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Show 206: The Ceremony of the Mass · The Uncensored Catholic

0:51
Speaker 1: A B. Yeah, welcome this week's show. We're just going
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to jump right in here. The questioner asking the priests
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about certain dogments of the church is really going to
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drill down here on the Trinity. And I think, you know,
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it's very interesting. It's a confusing something for everyone. I mean,
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it's called a mystery for a reason. It really is
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beyond human understanding. But the first question the guy asked,
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if Christ be the son of God, there must have
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been a time when he did not exist, for no
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man can be as old as his father. It's really
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it's a very old criticism of Christianity. In fact, I
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think it was actually today's Gospel reading Today's mastery in
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the Gospel where the Jews actually said, how can you
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have been there with Abraham? How can you have been
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with the Father when you're not even fifty years old?
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And so this is literally something that's been answered from
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the dawn of Christianity. And the priest respond, Christ is
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the name given to the second person of the Holy
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Trinity in his assumed human nature as the Christ. Therefore
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he was not eternal, but he began in time. But
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before the second Person appeared on earth in his human form,
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he existed as the eternal son of God, equal with
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the Father in all things, but in his divine nature.
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If he be a son, how can he be as
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old as his father? I'm afraid it is impossible to
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express an eternal fact in terms of time. Remember, God
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exists outside of time. Time is successive duration. We speak
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of growing old as time goes by, But in eternity
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there is no succession of time, and there can be
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no such thing as age. When we speak of God, Father, Son,
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and Holy Ghost always exist, not existed, and they exist
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not for a long time, but without time. What we
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call now is only the indivisible instant, which is the
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last moment of the past and the first moment of
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the future simultaneously. Maybe I should have said that a
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little better. What we call now is the time right
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between the past and the future. It's the present that
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would have been a little more succinct. But there is
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no such thing in God. Our time is based upon
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the coming and going of movement. Yet the second person
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of the Holy Trinity is truly a son. A son
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is a being, a person who derives from his father
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the same human nature possessed by the Father and the
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One God. The second person shares through the first person
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exactly the same divine nature, and from that point of
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view he is the son. But he differs from earthly
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sons in that he does not receive a numerically distinct nature,
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nor does he exist subsequently to the Father. He eternally
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participates in the divine nature through the Father. The word
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son in human language is the nearest inadequate approximation we
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can find to express the truth by analogy. To say
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that it completely expresses the reality would be to fall
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into anthropomorphism, which you would be the first to ridicule.
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You cannot object to the treating of God as if
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he were merely a kind of glorified, created human being,
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and then refuse to believe him on the score that
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Catholic theology does not explain him in terms which would
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reduce him to the same level as ourselves. And he continues,
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what does the term holy ghosts mean? And they answer
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it means holy spirit. Ghost is Anglo Saxon for spirit
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spiritus in Latin meaning a breath. Thus the word spirit
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is associated with human breathing as a kind of intangible impulse.
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Christ used the term to bring home to us that
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the third person of the Holy Trinity is the impulse
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of love invisible and intangible between Father and Son. Since
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love tends to union and union with and in God
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as Holiness, the third person is termed the Holy Spirit.
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And he continues or the question continues. You teach that
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the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Son, yet is responsible
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for the birth of that son, and they answer, the
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eternal Son of God and becoming Man, took human form
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from the virgin marry. Thus was born Being, who was
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both God and Man. As God, the second person of
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the Holy Trinity always existed, and from him in eternity,
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the Holy Ghost always proceeds as from the Father. Also,
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in this sense, the Holy Ghost does not give being
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to the Son, but the human nature which began in
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time was due to the operation of the Holy Ghost,
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which was assumed by the Son. There is no inconsistency
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of this doctrine, and we'll leave that there, and next
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week we will get into a question asking the priests
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about evolution and creation and more interesting topics that we
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need to know how to answer in our regular, everyday
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lives as Catholics. So now let's get into Father Sparago's
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exhaustive explanation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It's
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rather short chapter today, so this is not going to
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be a terribly long podcast, which actually is for the best.
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Speaker 2: I don't know if you can tell or not.
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Speaker 1: The pollen is crazy right now. I have been coughing
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all day, coughing and sneezing and blowing my nose, So
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I don't want to start coughing in the middle of
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a podcast, and I don't know how long my voice
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is going to last, actually, so let's dive in here.
