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The altar occupies the central position in the church building and in the liturgical ceremonies. When we walk into God’s house, the prominence of the altar is quite clear. Why is this? It is because the altar represents Christ. The Eucharist is the “summit and source” of our relationship with God. This emphasis is fitting since all things are directed in, with and through Christ. All graces flow from Christ. Thus, it is only fitting that the place, the altar, where all this takes place, should be treated with honor. After God speaks to us in the Scriptures of the Mass, the altar is dressed for the re-presentation of Christ’s death and resurrection. Whenever possible, the corporal (where the sacred species rests), the chalice, the purificator, and the pall, are placed on the altar. Just as the apostles prepared the upper room, so we prepare the altar to do what Christ commanded us to do at the Last Supper. Wine, water and bread are brought to the altar so that the ritual of the Last Supper can be celebrated and the great mystery made present. Jesus took bread and then the chalice to consecrate, giving us his sacramental presence. When the whole ceremony is finished, the altar is cleared for the closing rites and the dismissal of the people. “Go forth, the Mass is ended.” We are now sent out on mission to carry what we did and received into the world of everyday life. Sometimes the altar is incensed, particularly on special solemn occasions. Incense was the sign of honor reserved for the VIPs of old who could afford servants carrying incense before them as they walked the smelly streets (before sewers were invented). It would later go before processions of the Blessed Sacrament, honoring Jesus Christ. Now it is a mark of honor for the altar and also a sign that our prayers ascend (like smoke) and with pleasing fragrance to God. The people on occasion are also incensed as a sign of their own high dignity at being one with Christ in the Mystical Body. It is also a sign that God is pleased with our prayers which ascend to him. The altar is kissed before and after the Mass, signifying our greeting Christ which the altar represents. The altar can be fashioned in such a way that it resembles a table from whence the food which is Christ comes to us. It can also be shaped like a coffin or tomb to remind us of the death-resurrection of Christ that is made present. Relics of the saints and martyrs are imbedded in the altar, sealed in the altar stone, to remind us that martyrs resemble Christ in laying down their lives and are in a profound union with him. “Greater love than this no man has when he lays down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). When you enter a church, look to the altar and believe what happens there.

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One of the potentially deceptive phrases we use with each other is, “Did you go to church today?” or a variation of that question. As Americans, we like terseness and speed in our talk and in religious matters. I understand why people do not ask you, “Did you hear Christ speaking to you in the Gospel this Sunday?” “Did you enter into the death-resurrection of Christ internally and externally by participation in the Mass?” “Are you open to Christ coming to you in Communion?” Both the asking and the answering of these questions is longer and more complicated than the mere, “Did you go to church?” If we really believe in what we profess to believe— namely, that the living Christ, body and blood, comes to us in Communion— that the death and resurrection is re-presented to us in the Mass— that the living Christ speaks to us now in the Scriptures— would we behave as some of us do? Are we late for the Son of God coming into our midst? Do we dress properly for the occasion? Do we sing because our faith is strong, or at least follow the lyrics? Do we stay for a few extra minutes to thank God for coming to us in Holy Communion, including everything else that he gives us? St. Paul asks us, “What have you that you have not received, and if you receive it, why do you act as if you didn’t receive it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). Do we have a priority in our lives that regulates everything else that we do in order to come to Mass on the Lord’s Day? In evaluating our privileges in this free society, I am reminded of St. Maximilian Kolbe and of the bishops and priests who clandestinely offered Mass in Chinese, Soviet and Vietnamese prisons; at great personal risk; prisoners surrendered their meager rations and bribed guards for a bit of bread and wine so that they “could go to church.” Their courage and fidelity stands in stark contradiction to our own casual attitude towards the Eucharist, which is the source and summit of all we do and are about in the Church. I am reminded, too, of the Protestant minister who said, “If I believed what you believe about the Eucharist, I would come down the aisle on my hands and knees to receive Christ.” How does our attitude compare? Do we simply, “go to church?”

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When we comment on a compassionate parent’s correction and punishment of a child, we often say the parent is too indulgent. That phrase may give us an insight into the Church’s teaching about indulgences. Indulgences correctly understood and piously obtained are a vital moment in our continual conversion. When our sins are forgiven there remains penance for them. All of us must admit that when we are assigned a penance in confession, it hardly compensates for the offense against our good and loving God. We make up for that disparity in purgatory or by our good deeds to which the Church grants an indulgence from the “Treasury of Merit” stored up by Christ, Mary and the saints. These merits are applied to our debts of penance when what we perform in our prayers and by our good deeds (under proper dispositions on our part) are added to their merits to make reparation. It might be thought of as “matching funds.” Indulgences are gained with the sincere reception of the Sacrament of Penance and Eucharist, prayer for our Holy Father’s intentions (usually some need in the Church), and faithful fulfillment of prayers and actions to which indulgences are attached. The indulgences are either plenary or partial and only God knows what we are receiving. The Church is simply telling us what the potential is in the good work or prayer performed since only God knows our disposition. When our sins are forgiven, the eternal punishment attached to them is remitted. However, the temporal punishment attached to them remains. The modern world has de-emphasized or eliminated sin. The world certainly has a superficial attitude toward penance. The Handbook of Indulgences (1999), put out by Cardinal Baum, contains what is to be done: “participation in day or week of prayer dedicated to specific religious ends, the cult of the Eucharist, and group recitation of the rosary.” Indulgences fit in with the Pope’s call for revitalization of our faith, evangelization and the renewal of our prayer life and charity.

