19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

FROM THE DESK OF FATHER JACOB LIVECCHI YOUR PRIEST IN RESIDENCE AT EPIPHANY OF THE LORD PARISH

Hi All,

This week I wanted to keep talking about the Mass. Last week we talked about the significance of
processions within Mass. This week I want to talk about what is happening within the Mass. If I had to
sum up what happens within Mass in the most simple of terms, I would say, “Jesus Christ becomes
present to us.” Jesus Christ is made present in four distinct forms with the Mass.

Jesus is present in the assembly. We know that Jesus made the promise that “For where two
or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Mat 18:20) Thus as a
community of believers when we gather on Sunday, Jesus is in our midst He is present with us. But Jesus
is present in the assembly in another way as well. We as baptized Christians make up the Church and as
we know the Church is the Body of Christ. Thus as members of the Church gathered together we are the
mystical Body of Christ. Jesus Christ is present in his mystical body. We share a special bond as the body of Christ. When we gather together at Mass we are not just united because we are in the same space. We are united because we share in this deep connection within Christ; we are united in Christ as one. It is through baptism that we are brought into the body of Christ.

Jesus is present in the ministry of the priest. A priest during Mass is said to stand “in persona
Christi,” this is a Latin phrase that means in the person of Christ. We believe that when the priest is
celebrating Mass he stands as the head of the Body of Christ, leading it in praise to the Father. The priest
in a special way is in the place of Christ when he says the prayers over the host and the chalice. In the
prayer, he uses the first person pronouns, (my body/ my blood) because he is standing in the person of
Christ, he is truly made like Jesus the high priest at the moment of consecration.

Jesus is present in the proclamation of his WORD. Last week we talked about how Jesus was
present in the proclamation of the scriptures at Mass, this is especially the case with the Gospel. The
deacon (or the Lecture if there is no deacon) walks in with books of the Gospel not because their job of
reading is important but because the Gospel book is important. We believe that when the Scripture is
proclaimed at Mass it is the Lord who speaks to us through those words. This is why there is a
procession, why the priest kisses the book, and why sometimes the Gospel is accompanied by candles or incense. Jesus is present to us in his Word and he continues to speak to us through it.

Jesus is present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. The last way that Jesus is present
to us in the Mass is through the Eucharist. This is the most intense way that Jesus is present to us. His
Body is given to us under the form of bread and his Blood is given to us under the form of wine. Jesus is
present Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in every particle of the Host and in every drop of wine, (this is
why we purify the vesicles after communion). When we eat this Bread and drink from the Cup we enter
into communion with his Body and Blood. We share the very life of Jesus himself and open ourselves to
his love. When we receive communion we receive the presence of Jesus into our hearts and souls.
All of these different ways in which Christ is present in Mass are ways in which we can encounter the
living God who loves us and wants to be apart of our lives. This is one of the reasons we go to Mass so
that we can encounter the living presence of Jesus Christ.

In Christ,
Fr. Jay