Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00 Well as well under the sermon writing the sermon. I didn't realize I told you some of the story in the beginning before, but there's repeating. So there it is. February 13th, 1847 in a village on the outskirts of Bologna, Italy. Clearly a Barbie area was born to a poor family. Father died when she was only eight so she went to work spinning, weaving hemp in order to help support the family. This eight year old girl, in spite of a hard labor at the loom, she paid little or no attention to the world preferring instead to pray or think or speak about the things of God. She made her first holy communion at the age of 11 so also the occasion for first mystical experience website of Vatican summarizes experience, says Clelia underwent anguish and suffering for the sins that crucified Christ and made our Larry Lady so sorrowful and she was filled with exceptional contrition and repentance for own soons and those the whole world.
Speaker 0 01:00 This is an 11 year old girl. She became focused on a life of prayer and good works and the crucifix and Our Lady of Sorrows became a focus and inspiration for her when she's still 20 almost 21 she founded a congregation, the sister minims of the SAR for mother. They were devoted teaching catechism to sewing, caring for the sick, and providing charitable assistance to anyone in need. In fact, clearly a Barbie area is actually the youngest fonder of religious congregation in history. The church, July 13th, 1870 only two years after Clelia founded the order she died of tuberculosis. While she laid there dying, she told the sister at her bedside, I'm leaving, but I'll never abandon you. I'm going to heaven, and all those who die in our community will enjoy eternal life. Now, one year later to the very day on July 13th, 1871 as a sisters and her little community were in the chapel singing the divine office, a most remarkable event occurred.
Speaker 0 02:02 Now, before we get into that event, let's make sure that all the young people here know what the divine office is. What does it mean when we say that your sisters were in Chapel City and divine office? Well, a lot of people don't realize that the holy sacrifice of the mass is not the only official sacrifice that the church offers up to God. The church also is offers up the divine office, which is the sacrifice of praise, divine offices, a whole series of prayers and hymns, scripture readings, readings and sermons from the church fathers, especially songs, and they're offered up, they're prayed every day by priests, brothers and nuns. Okay. To give you some idea, the Sabree very, there's too to cover the year in this, in this kind of a set, and it contains a divine office. In the course of a week, we'll go through all 150 songs.
Speaker 0 02:49 That's one of the things we pray and of course we call 150 songs, other prayers, hymns, spiritual readings. Today, for example, the scriptural readings were from Isaiah the prophet, and there was a sermon by the father, Saint Pope, Saint Gregory, the great, so there was a sermon by him. Anyway, when we pray the divine office, when we offer the sacrifice of praise to God, when we do that, we're praying in the name of the church. Well, so what that means that God has promised, he'll listen to us. It's not depending on the virtue of the particular person who has this duty. It doesn't depend on my virtue at all. If I pray the divine office, when you say, father, will you pray for me? I put that intention, the divine office, God has to listen to it. It doesn't matter. On w w w you know how holy on who I am matters a lot to me of course, but it doesn't matter in terms the divine office, it's a guaranteed deal.
Speaker 0 03:43 It's fantastic. That's one of the great things about this. Okay, so it's official prayers. The church is so important, but if we don't say to try to skip it, okay, it's a mortal sin. That's pretty important, I'd say. You know, so, and that means we and we, there's eight different things we do a day. There's one that takes, you know, between 20 and 40 minutes depending on the day. That's the earliest one. And then it's a whole series of other ones and ideally you break it up during the day where you're, you're, you're saying one before six in the morning, then between six and nine, then at nine, roughly nine roughly 12 roughly three roughly six and roughly nine. That's how it breaks down. You've seen the divine office anyway. A lot of layman, I'll say divine officer, parts of it are the little office of the blessed Virgin Mary.
Speaker 0 04:23 That's great too. Anyway, we start early in the day and then periodically throughout the day we'll either say it alone or else we chant or sing it together and if we sing, we sit on either side of the chapel and one side or one guy does one line in the psalms, the other guy, just the next line. You go back and forth like that. Okay. When we sing like that, that's called a, when we're sitting that's called sitting in choir, just like when the ultra boys are up here, they're in choir, so that's what it'd be. So He'd sit like that and you sing the psalms back and forth. Okay. So the divine office, just to review its official sacrifice of praise, it's offered up by the church to God. It's a series of prayers, him scripture readings, readings from the church fathers, and especially the songs that priests, brothers and nuns have a duty to offer up every day.
