Note:
because we did not finish the presentation about the Sacrifice of the Mass last week, I have summarized it below in section 1 and 2. Section 3 and 4 are more specifically about Mary and the Saints.

1. Bible as Prophecy

Last week I was trying to explain how we can read the Bible in a typological way. When we speak of prophecies, we do not take an Old Testament prophecy and see how it relates to CNN news. As Catholics what we do is we take an Old Testament prophecy and we find a New Testament parallel to see how it was fulfilled.

Today I want to give more specific prophecies relating to the Mass. But first let me ask a question. What is the Bible all about? One way to read the scriptures is under our nose; it’s so obvious that we don’t even see it. What are the first five books of the Bible called in Hebrew: The Torah, the Law. If we reflect upon it, it should be obvious that the Torah’s purpose is not to give us a history textbook of the Jewish nation. The purpose is to establish the laws governing the worship of God and the Temple sacrifices.

What are the titles of the two parts of the Bible: the old and the new Testament. The Bible is about testaments. Some synonyms for testament are covenant, alliance, pledge, vow, oath, sacrament, and it always involves faith and trust. For example if I have an affair I would break my wife’s trust as well as I would break our covenant or sacrament.

That’s what Adam did. When he fell into sin he broke his covenant with God, his relationship and his trust. From there on God’s goal has always been to repair that trust, relationship and covenant. He chose the Hebrews to teach them His spiritual laws.

The following is an example from the missal readings of June 18, 2006.

Old Testament (Exodus 24:8)

Then [Moses] took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words of his.”

New Testament (Mat 26:27-28)

Then [Jesus] took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.

The parallel here is obvious. Moses speaks of making a covenant by sprinkling the blood of sacrifice. Jesus uses almost the same words when He speaks of making a new covenant by shedding His sacrificed blood. He speaks the words of Moses, which relate to a sacrifice. Notice here, Jesus is not saying the words of sacrifice at the Cross but at the Last Supper because the Last Supper is the sacrifice.

God chose the Hebrews to teach them His spiritual laws, to be an example to the rest of the world. He gave them the Law to lay down the worship practices. He gave Moses the template for building the Temple as a copy of Heaven.

The Hebrews kept breaking God’s laws to the point that God sent them into exile in Babylon. But God is a merciful God and He promised them He would bring them back to Jerusalem, rebuild the Temple and give them a New Covenant. This is what the prophets keep telling the Israelites (Isaiah chapter 54, Ezekiel 2:2-5, Jeremiah 23:1-6, Malachi Mal 1:6-10).

God is merciful. Jeremiah chapter 31:31-35 says:

The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD. But this is the covenant, which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will they have need to teach their friends and kinsmen how to know the LORD.

In the same context of mercy and restoration Isaiah says (54:13):

All your sons shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.

Where do we see God teaching his people? Where do we see a New Covenant being given to Israel? What is this New Covenant? In John 6:45-48 we read:

It is written in the prophets: ’They shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.

It is Jesus God who fulfils this prophecy. Here Jesus reminds His followers that He is God. They are being taught directly by God as Isaiah says. He is God the Son teaching about God the Father. He gives eternal life to those who believe.

• Believe what? He is the bread of life.
• What time of the Jewish liturgical year is this happening? Passover (Jn 6:4).
• What else happened at the Passover the following year? Christ’s institution of the Eucharist.
• What did Christ call the cup when He gave it to his disciples? The New Covenant.
• What do the Bible Prophecies about the New Temple, the New Jerusalem, the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the Hearts of Flesh, the Living Stones or the New Covenant refer to?
• The prophecies of the Old Covenant refer to the Church gathering believers in Christ not to the stone building of Salomon’s temple or the 3rd Temple to be built over the Haram al-Sharif mosque.
• It refers to the living Body of Christ, the Temple of the Holy Spirit and the New Covenant instituted at the Last Supper.

It refers to the Eucharist, the living God and His immediate immanent presence. It refers to the Church and the Mass.

2. The Sacrifice of the Mass

Where does the New Testament speak of the New Covenant? At the Last Supper. In his book “God is Near” on page 29, Cardinal Ratzinger explains:

The words of the Last Supper without the death would be, so to speak, an issue of unsecured currency; and again, the death without these words would be a mere execution without any discerning point to it. […] If then we want to know how Jesus himself intended his death to be understood, how he accepted it, what it means, then we must reflect on these words.

