Divine Appeal Reflection - 252
Today, consider in Divine Appeal 252: "The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the greatest prayer, for all your lifetime you will never understand its greatness."
To contemplate this Divine Appeal is to be drawn into a mystery so vast and radiant that the soul must bow in humility before it. In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, time and eternity are drawn into an embrace so profound that it confounds the limits of human understanding. This is not a mere religious gathering, but the very altar on which divine justice and mercy are eternally reconciled through the Victim who is both God and Man. The greatness of the Mass lies not in what can be seen or heard with the senses, but in what occurs behind the veil—invisible to the eye, yet radiantly true. It is here that Our Adorable Jesus offers Himself in an unbloody manner, mystically continuing the same sacrifice He made on Calvary. While we remain bound in time, the Mass opens for us a crack in the temporal order—a doorway into the once-for-all moment of redemption. We are permitted to stand within the divine exchange between the Father and the Son, mediated by the Spirit, and enveloped in the embrace of the Church militant, suffering, and triumphant (cf. CCC 1367; Heb 9:12).
Justice demands the full restoration of the divine order disturbed by sin. Mercy desires the healing of the sinner without the destruction of the beloved. The mystery of the Mass is that God does not suspend justice to show mercy, nor does He diminish mercy in order to uphold justice. Rather, both find their full expression in the Eternal Word made flesh, crucified and glorified. At every Mass, the self-offering of Christ is not repeated, but re-presented, made sacramentally present. In this mystery, we see the highest theology made flesh: the justice of God satisfied by God Himself, and the mercy of God poured out through the pierced heart of the Son. The altar becomes the new Mount Moriah, where the Father provides the Lamb, not withheld but willingly given. To attend Mass is not simply to fulfill a duty; it is to be swept into this divine drama where we, though utterly unworthy, are drawn into the offering—not as spectators, but as co-offering souls, united in Christ’s oblation (cf. Rom 12:1).
Philosophically, the Mass challenges the modern notion of utility and immediacy. It is not about what we “get” but about what is eternally given. The Mass stands as a sign of contradiction in a culture that no longer comprehends sacred time or objective worship. Here, mystery rules, and love takes the form of sacrifice. The Mass is the form of divine wisdom, where the Logos—order and meaning itself—chooses to be veiled in bread and wine, and where the greatest act of God is made present under the appearance of fragility. In the Holy Mass, man is reminded that he was created not to consume, but to offer; not to grasp, but to adore. It teaches the soul to receive everything and claim nothing. That is why even a single, devoutly attended Mass bears more fruit for the world than a thousand good works apart from it. It is the furnace of divine charity, where the soul is formed, reordered, and reoriented toward eternity.
We must return, then, to this sacred act with reverent awe and spiritual hunger. Even if our intellects fail to comprehend its magnitude, our hearts must learn to kneel before its mystery. Every Mass is heaven touching earth; every consecration, the echo of Calvary; every Amen, a yes that binds us to the Cross and Resurrection. The more we live the Mass—not just attend it—the more we are transformed by the logic of Christ’s love: total gift, total surrender. The Mass is not ours to measure, but to receive. And in receiving, we are called to respond—by living lives marked by sacrifice, mercy, and fidelity. For indeed, all of eternity may be needed to begin to grasp what we were given every day: God made present for us, offered for us, remaining with us in the most humble and yet most glorious of ways.
Prayer:
O Our Adorable Jesus, hidden in the mystery of the Holy Mass, open our eyes to the grandeur of Your perfect sacrifice. Though we are unworthy, let us be united to Your offering of justice and mercy. May we never approach Your altar without love, awe, and thanksgiving. Amen.
Sr. Anna Ali of the Most Holy Eucharist, intercede for us.
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