Speaker 0 05:06 If they sing or chant the psalms, they sit in choir, which means they sit on opposite sides of chaplain. One side sinks, one line, and another sets things the other line and back and forth. Okay. Now let's get back to the story about St Clelia. She's canonized in 1989 remember, she laid there dying. She prophesied to the sister. I'm leaving, but I'll never abandon you. I'm going to heaven and all those who die in our community when joy, eternal life, and as we said one year later to the very day, July 13th, 1871 as a citrus and little community. We're in the chapel singing the divine office. They're sitting in choir, sing in divine office, remarkable event that occurred. Here's a summary of that taken from a book by Joan Carol Cruz in some of this as eyewitness quotes quote, suddenly there was the sound of a high pitched, harmonious and heavenly voice that accompanied the singing in the choir at times at Sang Solo and other times it harmonized with the choir movie across from right to left.
Speaker 0 06:04 Sometimes it pass close by the ears of one or other. The sisters, the joy which it brought, filled our hearts with a happiness. Impossible to put into words. This wasn't of this world we live that day in paradise. From time to time, one had to leave the room. The emotion we experienced was so strong that left you breathless until one had to cry out enough, dear Lord, enough miraculous event dismissed all thoughts of their night's rest. Instead, they decided to pass the night adoring the blessed sacrament in nearby church. The again declared. But how great was our surprise when we realized that the voice had followed us and accompanying us as we began our prayers and clearly his voice appeared with them until dawn closed quote.
Speaker 0 06:48 That's marvelous enough. St Clelia is religious order. The sister minimums of a soft for mothers continue. Her work now has over 300 members and 30 some 35 houses throughout Italy in India and in Tanzania and today Saint Clelia is still keeping her promise to never abandon her sisters. This marvelous event goes on still. She still prays with them in Tanzania when they're praying. So Healy, she prays and perfectly pronounce Swahili in Italy. She prays it perfectly pronounced Italian in India. She prays and I'm going to mispronounce the name of the language she prays and perfectly crowds Molly gallium and when they're praying in Latin, she sings in Latin with them as well. Quote, the voice has been described as one unlike any of this earth, always sweet and gentle. It is sometimes sad. Not only is it frequently accompanied by angelic strains, but is itself often transformed into the pure Celeste yule music, the mother superior.
Speaker 0 07:50 The order's stated that this prodigious gift stimulates us to do well, increases our faith, is a relief to the trials of life and gives us a great desire for heaven. Closed quotes. So she'll just show up at one of our communities now and then from heaven and sing the divine office with them. And it's a surprise to people when she does show up. Let's stop for a minute to consider something here though. When does she typically show up when her sisters are singing the praises of God and what's the result? It stimulates them to do well. It increases their faith. It gives them relief during the trials of life and gives them a great desire for heaven. So what? Well, there's something here that we can all apply to our lives. Each one of us, not just guys like me who have to say a divine office sound, but all of us here at holy mass, we all believe in the reality of the spiritual world.
Speaker 0 08:47 We all believe in heaven and Hell and God and, and angels and saints and the poor souls and the devils. Okay? But in this life we see through a glass or dark manners, St Paul puts it so when God allows that veil to be lifted a little bit, we can get a glimpse inside. It's worth pondering. Okay, so what's the point? When Saint Clelia shows up, her sisters are singing the divine office. That's the official prayer, the official sacrifice of praise. It's offered up everyday by the church, militant the church, militant. That's us. To God the father. Her appearance should give each one of us a very powerful reminder of one of the most amazing realities and the wake God has structured creation. It's something a lot of people don't realize. When we're engaged in the true worship of God, heaven and earth actually come together. The church militant is at that particular point in space and time in contact and in union and United in a very special way with the church triumphant.
Speaker 0 09:49 When we're engaged in the true worship of God, heaven, Earth come together and kiss as it were. When we're engaged in the truth of God, heaven and Earth are United at that point in time and space. St Kelly's presence at divine office reminds us that even if we can't usually see the angels and saints, they're still here and they're praying with us and we're praying with them. So what divine liturgy, by God's designed, it actually mysteriously Unites Heaven with Earth, and that union with heaven gives the literacy. This powered has to renew the earth. That's where the power comes. All the grace light truth comes from the fact that God is so built liturgy that it will touch in contact with the source of holiness itself and flow out from that. Okay? When we think about that, then we got to think about the incredible dignity to which we've been raised.