In other words, without the Last Supper, the Cross has no meaning. Without the Last Supper Christ’s death on the Cross would be another criminal execution like so many. On the other hand if we look at the Last Supper without the Cross it’s only a dinner celebration. Not only that but the words are absurd, they do not mean anything.Without the Cross, the only way these words would mean anything is if they were taken symbolically. Here take this cup, close your eyes and imagine this is my blood, shed for the forgiveness of sins. Yes, we can arrive at a symbolical meaning; Jesus could have said imagine this is my blood. In that case He did not need to die. He could have saved us without the Cross and then given us a symbol to reflect on. A symbol does not need a real action to follow.

It is precisely because the Cross is true that Christ’s words are true and the Eucharist is true. It is precisely because the Cross is real that the Eucharist is real. Without the Cross, the Eucharist does not mean anything. Without the Eucharist, the Cross does not mean anything. The one cannot be separated from the other. Both, the Eucharist and the Cross, are one and the same event. The Eucharist presents again that one single event that goes from the Last Supper to the Death and Resurrection of Christ. That’s why after the priest presents the Eucharist we proclaim our faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

3. The Saints

In the Old Testament the Temple was a template of what God had shown Moses in Heaven (Exodus chapters 24 to 29). In the Apocalypse, on a Sunday, John has a vision of the true Temple in Heaven where angels and saints are worshiping (chapters 4 to 8 ). In the letter to the Hebrews Paul says (chapter 12:22-24):

You have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and the sprinkled blood.

Paul cannot be clearer. At Mass we approach the Temple in Heaven, the New Jerusalem, with countless Angels, the Assembly of Christians who have passed away, God the Judge, the spirits of the Saints and the New Covenant in Christ’s blood. This is what the Mass truly is: Heaven in the real presence of Jesus and His saints participating to His sacrifice on the Cross.

Our world does not have any role models besides Madonna, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson or Paris Hilton. To me the saints are the role models, the witnesses we need. They finished the race; they made it and they can show us the way to Jesus. That’s exactly what Hebrews 12:1-2 says:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.

We must remember though that it is Jesus who perfects our faith. We only have communion in Him because only He is God and there is no communion without Him. Communion is of course the fellowship of the believers gathered in church. But true fellowship does not happen because of the pastor’s preaching but because of Jesus kingship. Notice that I am using the word communion both as fellowship and sacrament. And I am using the word kingship by referring to His kingdom, which is both here and in Heaven. Jesus came to bring the family of God back together. We do pray to the Saints because Heaven and earth are united and in communion through Jesus.

Rightly understood we can say that the saints are intercessors not mediators. Jesus alone is the mediator. But again, rightly understood, a mediator’s role is to open up communication between individuals not to bar relationship between them. Which Father would prevent His children to talk to each other?

4. Mary

Let’s keep in mind the above. That is the one and only Mediator, Jesus, came to reconcile us and give us communion with God, His angel and His saints, as Hebrew 12 says. We can also see how God gave us Mary to be our role model and also the example of what His promises will be for us.

My daughter just had a baby. When I look at her and the baby I think how much I love that baby and how much more my daughter loves her. The baby is cuddly how can one not love her. Imagine, then, how Mary loved Jesus? Isn’t that how we are supposed to love Jesus and even more?

Mary our role model

What does being a disciple mean? I heard a priest once say we are supposed to be pregnant with Jesus. Do we carry Jesus in our hearts like Mary carried Him in her womb? Are we bringing Jesus to the world like Mary brought Jesus to us? Are we ready to defend Jesus against Herod’s killers? Are we ready to have our hearts pierced for His love? A lot of TV preachers promise us health and wealth if we send them seed money. But are we ready to stand at the cross with Him like Mary did?

Mary our hope

Mary was assumed into Heaven. Why would that be unscriptural? The Apocalypse chapter 11 and 12 show her in the Temple of Heaven. Elijah and Enoch were assumed into Heaven. Possibly even Moses was assumed into Heaven according to Jude (chapter 1:9) which would explain why Jesus is speaking to Elijah and Moses at the transfiguration (Matthew 17:3). Isn’t that what is supposed to happen to us at the resurrection. Mary is only a human being, not a goddess. But they are some difference between her and us. She said yes to God whereas Eve said no. She is the only human being ever having breast-fed God. Who else can say that?

For our reflection I just would like to read parts of the litany of Loreto (http://www.memorare.com/puzzles/marytitleanswers.html):