The purpose of the Mass

This Tremendous Lover has been tremendous reading. Chapter 11 is on the sacraments in general; Chapter 12, on the Eucharist; and I'm in the middle of Chapter 13, on the Mass. I wish I had the time and ability to write about all these topics! I certainly recommend everyone read this book.

Boylan presents the Mass with passion and clarity. The Mass is a sacrifice: the re-presentation of Jesus Christ's sacrifice of himself on Calvary. What is the purpose of sacrifice? To remind ourselves of our dependence on God; to provide an outward, sensible sign of our inward devotion. The outward sign means nothing without the inward turning towards God.

From page 183:

Our Lord's whole life was one long act of adoration and complete submission to God's will. His "interior" sacrifice was continual from the first moment of His life.... The external sacrifice on Calvary was the perfect expression of that interior sacrifice that was our Lord's whole life of submission to the will of God. That external sacrifice is given to us in the Mass, and we have to make our life one similar interior sacrifice.... There is the plan of the whole Christian life -- to live up to what we say in the action of the Mass.

So the purpose of the Mass is our sanctification (1 Thess 4:3 "This is the will of God, your sanctification"); to conform our will with God's will, for us to live with Him and in Him.

Such are the fruits of faithful participation in the Mass. What of faithless participation? As always it is easy, indeed easier now than ever, to attend the Mass and even partake of the Eucharist, without the inward consent of the will. This is the same outward piety and inward hard-heartedness condemned so often in both the Old and New Testaments. We must all strive for constant increase in our knowledge of God, in our faith and trust in Him, and in our conformance of our will to His.