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And it's the ceremony of the Mass. Whereas Father Sparago
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would say the ceremonial of the Mass, and he says,
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in the course of time, many ceremonies of deep significance
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group themselves around the holy sacrifice of the Mess, which
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were not to be omitted without absolute necessity. As early
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as the third century, certain prayers and ceremonies were added
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to the essential part of the sacrifice of the Mess.
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The essential part of the Mass is the Eucharist. It's
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the consecration of the host. It's the giving of well,
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the consuming of the host and the blood by the
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priests and giving it to the faithful, to the congregation.
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Everything before and after is the ceremony of the Mass.
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You remember, Jesus said to his disciples, do this in
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memory of me. You know, this is my body and
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this is my blood. That's the core, that's the heart
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of it. The ceremonies that now are part of what
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we would consider both the traditional Latin Mass and the
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New Mess Novus ordo are are very important. They're very
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much part of our worship and our reverence. But the
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essential heart, soul of the Mass is the Eucharist. So
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the service began with psalms sung by the people at
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the present time. The priest says the palm judica me,
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judica me, oh okay, at the foot of the altar. Yeah,
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Latin again, I guess, So what does that judge me?
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You know, I'd have to look it up. Judiciari, that
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would be judge to judge. Yeah, Well, this was written
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in the eighteen nineties, and I'm not actually familiar with
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that song. This was followed by the petition for mercy.
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The priest now cites the confediore at the foot of
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the altar and the Cirie song, which we still do
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of course, standing in front of the altar and if
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you go to a traditional Latin Mass, you would probably
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be much more familiar with the judica may at the
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foot of the altar than I am, because I rarely
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have access to a traditional Latin Mass, even though it
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is my preference, I just you know it, don't do
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it at my pa. They have started doing one once
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a week and the next town over. Hopefully they will continue.
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That was a little bit of controversy for a while.
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I would prefer the traditional Latin Mass, but they're both valid.
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As long as the Church says that the Novs order
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is valid, then I accepted as valid because Rome has spoken.
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That's the whole point of having a pope, and even
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a pope that seems to be a little off in
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some regards and a little confusing in others, is still
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the pope like it or not?
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Speaker 2: All right?
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Speaker 1: And he says, then came the thanksgiving for the part
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of sin. Now the gloria is set. Immediately after the curiate,
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the officiating bishop next turned to the people and pronounced
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the salutation Dominus fabiscum, the Lord be with you, and
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then with extended arms, offered a prayer in the name
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of the people or the collect After this one of
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the acolytes read a portion of one of the epistles,
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then a portion taken from one of the Gospels, as
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is done in present day, and the congregation standing meanwhile,
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and the bishop gave a short explanation of the Gospel
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of the day rather important. Actually, you know, we don't
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go to Mass to hear a sermon there I have had.
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I've been so just blessed to have some phenomenal priests
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that were great theologians, and I mean some of them
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were like almost on the level I mean seriously of
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like the doctors of the church. And if you want
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to hear one of them right now, Father Dan down
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in Hartsville, South Carolina at.
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Speaker 2: Oh Mary Mother.
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Speaker 1: Of God Catholic Church. I think it's actually Blessed Virgin Mary,
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Mother of God. I can't remember the full name of
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the church quite long. He's one of the best. I've
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said that many times. He used to be at the
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Divine Mercy up in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, so you may remember
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him from EWTN, and I mean, he's just phenomenal. Another
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really great one was Monsignor Jeffrey Ingham Senior Ingham Ingham Amazing.
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He would remind you of Jeremy Brett, who used to
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play Sherlotte Holmes on the old version of Sherlock holmbs
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on you know BBC. I think it was produced by
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Granada Television. He had that kind of like brilliant mind
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and those kind of odd, quirky mannerisms. And you want
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to talk about a theologian, that man was deep. The
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priests who confirmed him, my good friend Father gober He
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said he spoke with the voice of God. He said,
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I think when I get to Heaven, that's what God's voice.
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Speaker 2: Is going to sound like.
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Speaker 1: And I can totally understand that. Very intense, very intense,
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and wonderful man, great sense of humor, very kind, absolutely wonderful. Now,
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Father gober on the other hand, and several other great
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priests that have you know, been really good friends and
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confess and great influences in my life, we're not. And
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I think I'm sure, I know, I mean I haven't.