Speaker 0 10:51 This opportunity, this unbelievable opportunity. Each one of us has to tap into that spiritual power. It'd be overwhelmed with grace and beauty and light and truth. The sacred scriptures are explicit about this. For example, in the 12th chapter of Hebrews, St Paul speaks to these very things. I'll read it and then I'll make some comments. So here's Saint Paul quote. You've come to Mount Zion and at the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and in to innumerable angels in festal gathering and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven and to a judge who's got of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of April. Therefore, let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe. Close quote, inspired, inerrant word of God.
Speaker 0 11:47 Let's take a minute to go through parts of that. You've come to the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. How do we get to the city of the living God and heavenly Jerusalem by coming here because the church, there's the living God. He's right there. He's alive. We're here reporting into him and during the official worship, there's a flood. Gates of grace are opened up. Okay. During Holy Mass, heaven or earth are suddenly mysteriously United continues. You're in a company of numerable angels and festal gathering during mass. They're here. You have come to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. What does that mean? Who are the firstborn enrolled in heaven? According to that great medieval commentator, corniness <inaudible>. The first point, who enrolled in heaven are the apostles and the first martyrs during mass there. Here we go through lists of them in a can.
Speaker 0 12:42 There's a list them before the the consecration list of after the consecration, you're in the presence of the spirits of just men made perfect. Who are the chessmen made perfect acquaintance to Corny slappy date. These are the other saints in heaven like Saint Clelia and during mass they're here. You've come to Jesus, the mediator of new covenant. He's right there and of course, and during mass he'll be coming here and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel. What does that mean? Remember that after Cain murdered Abel, God, the father said that April's blood was crying out to him for vengeance. That's what's one of the murdering. The innocent is one of the forced sins. It cries out to heaven for vengeance. We're not going to get away with it. This is apparent thetical. That's what the Holy Father came over and said, abortion is a test of her survival as a nation.
Speaker 0 13:31 He meant abortion as a test of our survival as a nation because that's innocent blood. It's being shed in that blood cries out to heaven preventions. That's how it works. So the sprinkled blood that speaks more grace in the blood of evil. What does that mean? So April's blood cut out to God for inventions, but Christ's precious blood cries out to God for mercy. And in just a few minutes we'll be offering up that very blood begging for God's mercy. Okay, why are we going through all this? Because the deeper the appreciation we have for liturgy, the more profound thanks we'll have to Christ our lord for loving us so much to became man born in a stable and then died on a cross. That's more than reason enough right there. But beyond all that, just what was true with St Clelia sisters is true with us. Also the literal literacy has an intrinsic power to stimulate each one of us to do well and intrinsic power to increase our faith.
Speaker 0 14:30 An intrinsic part. It give us relief during the trials of life intrinsic part, it gives us a great desire for heaven. Let's be concrete. Our goal, our goal is priests, is to do whatever it takes to get each one of you here to become a saint. That can't be done without the liturgy. Everything starts here. Everything starts here. The situation in the world is a liturgical problem. The situation, our country is a liturgical problem. Everything starts here. Now in all of that too, of course, what we're trying to do is encourage you, push, pull, drag, kick. You do whatever it takes to move you up into the next level. In the spiritual life, one of the things, it is just been in the state of grace. What does that mean? To move you to the next level and a spiritual life? Be In a state of grace is sufficient to be safe.
Speaker 0 15:27 That's great. We want everybody there, but that's the minimum. Their spiritual life has three levels in this life. There are three levels of spiritual life. When we're spiritually alive, that means we're in the state of grace. If we're not in a state of grace, get back there. You're not doing yourself any good, okay? It doesn't do any good. You're spiritually dead. But if you're spiritually alive, when we're in a state of grace, there three levels to the spiritual life, okay? The three levels, the first level, it's called the purgative way. The second level is called the illuminative way, and the third level is called the unit of way. I'll talk mostly in the progressive way right now and just make a couple of marks and loon with wig, okay? We start our spiritual life in the purgative way, okay? Think of it like being a little baby in Iraq or, or just a little toddler.
