13th Sunday after Pentecost 30.8.09 Thanksgiving
The Mass is essentially an act of propitiation: Lord, we deserve to be wiped out, but please don’t. What saves us from being wiped out is the intercession, mediation of God the Son.
We are not just asking for ourselves but He asks for us: Father, don’t wipe them out. This adds a great deal of power to the prayer.
We could all pray at home, Lord forgive us. But to come here and have Christ ask for us, it becomes a much better prospect.
Of all blessings we seek Mercy is the most important and the least deserved. It is the one that sustains all others. God will bless us with many things but mercy is the most essential.
The leper was saved, not just healed. It was more than just a physical makeover. So with us. With all the things we ask for, we must remember that our eternal salvation is the most important and, in a sense, the only one worth having.
To be truly aware of how valuable mercy is we need an awareness of our guilt; a sense of true contrition. If we make light of our sins we will make light also of mercy, but if we see the true state of things we will be as relieved as the Prodigal Son when he was welcomed home, expecting to be thrown out on his ear.
The more contrition we have for offending God the more grateful we are for being forgiven. The more aware we are of His blessings the more we thank, and the more likely to receive.
So the Mass is also an act of Thanksgiving. We ask for mercy and we give thanks for it at the same time.
We are lifted up as part of the voice of the whole Church and swept into an act of thanksgiving, just by being part of the Mass taking place.
Again, as with the atonement, it is Christ Himself who gives thanks on our behalf. As man He stands at the head of all humanity and thanks the Father for redeeming the human race, in which Christ also shares.
He makes up for what is lacking in our response, and He also helps us in the course of each Mass to become truly thankful, as well as truly contrite.
Attending the Mass is a kind of enlightenment for us, a 'defogging' experience, as the fog of ignorance, apathy, indifference , insensitivity is lifted from us.
When we truly understand what is happening we would be both contrite and grateful. At present we are somewhere near the place but we need more clarity.
Confident of receiving God’s mercy we are then more able to trust Him in other matters as well. If He would give us the greatest possible blessing it is not so hard to realize He will give us the lesser blessings as well. By lesser blessings I mean things like health, food, friendship, the good things in life... wine, sunshine, sport, hobbies etc. We receive these things as well as mercy – we have much to be thankful for.
Thus St Paul says to give thanks in all circumstances. This means to give thanks even when things go wrong; even when we experience frustration, disappointment, heartbreak...
How be thankful for these things? Because we come to understand that God is working through all events and circumstances and what may appear to be a dead end to us is really a door opening to some other blessing. We give thanks for the blessings that will arise from whatever has just happened. We thank in advance, or simultaneously with the petition.
To ask is to receive, remembering that from God’s point of view everything is geared towards our final salvation.
So, gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro! Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God!
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