The Perpetual Sacrifice

The third commandment is about keeping the Sabbath day Holy:

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it Holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work."

Jesus says:

"The Sabbath day was made for man, not man for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

As I am writing about the third commandment during the Easter octave- so during the feast of Easter- I am thinking about the “feast” of the resurrection, which we keep every Sunday in the Church.

The feast of Easter is an octave, so a week long including the Sundays, or eight days, as the name suggests. The Catechism of the Catholic Church say that Sunday is the eighth day and the first, which makes sense as a week is seven days long.

I like this idea of Sunday being the first and the last day of the week, because Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega- the beginning and the end. Sunday being the Lord’s day and Jesus being the Lord, that seems satisfyingly fitting.

Easter is one of the biggest feasts for Christians because we are celebrating the fact that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. This is not something insignificant or ordinary for anybody who recognises it is true. The resurrection is relevant to us personally when we know how this changes the meaning of our lives, and our destiny.

If Jesus was brought back to life from the dead then this is something extraordinary, and Christians have teachings further to this which give us cause to celebrate the fact that this really happened. Namely, that as we follow Jesus, we too will be resurrected from the dead.

Through Lent, Easter themed treats are available in shops, even though it is a time of fasting in preparation for Easter. Yet during the festival- or feasting- season of Easter they disappear from shops because the secular view is that Easter is a bank holiday weekend where people eat hot cross buns and chocolate and it’s all over Tuesday morning when they go back to work.

So, the Godless sugar-pushers capitalise on Easter in the lead up to the bank holiday. Similar to Advent, when excess of food, shopping and other pleasures are ritual preparation for Christmas though it is supposed to be a time to reflect spiritually and abstain, preparing for the feast of Christmas, when we celebrate God coming into the world. The whole of Christmastide is then ignored after New Year’s Day, which is a secular celebration marking the end of the holiday season for most.

For Christians who are living the Liturgy of the Church however Eastertide, the season, lasts 50 days, till the celebration of Pentecost. Easter Sunday is just the beginning! This makes Eastertide a longer Holy season than Lent and Advent, which are 40 days long.

Eastertide is a special time of year and a good opportunity to think about the resurrection of Jesus in a meaningful way, but every Sunday we have a mini-Easter when we gather for the Sunday Eucharist in our churches.

Christians keep Sunday as the day to fulfil the third commandment given by God because, as Christians who are not expected to keep the law given to the Jewish people, we are remembering the fact that Jesus rose from the dead on that day while meeting other Christians to worship God together, and taking the rest which is necessary for us.

From the early days of the Christian community it was a day which was set aside with a deliberate thought to honour the fact that Jesus came back from the dead on that day of the week.

In keeping one day a week aside for the public worship of God and resting from work, we are being obedient to the instruction given to “His people” by God. As Christians we are also God’s people but, unlike the Jews, we become God’s by following Jesus, and that is why we do not keep the Sabbath in the same way as the Jewish people.

Christians should still keep the ten commandments because they came from God, not man, but the changes in the way this commandment is kept is a part of religious practice which Christ made new for us.

Jesus completion of the Jewish law does not mean we do not need to go to Church. His completion of the law doesn’t mean the end of any formal religious practice. Some people think that going to Church is an optional extra, depending on how you feel or your opinion, but they are not following His example, as He was faithful to the practice of His religion and Christianity is a religion.

Even when going to Mass is hard I always know, with confidence, that it is a good and worthwhile use of my time. This is because of a firm trust I have in God and a desire to show Him the love I have for Him.

My trust in God means I trust in the Church, therefore I trust in the teaching that we should go to Sunday Mass every week unless we have a legitimate reason not to. This is trusting in God, not a man-made institution.
My belief is that Jesus Christ lived, died and was resurrected from the dead. When He was resurrected He left His disciples with a mission, they were continuing His work under the power of the Holy Spirit sent after His ascension; the Apostles continued His mission by starting a religion, a Church.

If we think of the resurrection and take to heart how this impacts us personally it changes us. By take it to heart I mean that the belief has a deep and enduring meaning, so much so that it becomes a part of us, it transforms us to be more focused on God, more sacrificial and generous in love.

This heartfelt belief in the resurrection helps people who love God to keep the third commandment, because the promise of God, that we have eternal life because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, gives us a desire to worship God.
Think about it- if someone saves you, don't you feel grateful? If you were stranded by the side of the road in the dark, pouring with rain, and someone comes along and relieves you of the discomfort and difficulty you're in they have in a sense saved you- isn't that a relief? Wouldn't you be grateful and happy to see that person?
God did this for all people- for eternity. That's the equivalent of being saved by someone who can guarantee you won't break down, or be inconvenienced by inclement weather or darkness again.
Yet it's even better because Jesus saved us from all the evil that there is, all bad things will be utterly destroyed, and He is so generous that He gives us a choice to follow Him or not. He is not a controlling dictator ordering us into a warm, dry car if we would rather suffer.

People who want to follow this generous Jesus and be with Him, want to know Him better now, which we can through going to Church. We also want to be with other Christians who are also trying to follow Jesus, and to share our love for God with each other.

Those of us with time alone this Easter should find it easier than usual to spend time with God in prayer and spiritual reading because there are not as many legitimate (or inane) distractions to take our attention away.

While I live a contemplative way of life anyway I am still hoping to spend more time with Jesus in prayer this Eastertide, and hope anyone who reads this Blog post will join me.
It may require some sacrifice. I will read the last few chapters of all four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Each of them tells us different things about the resurrection of Jesus, and as it’s possible to read all accounts in one day, to read them in fifty days is easy.

