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The Time After Pentecost
of soul, and the blessed resurrection of the body. “Hear the prayers of Thy servant and of Thy
people Israel,” the holy Church (Introit).
We give thanks to the Lord for holiness of soul as well as for the resurrection of the body;
we give thanks to the Lord who today appears at the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. He
cleanses us of our sins and fills us with His life. Here He sows the seed of a blessed resurrection
in our body. “He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, hath everlasting life; and I will
raise him up in the last day. . . . He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me
and I in him” ( Jn 6:55, 57).
Prayer
Let the operation of Thy mercy, we beseech Thee, O Lord, direct our hearts; for without Thee
we cannot please Thee. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
The Mass
“Give peace, O Lord, to them that patiently wait for Thee,” we prayed last Sunday (Introit). Today
we receive the answer of the Lord: “I am the salvation of the people” (Introit). Then before our
eyes the gates of heaven are opened, and we see the immense throngs which move forward in
an unbroken procession toward heaven. To all these who are called He will bring salvation.
The hall of the marriage feast is open, the banquet is ready. For us this means the sacrifice which
is prepared at this hour at the celebration of the Mass. The banquet hall is the Christian Church.
At Mass the Lord (Christ) enters the hall and goes about to welcome His guests, to espouse
their souls as His bride in an intimate union of prayer and sacrifice. But in order to take part in
the banquet it is not enough that one merely enter the hall, that one is baptized; it is essential
that one possess also the wedding garment, “the new man who according to God is created
in justice and holiness of truth” (Epistle) — freedom from sin and a disposition to obey the
commandments of God (Communion). This parable issues a serious warning to all of us who
wish to offer the Mass with the priest.
But the banquet of the Mass is not the final meal; it is the introduction to the banquet
of eternal communion; that is, of our eternal union with God. We have received the grace of
baptism; we are called to His banquet and are granted admission to the hall of the Church.
Through our participation in the Eucharistic banquet we prepare the way for the true, heavenly
banquet. But there is a condition: “Attend, O My people, to My law, incline your ears to
the words of My mouth” (Introit). At Holy Communion we must be able to say: “Thou hast
commanded Thy commandments to be kept most diligently. Oh that my ways may be directed
to keep Thy justifications.”
It must be our serious endeavor to be “prepared in soul and body . . . [to] perform the works
that are Thine” (Collect). Therefore the Epistle admonishes us: “Be ye renewed in the spirit of
your mind and put on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of
truth. Wherefore, putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbor, for we
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