, but Mary suffered the utmost emotional pain as she witnessed her Son experience this. 

Many of us have been asked by God to suffer with Jesus physically. Some people seem to never be able to escape physical suffering or illness, and in a mysterious way, Christ’s cross can be present through these illnesses. However, a suffering that can be more deeply felt is emotional suffering. Some people suffer not from their own physical pain, but from witnessing people around them making bad choices or suffering from their own illness. Both of these sufferings can be a share in the cross of Jesus, if we respond with faith and ask Jesus for healing and to carry our cross with us.  It is significant that Mary stood at the foot of the cross. I recently noticed in the Cathedral’s stations of the cross that Mary is depicted as standing by the cross, looking up at Jesus. Other characters in common depictions of the crucifixion scene often show Mary Magdalene lying on the ground or leaning against the cross, overcome with grief. However, even though Mary suffered immensely because of her great love for her Son, she also had a great hope – even the hope that he would rise from the dead. This same faith is what allowed Abraham to be willing to sacrifice his son Isaac in Genesis. And this hope seems to give Mary the confidence to stand by her Son as he died for our sins. I invite you to join us at the Cathedral at 5:45 for the Stations of the Cross on Fridays during Lent. The time of prayer is simple yet profound, as we reflect more deeply during this Lenten season on our need for a Savior. Here are a few verses of the beautiful hymn Stabat Mater for your consideration. 

At the cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.

Through her heart, his sorrow sharing,
All his bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword has passed.

O how sad and sore distressed,
Was that Mother highly blest
Of the sole begotten One!

Christ above in torment hangs,
She beneath beholds the pangs
Of her dying, glorious Son.

Is there one who would not weep,
Whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ’s dear Mother to behold?

Can the human heart refrain
From partaking in her pain,
In that Mother’s pain untold?

Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled,
She beheld her tender Child,
All with bloody scourges rent.

Part II

Our praying of the Stations of the Cross is meant to unite our hearts  more deeply to the love that Jesus had for each one of us as he walked to Calvary. Mary is the one who embodies this closeness to Jesus, because while she did not physically die like Jesus, she was united to him in his suffering and death. I love the scene in The Passion of the Christ in which Jesus meets Mary while he carries his cross. In the chaos, Mary had somehow found a way to greet and comfort her son. In this depiction, Mary simply says, “Son,” to Jesus, and he replies, “See, Mother, I make all things new.” This quote is taken from Jesus in the book of Revelation, and I think it is artistically appropriate to place these words on his lips as he meets his mother. 

The fourth station of the Cross is when Jesus met his Blessed Mother. The following is from a meditation that St. John Paul II wrote on the fourth station: “Mary meets her son along the way of the Cross. His cross becomes her cross, his humiliation is her humiliation, the public scorn is on her shoulders. This is the way of the world. This is how it must seem to the people around, and this is how her heart reacts: “A sword will pierce your soul.” The words spoken when Jesus was 40 days old are now coming true. They are reaching complete fulfilment. Although the pain is proper to her, striking deep into her maternal heart, the full truth of this suffering can be expressed only in terms of shared suffering – ‘com-passion.’ That word is part of the mystery; it expresses unity with the suffering of the Son.”

Here are some more verses of the Stabat Mater for your prayer. Last week, I included the first part of the hymn.

O, thou Mother, fount of love,
touch my spirit from above,
make my heart with thine accord.

Make me feel as thou has felt;
make my soul to glow and melt
with the love of Christ our Lord.

Holy Mother, pierce me through;
in my heart each wound renew
of my Saviour crucified.

Let met share with thee his pain,
who for all my sins was slain,
who for me in torments died.

Let me mingle tears with thee,
mourning Him Who mourned for me,
all the days that I may live.

By the cross with thee to stay,
there with thee to weep and pray,
this I ask of thee to give.

Feast Day: March 18th| Bishop, Confessor, Father and Doctor of the Church| Imagery: Hand raised in Teaching and Blessing, Three Fingers together for the Trinity, Two for the Two Natures of Christ; Holding Book of Gospels or Scroll of His Preaching; Wearing Vestments and Pallium St. Cyril may have been a heretic.

His life encompasses the most intense arguments throughout the Church about the Arian heresy, with many claiming that Christ was not fully God. Heresy is always popular, for it usually involves making the demands of the faith a bit easier and more comfortable. Now, Cyril was exiled from his see multiple times by the most stringent of those heretics. (The emperor Valens, who found political power by allying with the heresy, was happy to get him out of his hair). BUT, for the ways that he gained back his episcopacy, sliding towards a middle ground that wasn’t quite heresy, but wasn’t quite the truth of the faith, he was asked at the Ecumenical Council of Constance (in 381) to formally accept the homoousion (the “consubstantiality” of Christ with the Father.) Praise God that this shepherd of the Church had the humility to allow his own life and heart and conscience to be formed by the truth of Christ there articulated by the Church! 