Speaker 0 16:14 That's the purgative way. Cause this is another kind of life. It's supernatural life. Okay? So in the spiritual life, when we're in the period of way, we're like little babies or little toddlers, learning to walk and so forth, okay? We start in the purgative way and at this stage of the spiritual life, we have to do a lot of work. It's a, we've got to struggle to get rid of sins. We've got a battler vices. We've got to grow in virtue especially we want to work on vert on the virtue of charity, charity, not just in what we do, but in what we think and say too. Okay? We're striving to get to level the purgative life, which is called the level of fervor. We want to be fervent. That's the upper or more mature level of the purgative way. When we're truly fervent by the grace of God, we'd rather die.
Speaker 0 17:00 Now, it doesn't mean a feeling, but it means an act. Well, we'd rather die than deliberately offend God. Even the smallest sin. That means we'd rather die than deliberately commit even the smallest venial sin. Does it mean we don't commit venial sins? No. It means there's semi deliberate. You're caught off guard or something. Someone asking an embarrassing question before you don't really think about it and yet you tell a little white line, go, what do you, what did I do? Or you say something, you say something that isn't very charitable or thinks something that isn't shareable before he cut her. In other words, we can't get rid of the semi deliberate ones. We're not the blessed Virgin Mary, okay? But the deliberate venial sins, when we're fervent, we'd rather die than offend God in that way. We Love God so much. We'd rather die than deliberately offend them.
Speaker 0 17:41 Even in a small matter. We don't want you to stop on his toes just because he wants send us to heaven. Bam. You know I'm not going to stop. I mean tail. Bam, I stump your toes. But that's all right cause I can just use some holy water and get over to make an act of contrition. No, when we're fervent, we don't want to do that. Okay. Now, one of the main reasons we're trying to urge everybody to go to confession so often is this is one of the key ways to move up. We are confessionally forgives us sins. It gives us power not fall, no sins. And it also gives us more grace. So the confession, communion are the two rungs of this ladder to climb up in a spiritual life. Okay? That's one of the reasons we're exhorting you so often to do that.
Speaker 0 18:16 Okay. At this stage also we have to talk about mental prayer. Mental prayer is a struggle. It's somewhat of a battle at that metal prayer. What does that mean? When we take time out of our day to really try to thoughtfully say the rosary and think about what we're saying or we spend 15 minutes a day trying to have a heart to heart talk. In other words, using our own words with God, telling him we love him and talking to them about the issues that we've got going in our life. Okay? Anyway, in the purgative life, mental prayer takes work on our part. At this stage it can be compared to teaching a little kid to walk. A little kid is having a hard time. He has to work. Okay. Um, it takes some effort. Paranthetically remark there. By the way, mothers teach your little kids to make metal prayer.
Speaker 0 18:57 If they can sit there and talk to make belief friends and all that, they're old enough to talk to God and he's not make belief. If you get them started young, they don't have to be where that most of the adults are. You get them to start a young, that's how you get saints mental prayers for everybody. Okay? As soon as they're at the lake, they can start having a conversation. You have them have a conversation with what cheeses are with Mary. It's great. You know? Give them a nice picture of the sacred heart, crucifix, whatever they like and have them talked to them. Huh? That's how you get them. Go on. They should be starting on this. Okay. Obviously they're not going to spend 15 minutes, you know you're not going to kneel down, do 15 minutes. That would be ridiculous. Okay. Anyway, young kids, I just want to speak to you quickly.
Speaker 0 19:35 You, every day you should spend a couple minutes talking to Jesus. I'm talking to the young people, so I want you to listen up every day. You should spend a couple minutes talking to Jesus. Tell him you love him, tell him you want to become a saint. Ask them to show you how to become a saint. That's important. That's what he put you here in the world to do, so ask him to help you to do that. Okay? Anyway, at this stage, the purgative way, we're all rookies when we're in the productive way at this stage for mental prayer to be fruitful, not some sort of a daydream or for metro prayer to be a truly a heart to heart talk with God, which we express our love and desires. The soul first has to be filled with intellectual principles and knowledge of our faith. Okay? This is where spiritual reading sermons, good tapes or videos or books come in that that helps feed that so that we have something to talk to God about.
