9781644135945

The Time After Pentecost
Him we owe the grace of union with Christ the vine, the grace of membership in the Church,
the gift of faith. We are indebted to Him for the Church, the sacraments, the Mass and Holy
Communion. Through God’s generosity we participate in the good works of the other members
of the Church, in the intercession of the blessed in heaven, in the meritorious works of the Blessed
Mother. We are indebted to Him for the innumerable graces which we receive daily, which help
us to resist sin and the temptations of the devil. We owe to Him the countless inspirations and
enlightenments which cause us to perform acts of virtue. We are His debtors for any progress
we have made in grace and virtue. If we are priests or religious, we are indebted to Him above
all for the precious grace of our vocation, which has preserved us from so many dangers and
temptations and which has permitted us to spend so much time in prayer and in union with
God. Our debt to God our Savior is indeed great. Ten thousand talents hardly describes the
amount of our indebtedness to God.
“Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all” (Gospel). Is it possible that we can repay
God in full for all His graces? Yes, indeed, we shall make full payment through the Holy Sacrifice
of the Mass. The Mass is essentially a “eucharist,” a sacrifice of thanksgiving, a payment for a
debt of gratitude. In that sacrifice we take the “spotless host,” Christ, the lamb of the sacrifice,
in our hands and offer Him up to His Father. Since our own prayers of thanksgiving are so
feeble, we take this host, this body of Jesus, this blood of the Redeemer, and offer it to heaven,
an infinite prayer of thanksgiving. “Vouchsafe to look upon them with a gracious and tranquil
countenance and to accept them [our gifts] even as thou wert pleased to accept the offerings
of Thy just servant Abel.” “Through Him, and with Him, and in Him is to Thee, God the Father
Almighty, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honor and glory” (Canon of the Mass). The Mass
is a perfect sacrifice of thanksgiving. As often as the Church offers this Sacrifice, all her children
offer it with her in payment for their debt of gratitude, which we hope to satisfy “through Christ
our Lord.” “Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.”
“Have patience with me, and I will pay Thee all,” is the petition of the Church through her
liturgy. She will make this payment through the Holy Eucharist, the sacrifice of thanksgiving.
“Let us give thanks to the Lord our God” (let us celebrate the Eucharist), says Holy Mother
the Church; and we answer, “It is meet and just.” The Church, through the mouth of her priest,
confirms our assertion, “It is truly meet and just, right and profitable for us at all times and in all
places to give thanks to Thee, O holy Lord, the Father Almighty and everlasting God, through
Christ our Lord.” In these words of the Preface the prayer of praise and thanksgiving of the
oldest Christian liturgy is preserved and in it is expressed the spirit of the sacrificing Church in
its earliest form. By participating in the Mass we acquire the spirit of the Church and apply that
spirit to our daily lives. Our life should not be a life devoted primarily to seeking things from
God, but rather to offering Him acts of thanksgiving, adoration, and praise. Our life should
be one continual hymn of praise. “We praise Thee; we bless Thee; we adore Thee; we glorify
Thee. We give Thee thanks for Thy great glory, O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father
Almighty. O Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son. . . . For Thou alone art holy, Thou alone
art the Lord, Thou alone, O Jesus Christ, art most high, together with the Holy Ghost, in the
glory of God the Father” (Gloria).
“Prayers are few enough, but prayers of thanksgiving are still more rare” (W. Faber). Daily
men send thousands of Our Fathers and Hail Marys up to heaven, but they are directed chiefly
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