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Father Gobert joked about this many times. Not the best hominist,
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not a preacher by any means. His homilies would be
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like ten minutes, maybe even less. Sometimes you get the
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reading of the scripts or the reading of the Gospel,
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and then he would just explain it and that's it.
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He'd just explain it. And it's just as simple as that,
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because that's not the key point of the Mass. The
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key point of the Mass is the Eucharist, and I
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mean Protestants, it's all about the sermon, the ability of
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the preacher to preach, and if their minister is not
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very highly intellectual, which you know many aren't. I mean,
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that's that's where in any group of human beings, but
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someone who you know is really intelligent and studies Christianity
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is going to become Catholic. You know, like I tried
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to quote from John Henry Cardinal Newman, is that right?
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I get in the right order this time last week
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to be deep in history as to cease to be Protestant.
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So you cannot be a really intelligent Protestant minister. Well,
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I guess you could if you remained ignorant to all
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the facts of historical Christianity. But you would actually have
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to be both intelligent and ignorant at the same time.
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And intelligence usually leads one to curiosity. So most Protestant
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ministers that are good at preaching are good because they're
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very charismatic. That leads to all kinds of trouble because
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it becomes about the man in the pulpit, not even
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the Bible, you know, and certainly not about the Euchurus,
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because they don't have a valid euchrist communion, if they
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even receive it is just symbolic to a Protestant. There
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was no Protestant church that believes in the real presence
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in the eucharust So it becomes all about the man.
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And men are what we are. Men and women are human.
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We are flawed and make mistakes and are sinful and
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arrogant and vain. And you know, I don't think I've
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ever been in a Protestant church in which either the
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current minister or the one just before that, or the
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one just before him was having extramarital affairs was not
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having I mean all of them literally, I mean I
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could or embezzling, or gluttonous or lie. I mean, it's
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just it's the nature of that charismatic personality in that
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role as a minister. People want to give them things,
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and people want to be in their presence. And I'm
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not certainly not all. I mean, I've known some very good,
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very good Protestant ministers. I mean may surprise you, but
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I knew doctor Jerry Folwell, he was fantastic. It was
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a really good, big hearted, kind, honest, generous, moral man.
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His son I can't say the same about, okay, And
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that also tends to be an issue in prisant churches.
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You can have the best minister and he'll have the
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worst kids, because those kids get spoiled rotten.
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Speaker 2: You know, it's just the nature of it.
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Speaker 1: That's one of the most important reasons why. One the
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church discourages priests to bury. I mean in the Roman
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Catholic right, it's not even allowed. But two, our focus
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should always be on the Eucharus. The homily is nice,
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it's good, but remember Christ didn't leave us a Bible.
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He left us a church with the sacraments. It's wonderful
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when we have a good minister who can really give
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us insight into the words of the Bible, the Word
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of God as it were. It's actually not essential in
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any way, shape or form. And in the earliest church
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it wasn't even really done. But as he said, at
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least by three hundred a d. The priest would let's see,
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we got to Lord be with you. Then a portion
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taken from the Gospels as time in the present day,
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and the bishop would give a short explanation of the gospel. Short,
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not an hour long sermon. I think I may have
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told you the story before. It's very funny. If you
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are Southern, you will understand this. Justin Wilson was a
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great cook, Cajun cook, and comedian even before he became
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a cook. Love his comedy, by the way. But he said,
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there was two little boys, Okay, one was Baptist and
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one was Catholic, and they grew up together. They did
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everything together, they played together all the time. The only
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time they were apart was on Sunday, and they just
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couldn't stand to be apart from each other. So the
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Catholic family and the Baptist family gets together and says,
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let's make a compromise. One Sunday, the kids will go
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the Catholic church. The next Sunday the kids will go
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to the Baptist church. And we'll just do that on
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a rotating basis. And they said that was a good idea.
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That would be a little iffy, at least in North Carolina.
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But maybe that's the way it was down in you know,
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southern Louisiana. I don't know, but anyway, First of all,
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first Sunday they go to the Catholic church and the
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little Catholic boy just explains everything and the mass. The
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little Baptist boy has tons of questions. Catholic boy just
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patiently explains every single thing.
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Speaker 2: This is what we do now, this.
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Speaker 1: Is when we kneel, this is when we stand, you know,
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when you go up, cross your arms and receive a blessing,
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and you know, every single thing, just perfectly, wonderfully catechized child. Right.
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Speaker 2: So the next Sunday.
