ASCENT TO TRUTH

SPIRITUAL EXPEDITION

1. IF THE Eucharist could be compared to expedition mountain climbing, we could say that the Liturgy of the Word is proximate to setting up a base camp and supply camps at higher altitudes. The Penitential Rite, Sacred Scripture, the Creed and the Intercessions all prepare the Body of Christ to make an ascent to God. Without these necessary preparations our “spiritual expedition” would not be possible.

2. THE MOUNTAIN itself, of course, is a metaphor for God’s Kingdom. Sacred Scripture refers often and eloquently to God’s holy mountain. "And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed" on this mountain [Isa 40:5]; not in wind, earthquake or fire [cf. 1Kg 19:9-13] shall the Lord appear, but in the purity of his light and "steadfast love" which never ends. [Psa 89:1] "Beautiful in elevation...the joy of all the earth" [Psa 48:2], it is to be a "mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense." [SongSol 4:6] The mountain shall "drip sweet wine, its hills shall flow with milk." [Joel 3:18]

"SPIRIT AND TRUTH"

3. IN THE Mass, when the essential preparations have been made—Gifts, Preface and Sanctus—the great ascent begins. The ascent of God’s holy mountain is the Eucharistic Prayer, the central act of worship in every celebration of the Mass. Jesus himself taught his apostles (and therefore the whole Church) what to do in remembrance of him. At the “Last Supper” celebrated by Our Lord and his apostles, Jesus desired that the Jewish Passover celebration yield to the new and extraordinary revelation of his own passion, death and resurrection.

4. THE HOUR had arrived for Jesus’ apostles to receive a new sacrament instituted in his name. No longer would the thrust of worship center on Moses, the escape of a tribal people from Egypt and the blood of lambs and goats. Henceforth, the new and universal Church would “worship the Father in spirit and truth” [Jn 4:23] celebrating the Mysterium Fidei (Mystery of Faith): “Save us, Savior of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free”!

"FOR YOU AND FOR MANY"

5. ST. PAUL the Apostle understood profoundly why Jesus instituted the “First Eucharist” on the night before his passion and death. Writing to the Corinthian Church, St. Paul uses our Lord’s own words of institution to stirringly defend the “spirit and truth” of the Eucharist in the face of liturgical abuse and sacrilege. The Eucharistic prayer affirms to the gathered Church that what God promises, God will always do—the gifts of bread and wine are transformed into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ!

TAKE THIS, all of you, and eat of it,
for this is my Body,
which will be given up for you.

TAKE THIS, all of you, and drink from it,
for this is the chalice of my Blood,
the Blood of the new and eternal covenant,
which will be poured out for you and for many
for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this in memory of me. [ROMAN MISSAL EP I-IV 2011]

SOLEMN PROCESSION

6. EXPEDITION CLIMBING always involves groups of climbers who spend more time on the mountain and proceed more slowly along the narrow way that leads to life [Mt 7:14] than does the “alpiner”, a solitary climber who takes a route he will not use again and whose whole risky effort depends on speed. Everything that is “Church”, everything that is Catholic centers on the solemn procession of a community which, in spirit and truth, ascends to the “summit” of faith—the fullness of the Eucharistic blessing in the lives of the faithful.

7. THE ONE, holy, Catholic and apostolic way of worship is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, most perfectly inspiring the Body of Christ to graciously acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. [Agnus Dei] The bishops of VATICAN COUNCIL II (1962-65) seemed to have anticipated this generation’s growing reluctance to undertake the ascent to Truth. As an antidote to post-modern selfishness, indolence, negativity and group hysteria, the fathers prescribed the Mass:

THE LITURGY is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the fount from which all her power flows. For the goal of the apostolic endeavor is that all who are made (children) of God by faith and baptism should come together to praise God in the midst of his Church, to take part in the Sacrifice and to eat the Lord's Supper." [Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 10 (1963)]

PILGRIM PEOPLE

8. MANY OF the great stories of mountain climbing share in common the emplacement of a flag by the climbers who reach the top. If we were to continue with this analogy of the Eucharist, we would have to say that our Christian banner of faith is the great “Our Father” prayer which itself is the mysterious summation of the whole Eucharistic celebration. The Holy Spirit leads us to Christ and the eucharistic miracle of the altar.

9. CHRIST LEADS us to his Father who is in heaven, whose name is holy, whose Kingdom is present, whose will is sovereign, and whose forgiveness is an ocean of Divine Mercy. Sacred Scripture rejoices to compare God’s Kingdom with a majestic, awe-inspiring and glorious mountain. If such a comparison is valid, and I believe it so, then God’s Church must surely be the pilgrim people making the ascent, whose eyes of faith are fixed on attaining its summit—the heavenly Jerusalem!