St. Cyril may have been a heretic, BUT he repented, and so is a Father and Doctor and Saint of the Church!

This week, we join his catechumens as he preaches to them for the final time after their entrance into the Church at Easter. Throughout Lent, he had personally taught them the foundational truths of the faith in 18 instructions: 1. An exhortation. 2. On sin, and confidence in God’s pardon. 3. On baptism, how water, by the power of the Holy Spirit, sanctifies and seals the soul. 4. An abridged account of the Faith. 5. On the nature of faith. 6. On the monarchy of God (and the various heresies which deny it). 7. On the Father. 8. His omnipotence. 9. The Creator. 10. On the Lord Jesus Christ. 11. His Eternal Sonship. 12. His virgin birth. 13. His Passion. 14. His Resurrection & Ascension. 15. His second coming. 16-17. On the Holy Ghost. 18. On the resurrection of the body and the Catholic Church. Only once the catechumens had understood and accepted all of this, did Bp. Cyril – after their baptism – welcome them to their period of “mystagogy”, letting God carry them into the heart of the “mysteries” of the faith. In five more sessions, he explained: 1. The renunciations of Satan which preceded baptism. 2. The effects of baptism. 3. Confirmation. 4. Holy Communion. 5. The Holy Mass for the living and the dead. 

I think we could all use the reminder that he goes through all those many other truths of the faith before getting to the Blessed Sacrament! It is the source and summit of our faith; not a sacrament we should take lightly, for it presupposes our acceptance and understanding of everything else! Here’s a few words from that final of his mystagogical conferences; you can read the rest by following the QR code!: 

“the Priest cries aloud, Lift up your hearts.  For truly ought we in that most awful hour to have our heart on high with God, and not below, thinking of earth and earthly things. In effect therefore the Priest bids all in that hour to dismiss all cares of this life, or household anxieties, and to have their heart in heaven with the merciful God. Then ye answer, We lift them up unto the Lord: assenting to it, by your avowal. But let no one come here, who could say with his mouth, We lift up our hearts unto the Lord, but in his thoughts have his mind concerned with the cares of this life. At all times, rather, God should be in our memory but if this is impossible by reason of human infirmity, in that hour above all this should be our earnest endeavour.” [Cyril of Jerusalem, “Catechetical Lecture”, Number 23, Paragraph 4]

– Fr. Dominic Rankin has to mention another emperor who went on the attack against the faith, and the faithful bishop. Julian, who had apostatized from the Christian faith, tried to disprove Christ’s prophecy of the destruction of the Temple [Luke 21:6:] by rebuilding the Jerusalem Temple while Cyril was bishop there. (Cyril, it would seem, took Exodus 14:14 to heart: “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”) Ammianus Marcellinus, a contemporary, pro-Julian, secular historian reports what happened next: “though this Alypius [Julian’s delegated architect] pushed the work on with vigor, aided by the governor of the province, terrifying balls of flame kept bursting forth near the foundations of the temple, and made the place inaccessible to the workmen, some of whom were burned to death; and since in this way the element persistently repelled them, the enterprise halted.” [Ammianus Marcellinus, “Roman Antiquities”, XXIII.1.] St. Gregory of Nazianzus reports the same: “they began to debate about rebuilding the Temple, and in large number and with great zeal set about the work. … when they were forcing their way and struggling about the entrance a flame issued forth from the sacred place [church] and stopped them, and some it burnt up and consumed so that a fate befell them similar to the disaster of the people of Sodom, or to the miracle about Nadab and Abiud, who offered incense and perished so strangely…” [St. Gregory Nazianzen, “Oration 5: Second Invective Against Julian.” #4] 

In the first chapter of the Gospel according to St. John, we hear the account of the two disciples of St. John the Baptist who begin to follow Jesus.  Jesus turns to them and asks the question: “What do you seek?” (John 1:38) Another translation reads: “What are you looking for?”  It was this question of Jesus that arose in my heart as I watched the first episode of the Presence study on FORMED that we are doing as a parish this Lent.  It is a question that the Lord invites us to consider especially when it comes to our going to Mass.  

