Mental Prayer for February 8, Act II: Offering Myself With Christ

Mental Prayer Meditation Helps

Presence of God

Grace I Ask : To understand and fulfill my part in the Consecration.

The Idea: In the words of consecration the priest says, "This is my Body" and "This is the chalice of my Blood." What is His Body? The Mass is not just a gift falling from heaven; there must be something to be transformed. What is changed into His body? What is transformed? Our gifts, the bread and the wine. They stand for ourselves. Through them we offer ourselves to God. At the Consecration Christ substitutes Himself for our gifts. He unites them to His own offering of Himself on the cross. Now we go to God with Him. This is the heart of the Mass. On the altar the victim of Calvary is offered but under the appearances of our gifts. This is our moment of greatest power.

My Personal Application: What should I do at these solemn moments? I should offer the God-man slain on Calvary to the eternal Father, recalling the offering I made at the Offertory which Christ has joined to His. I should be united in mind and heart with the priest at the altar, with deep faith, with all the love and gratitude I can command. I offer Christ to God with the priest; I offer myself, my life with Christ to God. I can remember the needs of the whole world, realizing how powerful I am when offering and asking with Christ at the Consecration.

I Speak to Christ: Help me understand just a little that your sacrifice on Calvary is mine. Help me accept the unbelievable fact that I can place your suffering between the Father's justice and my sins; I can offer your great love to gain any favor I ask the Father. Don't let me waste the Mass.

Thought for Today: "Through Christ our Lord."
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Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)