Article – Do This in Memory of Me
When I was in eighth grade, we had Mass once a week at my Catholic school. The nuns that taught us brought us together one day and asked us about our experience of the Mass. The collective response, myself included, was that the it was boring, the same thing over and over again. After that they tried various things to make it more appealing, like having more contemporary music. It was all to no avail, and in my case, I avoided Mass as much as possible until my late 20’s.
Padre Pio portrait, by Manfredonia Public Domain, Link
I wonder if things would have been different if the good sisters had told us about St. Padre Pio, whose Memorial we celebrate this Saturday, September 23rd. There are many amazing things about the life of this extraordinary saint. But his offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was a miraculous and prophetic reminder to our present age of what is truly important.
The great Capuchin mystic and stigmatist would sometimes take up to three hours to complete the Mass. He experienced in his body and soul the sacrifice of Jesus that is made present on the altar. He was known to say, “The earth could exist more easily without the sun that without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.” Our Lord’s offering of Himself on the Cross is the source of every grace that we receive.
We do not go to Mass to be entertained but to worship God, to enter into the mutual self-gift between the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. It is the source and summit of our life, the most important thing that we do. Only from this source can we transform this valley of tears into a place of springs. (Psalm 84)
May St. Padre Pio help us to center our lives on the Holy Eucharist, and to live out this mystery at every moment as he did.
God bless you.
Fr. Peter