Speaker 0 20:23 If we put our heart into these things will become fervent and then God will reach down at the level of fervor and and he'll pull a person up. Then it's becomes, God, we do all this effort and I'll get to how long that might take and say, we did this effort and then God reaches in and starts pulling a person up into the next level. The illuminative way. He gets so pleased with our efforts. We've struggled and it's a battle. It's a battle. Thanks Adam. It's about, but then he reaches down and he starts taking charge of our prayer and our life. Our prayer starts to change. It's slow at first, but God starts to give us infused prayer. The prayer of contemplation, God starts illuminating our minds with his spiritual truths. Okay? Another day we can talk more about it and then took take a look at the unit of way as well, but we don't worry about that.
Speaker 0 21:09 The point for today is we're doing everything we can to move everybody here up to the Lumen of way. We don't want the purgative way. That's what purgatory is about, is getting rid all that stuff. We don't want you to go to purgatory. We're trying to produce saints that when you die you go straight to heaven. You can get it done now do it now. Nobody wants to go to, if you want to go to <inaudible>, tell you read a good book on purgatory, then come and talk to me. Okay? Nobody wants to go to prison. That's plan B. You didn't flunk but you didn't quite pass. It's like summer school. We want you to go straight there. Okay? Get it done now. That's the purgative life. Okay? Now, if we keep plugging away faithfully, we can be confident. God will lift us up there. It's as well that everyone reaches contemplative prayer and that's something we can't do.
Speaker 0 21:51 It's not some sort of eastern mysticism where you sit there and put a big brain erase around, sit around and think about your navel. This is something where God reaches in and starts pouring down his light into us. Okay? It's something fantastic anyway, to other points we need to keep in mind first. Don't get discouraged if we're hammering away and we don't seem to make much change or progress, okay? The spiritual life is absolutely, positively nothing like the drive through at Burger King. You don't get a pull up. Make your order, pull it around, grab it out the window and go, and we don't get it our way. It's God's way, and he will do it in his own good time. We got to be confident in that. That keeps us humble. So it isn't just like sit down and Sara this week, I'm here six months from now, I'm going to be there.
Speaker 0 22:32 It doesn't work like that. It also doesn't matter what you think your progress is. That's why a regular confession with a w, you know, and you don't have to go to same confessor all the time, but you get in the habit and he, he'll, he'll direct ya. You start find out where am I and where am I going in my interior life? That's what you want to do because that's one of the graces that a faithful confessor gets to be able to help you. Okay, so first point is we have to keep at it. Don't get discouraged if we don't see instant or rapid improvement. Second Point, it's related to that one and our natural life. We keep maturing right from the longer conception to our birth, infancy, toddler, childhood, adolescence, adult, right on up to death. Okay. We never stop at a particular age.
Speaker 0 23:11 Our natural life. Well, I haven't been a lot of women that seem to be 29 but other than that, in the spiritual life, which is a real form of life, a higher form of life than our natural life. We can't stop maturing and if we stopped going up, that means we start going down. You don't hover the spiritual life either going up or you're going down. Okay. As far as we can tell from the outside, and it's just not said comic lot nowadays, a lot of people are born at Baptism, spiritually alive, and then sometime in their life they commit spiritual suicide and then they die in that condition. It doesn't look good. This is just from outside. We leave it to the good God, but it doesn't look good from the outside of the way people are doing. We don't want to do the spiritual suicide.
Speaker 0 23:56 Okay. And the spiritual life, we have to keep plugging away or we backslide. Keep plugging away. Your slide backwards and don't worry, God, God knows what we're doing and he'll reward the effort. He'll reward the effort. Two points. Don't get discouraged. If we don't see rapid improvement, keep plugging away. We'll slide back. Okay, so our goal is priests is to do whatever it takes to get each one of you to become saints and it cannot be done without the liturgy. Everything starts here. Sacred Scripture commands us to offer to God and acceptable worship with reverence and all the acceptable worship department belongs to the priests. We try hard to be obedient to the rubrics and of course his beautiful traditional mass is certainly acceptable worship. Where's the reverend <inaudible> plugin? That's something that all of us collectively are responsible for. I'll take a minute to discuss. One easy way for everyone here to make progress right here at mass and this will be real spiritual progress and in in theme with St Clelia. Now keep in mind that when we're engaged in the true worship of God, heaven and earth actually come together. The church militant at particular time and in space, right there are United in a special way. With the church triumphant. Now, keeping all that in mind, let's start asking yourselves a simple question. What are the angels and Saints Doing in Heaven Right now?