If you pause to consider that question for yourself, what is it that you seek when you come to Mass?  For some of us, we desire to hear a good homily.  We want to be fed by the Word of God and an explanation of it that helps us to see how it applies to our lives.  Others come to Mass to seek the peace their hearts long for, especially as they face the challenges and sufferings of everyday life.  Others seek reverence where the prayers and music of the Mass raise us to the heights of Heaven, where we journey each time we go to Mass.  Other seek the joy of being with others to worship God, finding in the Mass a family gathered together, giving some hope and light to a life that is otherwise lonely and empty feeling.

As a priest who celebrates Mass every day, I have noticed a shift in what I seek when I celebrate Mass.  As a younger priest, I was much more focused on trying to get the homily just right, such that it would encourage, inspire, and challenge the congregation.  If I felt a homily was a little flat or off the mark, I would let it discourage me, as though I had somehow let the people down.  But as I matured a little, I began to realize how I was drawn to something deeper than preaching when celebrating Mass.  I found that I sought to enter more into the mystery of the Mass, the praying of the Eucharistic Prayer, and the remarkable gift of being chosen by God to bring Christ present on the altar in the Eucharist.  With that primary focus, I was able not to get so caught up in the quality of the preaching, but I could rejoice in the gift of the Eucharist, Jesus coming to be among us, and becoming our food.

With all of that said, I am not saying I do not take preaching seriously, but I understand better how it must be at the service of preparing our hearts to more fully embrace the gift of the Eucharist at each Mass, for this gift will surpass even the greatest homily ever preached.  We have many options for places to go to Mass, and we are often drawn to those places or those priests which resonate with our preferences, but we must never forget that the greatest gift is always the Eucharist, God with us, sharing His very life with us.  When that is our primary focus, even if we did not like the homily, even if we did not like the music, or whatever thing we may have found lacking (and believe me, we are good at finding things that are lacking with Mass), one thing is NEVER lacking at any Mass, and that is the fact that God becomes present and feed us, His children, with His very being, body, blood, soul, and divinity.  When we can grasp this and make this the one thing above all others that we seek at Mass, we will never walk away from Mass being disappointed.  For even if all of those other elements of our experience at Mass disappoint us, God giving Himself to us will never disappoint us.  

If you have not watched Episode 1 of Presence yet, please do so, and go ahead and watch Episode 2, taking special note of the weekly question on the bottom right of this page.

Father Alford     

I hope that all of us have experienced the Stations of the Cross at some point during our formation as Christian disciples. The Stations are a prayerful way to share in Christ’s walk to Calvary, from his sentencing to death by Pontius Pilate until he is laid in the tomb. A common hymn to accompany the praying of the Stations is called the “Stabat Mater,” or in English, “At the Cross her Station Keeping.” This hymn has been associated with Mary as Mother of Dolors (sorrows) since the 13^th century. It imagines how Mary must have felt during her Son’s suffering and death. Jesus suffered the utmost physical pain while he died for our sins, but Mary suffered the utmost emotional pain as she witnessed her Son experience this. 

Many of us have been asked by God to suffer with Jesus physically. Some people seem to never be able to escape physical suffering or illness, and in a mysterious way, Christ’s cross can be present through these illnesses. However, a suffering that can be more deeply felt is emotional suffering. Some people suffer not from their own physical pain, but from witnessing people around them making bad choices or suffering from their own illness. Both of these sufferings can be a share in the cross of Jesus, if we respond with faith and ask Jesus for healing and to carry our cross with us.  It is significant that Mary stood at the foot of the cross. I recently noticed in the Cathedral’s stations of the cross that Mary is depicted as standing by the cross, looking up at Jesus. Other characters in common depictions of the crucifixion scene often show Mary Magdalene lying on the ground or leaning against the cross, overcome with grief. However, even though Mary suffered immensely because of her great love for her Son, she also had a great hope – even the hope that he would rise from the dead. This same faith is what allowed Abraham to be willing to sacrifice his son Isaac in Genesis. And this hope seems to give Mary the confidence to stand by her Son as he died for our sins. I invite you to join us at the Cathedral at 5:45 for the Stations of the Cross on Fridays during Lent. The time of prayer is simple yet profound, as we reflect more deeply during this Lenten season on our need for a Savior. Here are a few verses of the beautiful hymn Stabat Mater for your consideration. 