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“Covenant” is a word somewhat unusual in our every day usage. It is much more than a contract about “things.” A covenant is between “persons” and is the giving of oneself to another as in the sacrament of marriage. It is a solemn promise fortified by an oath. We usually mention the word in reference to a promise by God and his people. A covenant was struck by God in the Old Testament, particularly with the patriarch, Abraham (Genesis 15:1-21). The covenant was sealed with the blood of  slaughtered animal(s). The ritual carried out in the remembrance of the covenant symbolized what would happen to the people if they broke their covenant with God. (This ritual included walking through the entrails of the sacrificial animal.) As often as they returned or sought God’s mercy, the covenant was resumed. While various animals were used in covenants like bulls, goats, small birds, etc., both in their enactment and in their renewals or remembrance, Christians often recall the unblemished lambs sacrificed by Jews in the time of Moses so that the angel of death might pass them by and that the Egyptians might set them free (Exodus 12:1-20). Our Lord would use this Passover commemoration as the occasion to institute his new covenant. Of course, Jesus Christ, himself, is the Lamb of God who takes away our sins. The word, “covenant,” the new and eternal covenant, occurs in the words of Consecration. First used at the Last Supper, we find it in Mark 14:24 where the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice is referred to as the new covenant. This covenant was sealed in “the blood of Christ.” Since the Eucharist is the re-presentation (not repetition) of that sacrifice, the word is used at Mass. When we go to Communion, we receive the body and blood of Christ. God is always true to his word, faithful to his promise. In a sense, we renew our pledge or promise of ourselves to God. It is as if we were “sprinkled” with the blood of the Lamb at Communion. This covenant is the cause of our hope. We, you and I, belong to God. God will never reject us. His promise, his giving of himself to us, is ever new and eternal. Trusting in him, we cannot be lost. We are never alone. No one will snatch us out of his hand. Each time we hear the word COVENANT at the Consecration and receive Communion, we ought to rejoice and realize to whom we belong. He is faithful to his promises to us. If we are to know that God’s promise is eternal and unfailing then we must surrender completely to our loving God.

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Perhaps the most used and taken-for-granted word in our Liturgy is “Amen.” It is a Hebrew term which means, “I agree,” “so be it,” or as the younger generation used to say, “right on.” So it is, so it shall be. The word ratifies our expression of faith— our creed, our prayer, and is our consent and approval. It is also the name of Jesus (Revelation 3:14). Whenever the celebrant holds his hands extended, at the width of his shoulders, it is special prayer time at Mass. Our first AMEN comes after the beginning prayer (Collect). It is said also at the prayer prior to the Preface (at the end of the Prayer Over the Offerings). Later it is said at the end of the Prayer After Communion. These three prayers the celebrant says on our behalf. Thus our AMEN should be audible and clear as we express our faith; we are saying that we agree with the prayer uttered in our name. The priest, extending his hands, recalls the incident in the Old Testament (Exodus 17:11-12) where Moses stood on a hill overlooking the battle that his people, the Jews, were fighting. Moses was praying for victory. As long as he prayed, the battle went in their favor. When Moses relaxed, because his arms grew weary from being extended in prayer, the tide turned against his people. Two men came up to him and held up his arms. Moses once again prayed in the accustomed Jewish manner. Try it sometime and see how long you can hold your arms extended. This will assist you in appreciating Moses’ need to have help in prayer. We voice our help for the celebrant’s prayer at Mass by our word, AMEN. In a sense, we uphold “the arms of the celebrant,” as the two men helped Moses pray. We support his hands by our response AMEN. Speak clearly and let your response be heard in support of the prayer. Do not just mumble the AMEN. At Communion time, we respond AMEN to the words, “The body of Christ,” spoken by the priest, deacon or Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. This is our profession of faith, not only in the real presence but in all that the Catholic Church teaches. Only those who are practicing Catholics can give assent to the articles of faith. We say AMEN to the gift of Christ in the Eucharist, making a declaration of our faith at Communion. We should be appreciative and unashamed about this great gift, proclaiming the truth with an AMEN that resounds through the community and beyond. Our AMEN lends support to the faith of fellow believers and beckons to others that they might come and know what we have. It is not a time for silent approval. AMEN— “truly it is so,” “I believe,”— we are proud to profess our faith.

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St. Paul tells us to dedicate ourselves to thankfulness. When St. Paul uses the verb, “dedicate,” he seems to be calling for a consistent attitude of giving thanks on our part. Not explicit in his statement, but an essential part of giving thanks, means that we should direct our thanks to someone, beginning with God. Often people say, “I feel so thankful.” But, thanksgiving is not a feeling we simply have; rather, it is an acknowledgment of our indebtedness to God. The Eucharist is the supreme act of thanksgiving since we join our gratitude to that of Christ as we thank the Father with him. Looking at the Liturgy of the Eucharist with an eye for thanksgiving might make us more aware of what we are doing. At the end of the first Scripture readings, we say, “Thanks be to God.” Why thanks? It is because we have just heard the living Word of God. God is present in his Word. We faithfully accept it, thanking God for being present and speaking to us. The Word is “living,” not just a throwback to another time. Turning to the Gloria, when we recite or sing it, we give thanks to God. When the bread and wine are offered at the Preparation of the Gifts, the priest says, “Blessed are you, Lord God” and the people say, “Blessed be God forever.” The Jews understood this word “blessed” as meaning to give thanks. Bread, in that instance, means that we give thanks for all we have. Acting out our thanks, the prayer continues by acknowledging that the bread has been made with our human hands. We have used the talent that God gave us and we are grateful. Work symbolizes, here in this priestly prayer, using our hands. We do the work we have to do. At the Preface, before the Consecration, we are again invited to give thanks to the Lord our God. We respond that to give thanks and praise is right and just. Thus, our giving thanks should not be limited to “Turkey Day” once a year, but as an accustomed relationship with God.

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