the highlight of my week

I may have mentioned this to a few of my friends before, but if I honestly think about it, Sunday is my favorite day of the week.  Why?  I'll tell you why:

Holy Mass.

No matter what I do each week, Holy Mass is always the highlight.  I'm happiest at Mass and before the Blessed Sacrament.  Here's what some awesome people had to say about Holy Mass:

"The Heavens open and multitudes of Angels come to assist at the Holy Sacrifice." ~St. Gregory
 "The Angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass." ~St. Augustine
 "When Mass is being celebrated, the Sanctuary is filled with countless Angels, who adore the Divine Victim immolated on the altar." ~St. John Chrysostom

We read in the revelations of St. Bridget: "One day when I was assisting at the Holy Sacrifice, I saw an immense number of Holy Angels descend and gather around the altar, contemplating the priest. They sang heavenly canticles that ravished my heart; Heaven itself seemed to be contemplating the great Sacrifice. And yet we poor, blind and miserable creatures assist at the Mass with so little love, relish and respect!"

"All the good works in the world are not equal to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because they are the works of men; but the Mass is the work of God. Martyrdom is nothing in comparison for it is but the sacrifice of man to God; but the Mass is the sacrifice of God for man." ~St. John Vianney, Cure d'Ars

"If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion." ~St. Maximilian Kolbe

"Words cannot express the perfection of his adoration. If Saint John leaped in the womb at the approach of Mary, what feelings must have coursed through Joseph during those six months when he had at his side and under his very eyes the hidden God! If the father of Origen used to kiss his child during the night and adore the Holy Spirit living within Him, can we doubt that Joseph must often have adored Jesus hidden in the pure tabernacle of Mary? How fervent that adoration must have been: My Lord and my God, behold your servant! No one can describe the adoration of this noble soul. He saw nothing, yet he believed; his faith had to pierce the virginal veil of Mary. So likewise with you! Under the veil of the Sacred Species your faith must see our Lord. Ask St. Joseph for his Lively, constant faith." ~St. Peter Julian Eymard

"It is not to remain in a golden ciborium that He comes down each day from Heaven, but to find another Heaven, the Heaven of our soul in which He takes delight." ~St. Therese the little flower


Seriously, though.  How can I pass up an hour of heaven on earth on Sunday?  I can't.  But I also think that most 30-somethings wouldn't respond the same way.  I am so blessed in not having to struggle with *knowing* the truth.  Ever since the first time I went to Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in February 1998, I have just *known* it is the truth.  It is difficult for me to explain, and that's why I don't really share it with people on a regular basis.  A seminarian once told me that I had "the sense of the faithful."  A gift and blessing where I hear the truth and know it as such without question.  The best way that I can describe it is that the truth has always been written on my heart, but it is revealed to me in God's time, not my own.  He chooses those moments in my life that I need to know more, and I accept them fully and wholeheartedly without question.

I think that is hard to grasp for most people.  Everytime I learn something new about Catholicism, I don't pour over it and "decide" whether I should believe it or not.  Instead, I pour over it to see how the information revealed has changed me and converted my heart and life closer to Christ.  I don't need to decide to believe, because it "just makes sense."  It feels right.  It's comforting.  It creates joy and more love.

I also think that is one of the reasons I want to learn, ready, and study more about Christianity, Catholicism, and theology.  I thirst for drawing closer to the Trinity.  I crave the Eucharist every week.  The more I learn, the more I love God and others.  How can I pass that opportunity up?  How can I dismiss that?  I can't.  It's amazing and life changing.

More about Holy Mass at another time.