Feast Day: March 7th| Mother and Martyr | Patronage: Mothers, Expectant Mothers, Mothers who have lost Sons, Ranchers, Butchers, Carthage, Widows | Attributes: Women standing side by side; Holding Palm of Victory, Cross of Martyrdom; Praying and Singing, Embracing and Giving Kiss of Peace; Attacked by Wild Cow; Halo’s Intertwined; Felicity Pregnant, Dressed as a Servant

We continued to recall St. Perpetua’s Passion, now reading from the final paragraphs added after their martyrdom by a person who, though anonymous here, may have been as famous an early-Christian character as Tertullian.

As for Felicity, the Lord’s favor touched her in this way. She was now in her eighth month (for she was pregnant when she was arrested). As the day of the games drew near, she was in agony, fearing that her pregnancy would spare her (since it was not permitted to punish pregnant women in public), and that she would pour forth her holy and innocent blood afterwards, along with common criminals. But also her fellow martyrs were deeply saddened that they might leave behind so good a friend, their companion, to travel alone on the road to their shared hope. And so, two days before the games, they joined together in one united supplication, groaning, and poured forth their prayer to the Lord. Immediately after their prayer her labor pains came upon her. And when—because of the natural difficulty associated with an eighth-month delivery—she suffered in her labor, one of the assistant jailers said to her: “If you are suffering so much now, what will you do when you are thrown to the beasts which you scorned when you refused to sacrifice?” And she replied: “Now I alone suffer what I am suffering, but then there will be another inside me, who will suffer for me, because I am going to suffer for him.” And she gave birth to a baby girl, whom a certain sister brought up as her own daughter. [Passion of Perpetua and Felicity, XV,Translation by Thomas J. Heffernan, 2012].

I make note, first of all, that Roman Law – even when entirely comfortable with hurling young men and women, naked, to be torn by beasts as public entertainment, and, when still casting a blind-eye towards fathers who would expose until death unwanted infant children – still held that a pregnant woman could not be executed because of the innocence and individual-dignity of the child in her womb. Yet though much could be said on the inconsistency of Roman Law as regards human life and dignity (not to mention the laws of our own country), I choose instead to dwell again on one important word here used for the first time in Christian literature: “fellow-martyrs” (conmartyres). 

Notice that Felicity has also chosen to hold her Christian identity as even more important than her motherhood. She, with all the longings and hopes of a pregnant mother, still yearns for the grace of martyrdom even more. Yet her and Perpetua’s desire is not simply to die for Christ, but to die together for Christ. So many words in these their final moments depict their union: “fellow martyrs … so good a friend, their companion, … shared hope … joined together in one united supplication … a certain sister.” Remarkably, these two saints who died on March 7^th have trumped no less a saint than St. Thomas Aquinas, who also died on March 7^th (we celebrate him instead on his earthly birthday, January 28^th). The Angelic Theologian tells us of the splendor of Christian Friendship: “thus there is a twofold grace: one whereby man himself is united to God, and this is called sanctifying grace; the other is that whereby one man cooperates with another in leading him to God, and this gift is called gratuitous grace.” [Summa Theologicae, I.II, 111.1.Respondeo].  BUT, it is Perpetua and Felicity who show us the splendor of Christian friendship, emboldening each other all the way to their final self-gift!

But they are not only a twosome enduring the arena: “Now I alone suffer what I am suffering, but then there will be another inside me, who will suffer for me, because I am going to suffer for him.” It seems that St. Paul’s words have transfigured these women’s courageous hearts: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” [1 Cor 13:1-3] These women speak eloquently; they understand the scriptures and have received baptism and faith; they have converted the hearts of their intransient jailers and have even given up their bodies and every human relationship … but all of this would be vain without love, without Christ within them. Truly, at the end, these two were joined by Christ in their final sufferings. “Then [Perpetua] got up; and when she saw Felicity crushed to the ground, she went over to her, gave her hand and helped her up. And the two stood side by side.” [XX] 

– Fr. Dominic Rankin cannot help but remind all of us these women, though recently baptized, had not yet received Holy Communion. They were imprisoned for the entirety of their Christian lives, and can only describe their yearning for Christ’s self-gift as food. Perpetua recounts for us a dream she had while in prison: “And I saw an enormous garden and a white-haired man sitting in the middle of it dressed in shepherd’s clothes, a big man, milking sheep. And standing around were many thousands dressed in white. And he raised his head, looked at me, and said: ‘You are welcome here, child.’ And he called me, and from the cheese that he had milked he gave me as it were a mouthful. And I received it in my cupped hands and ate it. And all those standing around said: ‘Amen.’ And I woke up at the sound of their voice, still eating some unknown sweet. And at once I told this to my brother. And we knew we would suffer, and we ceased to have any hope in this world” [IV].