16th Sunday of Ordinary time

Mark 6:30-34 “People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them.”

The people chased after Jesus. Some chase after Him for healing but the majority were not in need of healing, so why did they chase after Him? They chased after Him because He taught them about God. Many people came to St John the baptist in the desert and he did not work miracles as Jesus did. He spoke to them about the coming Messiah, preaching repentance. People who sought God went followed after Jesus.

Why do we go to church? I hope we come to Church because we seek God. But some of us might answer: I go to Church because I have to, it is an obligation set by the Church. Why does the Church oblige us? The Church puts us under obligation to prevent us from becoming spiritually lazy or becoming temperamental about our faith, only praying or going to Mass when we feel like it. Knowing that most of us don’t feel like it most of the time.

The Church is different from any other place in the world. From our homes, from protestant churches, muslim mosques and buddhist temples etc. God has made His home among us, living here physically, body, blood, soul and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament. Here in His home we come to pray and offer the Holy Mass.

Holy Mass is the perfect act of Christ Our Lord Who offers, as priest, Himself, as victim, to the Father. A perfect act of Adoration, Thanksgiving, Reparation and Petition offered Christ Himself on our behalf. We come to Church and join Christ in His Sacrifice, offering our adoration, our thanksgiving, our repentance and our petitions through Christ to Father.

Adoration: The Holy Mass is primarily an act of loving adoration. Throughout the Mass we are offering to God our praise and adoration through Christ Our Lord. In fact you will notice many of the prayers the priest prays he says those exact words, "Through Christ Our Lord" and you join the priest’s prayer saying “Amen”, meaning “so be it.” One of the most notable prayer of Adoration is the prayers: “Glory to God in the Highest” and “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts”.

Thanksgiving: Mass is a profound expression of gratitude. Jesus Christ offers Himself to God the Father, giving thanks and praise. We join in this thanksgiving, acknowledging God’s goodness and grace. The Eucharist itself means “thanksgiving”. And during the preface, just before the Eucharistic prayer the priest says or sings “It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord.”

Reparation (Atonement): The Mass provides an opportunity to offer reparation for our sin. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross atones for our sins. Like a kid who kicks a ball through a window we can go with Jesus to the Father and ask forgiveness and pay to repair the window. In the Mass, we participate in this atonement by acknowledging our need for forgiveness and seeking reconciliation with God. The Mass begins with these very prayers: “I confess to almighty God…”, “Lord have mercy”, “May Almighty God have mercy on forgive us our sins…”. And right before we come to receive God in the Blessed sacrament this is all renewed: “Lamb of God you take away the sins of the world have mercy on us” and “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

Petition: During Mass, we intercede for our needs. Throughout the Mass the priest is offering prayers through Christ Our Lord. But it is not just the priest who prays, we join our own petitions, praying for the things we want God’s blessing and help for. Think how many time the priest calls us to pray with these words “let us pray”. And what better time or place to ask God for something when He is already offering us Himself without reserve, flooding us with His infinite love and mercy. The priest prays, “Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the Almighty Father.”

Look at the people in today’s Gospel how they sought God. Do we seek God with such devotion? “People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.”

THE WEIGHT OF THE HOLY MASS

(From the Catholic Society of Evangelists Newsletter, August, 1999)

The following TRUE STORY was related to Sr. M. Veronica Murphy by an elderly nun who heard it from the lips of the late Reverend Father Stanislaus.

One day many years ago, in a little town in Luxembourg , a Captain of the Forest Guards was in deep conversation with the butcher when an elderly woman entered the shop. The butcher broke off the conversation to ask the old woman what she wanted . She had come to beg for a little meat but had no money.

The Captain was amused at the woman and the butcher. “Only a little meat, but how much are you going to give her?”, he wondered.

“I am sorry I have no money, but I’ll hear Mass for you”, the woman told the butcher. Both the butcher and the Captain were indifferent about religion, so they at once began to scoff at the old woman’s idea.

“All right then”, said the butcher. “You go and hear Mass for me and when you come back I’ll give you as much as the Mass is worth”.

The woman left the shop and returned later. She approached the counter and the butcher said. “All right then we’ll see.”

He took a slip of paper and wrote on it ‘I heard a Mass for you.’

He placed the paper on the scales and a tiny bone on the other side, but nothing happened.

Next he placed a piece of meat instead of the bone, but still the paper proved heavier.

Both men were beginning to feel ashamed of their mockery but continued their game. A large piece of meat was placed on the balance, but still the paper held its own. The butcher, exasperated , examined the scales but found they were alright.

“What do you want my good woman? Must I give you a whole leg of mutton?” At this he placed the leg of mutton on the balance, but the paper outweighed the meat. A larger piece of meat was put on, but again the weight remained on the side of the paper. This so impressed the butcher that he was converted and promised to give the woman her daily ration of meat.

As for the Captain, he left the shop a changed man and became an ardent lover of daily Mass. Two of his sons became priests, one a Jesuit and the other a Father of the Sacred Heart.

Father Stanislaus finished the story by saying, “I am from the Religious of the Sacred Heart and the Captain was my father.”

>From this incident the Captain became a daily Mass attendant and his children were trained to follow his example.

Later, when his sons became priests, he advised them to say Mass well every day and never miss the Sacrifice of the Mass through any fault of their own.