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Speaker 1: They go to the Baptist church. So the Catholic boy is
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totally lost. He has no idea what's going on. So
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the Baptist child tries to do the same thing, and
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he explains, you know, we're going to sing a hymn now,
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and now the preacher's going to get up and he's
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going to give the sermon.
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Speaker 2: What's the sermon?
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Speaker 1: Well, he explains the scripture, so expects it to be
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like a honey. Well, the Baptist minister takes off his
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watch and puts it on the on the elector and
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in front of him, and he turns to him says,
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what does that mean? And he said, that don't mean
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damn thing I saw it to say, because a Baptist
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servant will, especially at the Southern Baptist Church.
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Speaker 2: Could go on well past noon. Okay, it can go.
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Speaker 1: On an hour, an hour and a half. If it
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goes on more than two hours, they might start a
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tent revival and everybody starts coming in and they have
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a there's a there's a revival is what they call it.
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I mean they can if they get worked out, they
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can literally go on for three days. I mean that's
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not it's not common. It used to be far more common.
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But that actually happened. You know, when I was at
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at Liberty University, I missed one by like about a month.
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I mean I got there, they were saying, oh, you
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should have been here. We went on, we continued our
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services for like four days and just constant preaching and
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people come into the ultar call and confessing their sins.
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And I'm like, I am so glad I wasn't here
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for this, no offense, but I am not comfortable with
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charismatic style of worship, whether it's even of Santa Catholic Church.
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It's just not my thing. But anyway, so Bishop has
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given a short explanation of the Gospel, and when this
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was ended, one of the ministers, generally a deacon, called
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upon the catechumans i e. Jews or Heathens who were
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under instruction for baptism. Catechumans had not yet been baptized
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at this time, this in the early Church, to leave
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the church, and if he did not feel sure about
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anyone who remained, he required a watchword from him. That is,
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he made him repeat the confession of faith that was
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known only to Christians. That's where we get our original creed,
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the Apostles creed, which becomes to Nicean creed. At this time,
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because it was so important that only baptized and confirmed
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Christians received the Eucharist, because the church actually strongly believed
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in vocally taught that it was the body and blood
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of Christ is the body of blood of Christ, and
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that one should never take it Unworthily, no one who
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is not baptized or and confirmed was allowed to even
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be in the church during the Eucharist, so he would
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dismiss the catech humans. This would be adult converts to Christianity.
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Infant baptism has always been practiced, but for a it
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is much more difficult even to this day for an
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adult to become a Catholic, you know you have to
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go through r CIA or you got a new word
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for it now, are r O A or I don't remember.
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Speaker 2: It was our CIA when I took it. Right of
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Christian initiation? Is that right? I don't know.
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Speaker 1: Anyway, they would dismiss the catech humans and then if
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they had a question are you really Christian? You would
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recite the Creed. Well, now we all recite the Creed
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and no one really polices whether or not you are
20:58
actually Catholic. Probably would be better for if they did,
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because the Bible says, if you eat the body and
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blood of Christ unworthily, you become guilty of his murder,
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of his death, you become guilty of the body and
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blood of Christ.
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Speaker 2: So by not kind of policing the.
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Speaker 1: Eucharus, it's I don't think it's responsible because people could
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unwittingly become guilty of immortal sin. But that's just where
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it comes from. And you know, it's interesting to know
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that the division of the mass up of the Creed
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was the preparatory part and used to be called the
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mass of the Catecumans. At this point, the actual sacrifice
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of the mass begins the faithful present of the offerings
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of bread and wine, from which the deacons took what
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was required from the mass. Still do that day we
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walk up and present the gifts, you know. The bishop
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then offered to God and bless the offeratory. He then
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washed the fingers with which he had touched the bread,
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and one of the acolytes caught upon the people to
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pray for the Catacumans who had just departed, for the clergy,
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and for the church in general, friends and for foes.
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The aura fratres prayer for brothers is now said by
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the priests, then following a prayer of thanksgiving in imitation
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of our Lord, who gave thanks before consecrating the elements.
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Speaker 2: The preface of the present.