Meditating on the scriptures and praying while thinking about these events will help me to comprehend this promise I trust in, that I too will be resurrected and follow Jesus to Paradise one day.

I think one of the best things we can do to see the value of the Sunday Eucharist is to meditate on the Glorious mysteries of the Holy Rosary.

Let’s think about the first and second mysteries. They are the resurrection and the ascension.
To meditate on Jesus being resurrected from the dead, first reading the Bible passages about them can be a good way of imagining the events. My favourite is John's account.

Let’s ask Our Lady, the Holy women who were present at the passion and resurrection, and the Apostles who started the Church to pray for us; they will assist us in our love of God.

If we think about what literally happened and why, and meditate silently on that, God will reveal His love for us. His love for us is irresistible! Once tasted you will be rushing to receive Him again when the churches are open.

We should think about the ascension too; that day when Jesus went up to the Father again from the hillside, leaving His followers with a message of peace and a promise of the Holy Spirit. A promise that He would be with us always, which He is, even literally speaking in the Blessed Sacrament.

We, as Christians, can enter into this mystery when we take it to heart.
If someone insults you and you “take it to heart” it really hurts, sometimes it can change our view of ourselves it hurts so much. If you believe you're ugly because someone said that to you once, even if you ignored hundreds of times other people said you're beautiful, then you know what I mean.
If someone compliments you and feel better about yourself, you have taken that to heart too, and it gives you confidence because you feel better about yourself, so we can take good things to heart and be changed by them too.
I think a greater sign of love than a kind word (not to say they're not nice sometimes) is someone wanting to spend time with you. It is obvious when people seek out your company, and are relaxed or happy with you, that they respect and love you. That is what God wants us to feel for Him- and even what he wants us to feel for those awful Christians in His churches!

Jesus Christ wants you to take to heart the fact that He became man, died and came back from death to get you, because He’s madly in love with you. He loves you so much He even wants to be with you forever! I get it, it sounds too good to be true, hard to believe and hard to take to heart.
So we must, again, suffer a little as we did when we meditate on the passion of Jesus. We must suffer that little cross of boredom, confusion and disbelief when we try to persevere in prayer, or later when we feel uncomfortable or bored at Church.
Let's persevere in getting to know Jesus better, so that we can be comfortable and happy in His presence, and we will want to be with Him. There will be no difficulty or uncertainty about keeping the third commandment then, we will take every opportunity to keep it. Maybe going to Church more often, because when we take to heart the eternal love of God we enter eternity now, love in return, and become a living part of that eternal love.

It is hard at times to be a Christian, but it will all be worth it in the end. Well, if you do it really well then not only will it be worthwhile but there is no end…

(thankfully I didn’t mean to the Blog post, I mean the worthwhile part of life is eternal)

This was a hard post to write at the moment. I couldn't think or speak about this completely openly because of the separation from the celebration of the Mass, due to cancellation during the Pandemic.

Like many other Christians who love God and want to worship Him, and be with others who love God, I am finding this a very painful separation.

While I am so grateful to God for mine and my family’s well-being I also feel keenly this separation from God and would encourage that, as well as prayers for those affected by the Coronavirus, and all current difficult circumstances, to remember to pray for the practice of our religion too, which is a necessary part of our lives as spiritual creatures.

Below is a poem I wrote last year. I was struggling to stop myself going to Mass every day, as my circumstances didn't really permit me to do so, yet I was so captivated by the deep meaning of the Mass and the beauty of the Liturgy that I found it hard to resist.

While I was writing the poem I tried to console myself with the fact that it is a perpetual sacrifice and I don't need to be present to be a part of it, as I am in the mystical body of Christ. Though I still felt I could not resist being present, so I went daily anyway.
It seems that mood is one I should meditate on again now, as we do not have the privilege of going even on Sundays to be with the Lord, let alone every day.

The Perpetual Sacrifice (read and repeat)

During the Communion rite

At the Holy Sacrifice

Jesus Christ is crucified

With His offering we give

All people who've ever lived

Happy Heathens, the devout,

Sickly sorts, the down and out.

Sincere hearts have union,

Dead or alive, through Him.

We give ourselves if we are bold.

Knowing we are in the fold,

And loving separated souls.

The Host is held up high so we

May gaze upon His mystery.

The Lord lays the table each day

And feeds us with His body, by grace.

So, guests like me are bound to say

"I am not worthy of these gifts!"

Yet even if my focus drifts

I trust God to forgive my sins,

Open my mouth and let Him in.

Given with His sacrifice,

Receiving too is very nice.

We have Communion through the Christ

During the Communion rite

At the Holy Sacrifice

Jesus Christ is crucified.

The following prayer to Our Lady of the Holy Eucharist is a favourite Novena of mine.

Originally I cut it out of the Catholic Herald and stuck it above my prayer table in 2015, just before I joined RCIA.
It has led to miracles in answered prayer; I usually pray it for nine days and go to Mass each day, lighting a candle for the intention, but obviously can’t do that now.
These versions are digital prayer cards I have made, and anybody is welcome to use them and share them.

Please join me in praying this for all people, and for the Church.
Our Lady of the Holy Eucharist is always present at the Holy sacrifice of the Mass, just as she was at Calvary, so she will be whispering things to Our Lord which I'm sure will move His heart to a miracle for our ailing world.