Speaker 0 25:16 What are they doing right now? That's not a dumb question. What are the angels and Saints Doing Right now? The word of God tells us two times. Once in the Old Testament and once in the New Testament, God lifted the veil. Slyly. I let a man not only to see and hear what's going on in heaven, but also to describe to us his vision. He didn't let St Paul tell us to. Paul wasn't allowed to tell us what he saw, but there are two men in Old Testament. The man who shall haven't opened before his eyes was the Prophet Isaiah is. It describes his vision in the sixth chapter of his book and New Testament, the man who signed to heaven was the past. The St John Describes Division in the fourth chapter of his apocalypse. What do they see?
Speaker 0 26:05 In both cases? Yes, they saw a similar thing. Hold that thought cause it has to do with this intersection between heaven and earth at Holy Mass. In both cases, they saw God and throne is his unspeakable glory and he's surrounded by angels worshiping him and crying out and praising the holiness of God. They're not craziness. Mercy, they're not priced in as justice. They're not praising all those that they're praising His Holiness, his utter unspeakable holiness. Here's the description of the Prophet Isaiah is right here from the God's sacred word quote, and the Seraphim cried out one to another and said, holy, Holy Lord, God of hosts, all the earth is full of his glory and the lentils of the doors. The temple were moved at the voice and that cried and the house was filled with smoke closed quilt. That should sound familiar. What are they doing in heaven? They're seeing out and praising the holiness of God. We could go for an hour here. I won't do that to you. There's a lot of details. It ought to sound familiar. The house is filled with smoke. There's songs of praise or shaking. The heavenly temple in the hymn, which they're praising. God goes like this and Latin, and I'll use an old fashioned word for host. It says it goes soc two soc two Sanchez dominant stay was Sabo, plenty asked. Omnis Terrick lawyer is holy, holy, Holy Lord, God of hosts. All the earth is full of his glory.
Speaker 0 27:36 My friends at holy mass hearing this true worship of God. When we sing the song twos, we're actually singing with the angels. That's the degree we've been getting. Think about that. Here we are. We're proud dust. They've never rebelled. They didn't send it all the angels are perfect and we're allowed to join in with the heavenly host and praise God United with them. It's an unbelievable opportunity. I don't care how bad a singer you are, as long as you're in the choir, it matters, but the rest of it, it doesn't matter. We need to join in with that. Take a minute to think about how important that is in heaven and to see how important it is here on earth. How important is this? Him Appraise in heaven? Consider what happened to the angels that wouldn't sing it. Where are they?
Speaker 0 28:34 God got reward at the angels that did sing and were allowed to join in their heavenly victory cry. Okay? Not only that, pop six is the first. He was pope from about one 17 to one 26 ordered that when the priest begins a candidate, the mass the congregation should send to him, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of Sabo. That goes back a ways. Saint Gregory Tours points out all the people should readily and eagerly cry out the sock dues and the praise of God. We should be shaking the door poles here. If we enter into the heavenly music, the heavily music will enter into us. That's the truth. Whatever kind of music we enter into, we'll enter into us. If you enter in heavy metal music, it will enter into you. If you underhand heavily music, he will enter in to you.
Speaker 1 29:31 Yeah.
Speaker 0 29:32 Think about it. The song twos is right out of holy scripture. The first half of the song too is we're joined with the angels and giving glory to the most Holy Trinity. The second half of the Socceroos, the angels are joining with us and what are we doing? We're expressing our joy that our savior's about to appear there on the altar, and we're welcome in with the very same words by which he was greeted as he made his way into truth slum on that first palm Sunday. Let's close. The deeper the appreciation we have for liturgy, the more profound thanks we'll have to Christ our lord for loving us so much that he became man was born in his table and died for us on the cross. Beyond that, the liturgy has an intrinsic power to stimulate each one of us to do well, to increase our faith, to give us relief during the trials of life, to give us a great desire for heaven. Let's keep the spiritual realities before our mind's eye, whenever we come to holy mass, but it's offered a god and acceptable worship with reverence and awe. Whenever we have that great opportunity to be present at the official worship of holy mother church.