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Speaker 1: Day, which ends in the Sanctus, Holy, Holy, Holy, you
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may sing it in Latin. We do actually in our
22:23
church the praise of the Holy Trinity, and all present
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prayed as had been enjoined upon them, for the Pope,
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the Bishop, the Emperor, invoking the intercession of the Mother
22:35
of God, of the apostles and holy martyrs. So see,
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at least by the third century we have so many
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of our traditions. Praying for our leaders praying for all
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people that departed, the people in church to people outside
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of church, the president in our case, the king, and
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other countries. And we asked the intercession of the Mother
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of God, the apostles and the holy martyrs we have,
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you know, they begin to the list the first martyrs
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and the first popes and all that. Then came the consecration,
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the ceremonial for which was the same as it is now,
23:07
the people prostrating themselves in lowly adoration at the elevation
23:11
of the host of the chalice. Another thing we don't
23:13
really do today, we down kneel. People used to lay
23:17
face down on the floor, which probably was a good idea. Still,
23:23
we do a lot more kneeling in a Catholic church
23:25
than you ever would in a Protestant church. I can
23:28
attest to that. They call it Catholic calisthenics for a reason.
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We do it an awful lot of kneeling, and that's
23:34
a good thing. And you know, on certain occasions, especially
23:38
the priests and those studying, for the priests to will
23:41
lay prostrate on the floor. The prayer for the dead
23:44
came next, some of the martyrs being commemorated again by
23:48
the third century, every Catholic church was praying for the dead.
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That's before the Bible was even published, y'all you know,
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I mean, you can explain to your Protestant friends that
23:59
the earliest Christian church had prayers for the dead, and
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the pattern austri the Our Father was set aloud in
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the Agnus Stay the Lamb of God three times, Lamb
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of God that take us away the sins of the world,
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have mercy upon us.
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Speaker 2: Again.
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Speaker 1: We do that in Latin in my parish. You may
24:16
do it in English. It's good either way. It means
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the same thing. Upon this the communion followed. The bishop
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received the body and blood of Christ and gave commune
24:24
to the faithful. They crossed their hands, the sacred host
24:27
being placed on the palm of the left hand.
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Speaker 2: Now this is interesting, isn't it.
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Speaker 1: This eighteen ninety, This is fallow Sparago. He's still doing
24:34
traditional Catholic maths. They were receiving the Eucharist in the hand.
24:39
Even in the third century. A lot of people get
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really worked up and say you have to kneel down
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and receive the eucrits on the tongue. That is probably
24:48
more reverent, probably the better practice. But even in the
24:52
earliest church, they did receive the euchars in the hand,
24:55
and it is valid. Don't get all worked up about that,
24:59
and don't let somebody you know tell you that you're
25:02
receiving the euchros wrong. If you prefer to receive it
25:05
in the hand. I've received it on the tongue of
25:09
time or two. Never got used to it. Ninety well
25:14
one hundred percent of the churches I have attended, the
25:17
parishes I've attended, eucrous in the hand has been the norm.
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And at one point the bishop even said, you know,
25:26
please do it this way because we have such a
25:29
huge number of people going to the parish I attended.
25:32
Done in Pinehurst for a while. You know, if everyone
25:35
kneeled and received on the tongue, and there's so many
25:40
handicapped people, it's a very old population. There are so
25:42
many people using walkers and wheelchairs and canes, it just
25:47
wasn't working well when some people. Now, they did not
25:51
prevent people from kneeling to receive on the tongue, but
25:53
the bishop actually encouraged people to receive in the hand. Now,
25:56
I understand if you have an issue with that. I
25:57
think it's a very valid concern, especially with the danger
26:03
of dropping the host, but communion in the hand has
26:08
been practiced at least since the three hundreds. During the communion,
26:13
appropriate psalms were sung. The priests now recite some verses
26:16
from the psalms at the right hand side of the altar,
26:19
which are called the post communion. The hosts that remained
26:23
over were placed in a chest or vessel in the
26:25
shape of a dove beside the altar. Very rarely do
26:27
you see it in the shape of a dove now
26:30
after maybe inscribed imprinted with the dove, but not actually
26:34
the shape of the bird. After a concluding prayer, the
26:37
bishops saluted the people with the word staminus fabiscum, God.
26:41
Speaker 2: Be with you, dismiss them.
26:44
Speaker 1: You know, Lord be with you, And we now say,
26:47
with your spirit, will you say and also with you.
26:49
But you know, whatever ida missa s depart in the mass,
26:53
it has ended. The blessing being given the commencement of
26:57
Saint John's gobs. The blessing being given the commencement of
27:00
Saint John's Gospel was generally read in which occur the
27:04
words the Word was made flesh, and he came into
27:07
his own and his own received him, not, the former
27:10
being allusioned to the present and illusion with an a
27:13
not illusion allusion to the presence of our Lord in
27:16
the Holy sacrifice. The letter having reference to the sin
27:19
of those who, without good reason absent themselves from Mass.
27:22
It is a mortal sin not to attend Mass if
27:26
you can on Sunday and Holy Days in the course
27:30
of the mass, which if a low mass lasts from
27:32
twenty five to thirty minutes, that's right. A low mass
27:35
used to only be twenty five to thirty minutes. People
27:38
also get a little worked up about that these days.
27:40
They think you need to be there a full hour
27:43
forty five minutes. No, when people went in a mass
27:47
every morning and worked and had their daily lives, and
27:52
the church was far more a part of their lives,
27:57
twenty five to thirty minutes was very reasonable amount of
28:00
time someone could step away from their other responsibilities and attend.
28:05
Speaker 2: Mass during a day.
28:07
Speaker 1: Some parishes still have that, Unfortunately, most that I've encountered don't.
28:12
If you get a weekday mass, it's going to be
28:14
at least forty five minutes. A lot of times it'll
28:18
be like a fifteen minute time for confession before Mass.
28:21
And you know, if you work for a living, unless
28:24
you're working like a ten minute drive from the church
28:29
and can park and walk in and leave and grab
28:33
some lunch and get back to your work within an
28:36
hour's time, you're not going to make it to a
28:38
daily Mass. And I know most priests don't understand this
28:41
because most priests have never had a job in the
28:44
regular economy. It makes it very difficult, extremely difficult, especially
28:51
with modern traffic and highways. I mean, you know, it
28:54
takes me a good fifteen minutes, fifteen to twenty minutes
28:57
just to drive to the church. Well in most places
29:00
i've lived, Yeah, probably a good fifteen minutes from my
29:04
house to the parish now. But I'm lucky I'm self employed.
29:08
You know, there have been so many jobs where I
29:11
had a thirty minute lunch break, wonderful. If I could
29:15
have somehow gotten to church, gone in for Mass, and
29:19
gotten back in time, I would have had to eat
29:21
in the car getting back, and probably the boss would
29:23
have had to let me be about ten minutes late anyway,
29:26
or just do it on special occasions. But it makes
29:29
it almost impossible even to go to Holy days because
29:32
most employers will not recognize Catholic Holy days in a
29:37
Protestant country. So I really do think there's a place
29:40
for low mass, and I really do think it should
29:42
be offered a lot more in parishes so that people
29:48
that actually work for a living, not retired, you know,
29:53
not to have taken religious orders, which I'm not saying
29:56
they don't work, actually work very hard, but I mean
29:58
work for a secular employer that probably does not recognize
30:04
is not of the same faith, and doesn't give people
30:06
time off to go to church, could actually make it
30:09
to a short mass, have a time to grab a
30:13
bite on the way home, way back to work, and
30:16
not get fired because you know, they need to make
30:20
their money, and the priests maybe want to understand that
30:23
if those people don't make an income, they can't put
30:25
any money in the plate, and the church isn't going
30:27
to be around in that parish very long.
30:29
Speaker 2: Unfortunately.
30:29
Speaker 1: Saw that happened just recently in a little town down
30:33
in the eastern part of the country. The state, nice
30:37
little church had been there since I guess the twenties,
30:40
and it's gone. One day it was there and.
30:43
Speaker 2: The other day it was gone. Next day it was gone.
30:45
Speaker 1: And the town where my family used to live really
30:49
kind of grew up around there. The parish is essentially empty.
30:52
The priest comes in. I think they have one Mass
30:54
a month and no confession. You have to go to
30:57
the next county for confession. And that's because they still
31:01
have a Catholic population. But the church did not make
31:05
its masses available to the people, and after COVID they
31:09
just stopped having Mass. But I think one Sunday a
31:12
month's That to me is disgraceful because honestly, there's the
31:17
largest pork processing plant in the entire country sitting right
31:21
there with probably a good ten thousand Mexican employees who
31:25
are probably illegal immigrants. But they can't go to a
31:28
Catholic Mass because the church doesn't cater to them. And
31:32
if they go to church at all, they're going to
31:34
Protestant churches. That's a that's actually a shame. That's actually
31:39
a shameful thing that the Diocese of I guess that's
31:45
Raleigh should have to face. That's a horrible just failure
31:55
on their part. You know, I'm you know, sorry, if
31:57
the people of that town in that county, and if
32:02
you figure out what port process or I'm talking about,
32:04
you'll know exactly where I'm talking about. If it's if
32:08
the white people they are mostly Protestant, and the black
32:10
people they are mostly Protestant. Well, just because you don't
32:14
have a whole lot of Catholics among the white and
32:15
black population, you still got to take care of the
32:18
Mexican population, even if they're here illegally. That doesn't really
32:22
matter in such matters. But they decide to basically close
32:26
that parish, and now everybody has to go to Whitefool. Well,
32:28
there are hardly any Catholics in whitefol either, So anyway,
32:35
so where were we? We were oh about missing mass,
32:40
the sin of missing mess. In the course of the
32:42
mess which low mass twenty five to thirty minutes, the
32:44
celebrant has to observe no less than five hundred ceremonies,
32:48
such as bowing down, smiting his breast, making the sign
32:52
of the cross. All this ceremony is intended to impress
32:56
the faithful more deeply with the majesty of so great
32:59
a sacrifice, also to incite them to the contemplation of
33:03
those most sublime things that are hidden in the mass.
33:07
Each of the ceremonies has its own special meeting. The
33:11
whole story of the redemption is ceremonially ceremonial one more time.
33:17
The whole story of the redemption is symbolically represented by
33:20
the ceremonies of the Mass. The opening prayers said by
33:25
the priests at the foot of the altar and at
33:27
a little distance from it, are emblematic of the four
33:30
thousand years during which man was comparatively far from God
33:34
and looking for the redemption. I never knew that to
33:36
have read this. I think that's very interesting that there's
33:39
actually a proximity that symbolizes four thousand years of man
33:44
seeking God. The currie repeated nine times, the glorious signify,
33:49
the Book of Christ, and the song of Praise sung
33:52
by the nine choirs of Angels at Bethlehem. The I
33:56
guess eraciones never heard that word pronounce the youth of
34:03
Our Lord, which was passed in prayer and seclusion from
34:06
the world. The Epistle, the carrying across of the missile,
34:10
the Gospel, and the Creed are to remind us that
34:13
God was first preached to the Jews, and being rejected
34:16
by them, was proclaimed to the Gentiles, many of whom
34:18
believed and were baptized. The offeratory represents Our Lord's preparation
34:23
for his passion and his willingness to surrender his life.
34:27
The preface, which ends with the word Blessed is he
34:29
that come in the name, comes in the name of Lord,
34:31
cometh in the name of Lord Hosanna and the highest
34:34
represents Christ's entry into Jerusalem. The prayer for the living
34:38
his prayer for the church for the Last Supper. The
34:41
five crosses which the priest makes over the oblation are
34:44
symbolic of the five times that our Lord was mocked.
34:48
I did not know that either, I did never even notice.
34:51
The priest makes five crosses over the bread and wine
34:55
mocked before Annas, Caiaphas, Herod and Pilot, and once again
35:00
before Herod. The elevation of the bread and wine is
35:03
lifting up on the cross, with the five crosses made
35:05
from time to time over the elements the five sacred wounds.
35:09
The seven petitions of the Lord's prayer represent the seven
35:12
wounds upon his cross upon the cross. I should say
35:16
his wounds upon the cross, the breaking of the hosts,
35:19
the death of Christ, and when his soul and body
35:21
were parted. When the priest says agnes Day and strikes
35:25
his breast, it recalls the action of the soldiers and others.
35:28
President Calvary, who amazed at the stupendous convulsions of nature,
35:33
struck their breast with a securion, exclaimed, indeed this man
35:37
was the son of God. The communion represents the burial
35:40
of Christ. The Dominus Fhibiscum twice repeated his salutation to
35:45
the apostles on his twofold appearance to them after the resurrection,
35:48
the words of dismissal in emisa s his ascension, and
35:53
when he sent his apostles forth to evangelize the world
35:55
and bless them for the last time, the last gospel
35:58
the propagation of the God after the descent of the
36:01
Holy Ghost. Thus the Mass is seen to be a
36:04
brief compendium of our Lord's life. In one half hour,
36:09
all is depicted, which he did during thirty three years
36:13
upon the earth.
36:14
Speaker 2: Now that that's amazing, And you know, really, I.
36:20
Speaker 1: Most protests have never been to a Catholic mass. They
36:22
have no idea what goes on in a Catholic mass,
36:24
and if they known anything about it, it's probably very flawed.
36:28
I have not experiences myself, but several people have said that,
36:33
you know, they grew up a Protestant and very you know,
36:37
very with a family in a church. It was very
36:40
emphatic on reading the Bible. And they went to a
36:44
Catholic Mass, usually reluctantly for a wedding or a funeral,
36:50
more than more often than not a funeral. And they
36:55
had a Catholic friend who explained to them everything that
36:58
was going on in the mass, and they realize what
37:00
they were seeing was what they had been reading in
37:02
the Bible, and they had never experienced anything like that
37:05
in a Protestant church, and that was the impetus that
37:08
led them to convert. So while it is now permissible
37:15
for a Catholic to attend a Protestant wedding or funeral
37:21
or something like that in a Protestant church, it's still
37:26
not certainly not encouraged and not a very good idea.
37:31
In Fathers Barago's time, we were not even allowed to
37:33
set foot in a Protestant church because it would create scandal.
37:37
It was saying, we see this as a valid church.
37:40
Speaker 2: When it is not. It is always always.
37:44
Speaker 1: A good idea, a good good thing to do, encourage whatever,
37:50
Just like that little boy did with his little Baptist
37:52
friend to invite a Protestant to a Catholic Church and
37:57
be very patient and very carefully explain everything, and learn
38:02
about yourself beforehand, and learn where you know the Bible,
38:06
all the parallels between Biblical passages. You know, a lot
38:10
of our Catholic Mass goes back to what Protestants read
38:14
about in the Old Testament, in the Jewish Temple, a
38:17
lot and every bit of it has parallels to the
38:21
New Testament. And it's really our responsibility to learn so
38:26
that we can tell them exactly what's going on. And
38:29
if they find it weird or something, just open the
38:31
Bible and point to it. Like when it says the
38:33
disciples greet each other with a sign of the cross,
38:38
Catholics make the sign of the cross. Protestants don't, and
38:40
for some reason they think it's like weird, it's like
38:44
not allowed. It's like, you know, hands off. You know,
38:48
if somebody makes a sign of the cross, if you
38:49
open the Bible and say, look, here's the sign of
38:51
the cross, and this is what we're doing right now,
38:54
well then they have a problem with the Bible if
38:56
they don't do it. You know, they have to accept
38:58
what you're saying. And that's one little aspect, you know,
39:02
singing the Gloria. I mean you can see, you know,
39:05
here's where the angels are doing that. You know, whether
39:08
it's the Book of Revelations or different parts.
39:10
Speaker 2: From you know, the Psalms and and or do this
39:15
in memory of me.
39:16
Speaker 1: This is my body, this is my blood. You know,
39:19
you can explain it to them and when they experience it. Remember,
39:25
I think it was Saint Francesca. Saint Francesca. I think
39:29
it was one of the Fato of my children. If
39:31
I'm not mistaken, come to think of it could have
39:34
been Saint Teresulisso it was some little girl that this's
39:37
all I'm mentality.
39:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's one of the great saints. Uh, she said, Uh.
39:44
My role is not to convince, but to explain or
39:49
to inform.
39:49
Speaker 1: I think it was. My role is not to convince,
39:51
but to inform. It's up the Holy Spirit then to
39:54
convict that person. You know, you can tell them, you
39:57
can show them be absolutely you know, knowledgeable as you
40:01
can possibly be, or just show your sincere faith. A
40:05
lot of times that's more moving than all the knowledge
40:07
in the world. But you can't convince them. It's actually
40:13
it's up to the Holy Spirit to convince them. Just
40:16
you know Jesus Christ himself couldn't convince most people that
40:20
he was the Messiah.
40:22
Speaker 2: Think of that.
40:22
Speaker 1: I mean, it's literally up to the Holy Spirit to
40:25
convince that person. The person has to be convinced willingly.
40:28
They cannot be convinced against their will. It'sten rare occasions,
40:31
like Saint Paul on the road to Damascus when God
40:33
struck him blind. Unfortunately, God doesn't do that for most
40:37
of us.
40:39
Speaker 2: We do have free will. So y'all, I hope you
40:42
enjoyed this one.
40:44
Speaker 1: My voice held out though I am suppressing a call
40:47
very forcefully right now, so I'm going to call it
40:51
a day, y'all. I have a good one, and I'll
40:52
talk to you next week.