St. Bede the Venerable Catholic Church

BECOMING A EUCHARISTIC BEING. “Going to Mass” is not a mere
attendance, like we might attend a play or movie, nor is it a spectator event like
an Auburn or Alabama football game. When we attend or witness, we do not
participate in the manner in which the actors or players are doing. At best, we
may cheer or applaud. While the phenomenon of the “12th man” in football in
reference to the cheering fans contains some value for the game, that is far from
the role we exercise in the participation of the Eucharist at any given Mass we
celebrate.
Every time we enter and kneel and pray at Mass, every time we lift up
our hearts to the Lord, we must have an inward corresponding disposition that
reflects perfectly what I am doing on the outside with my body. If I kneel with
my body so should my heart bow in true reference and adoration. If I pray with
my lips so should my heart and mind beseech God. Inwardly I must be
disposed, willing and ready to follow Christ beyond the Cross to wherever He
wills me to be with Him.
Our participation at the Mass is more than words, songs and bodily
gestures. It must be the inner immersion of every emotion, tension, desire,
inclination, strength, joy, hope, longing, weakness, sin in the past, present or
what I am considering in the future, every prayer for, with and through that flows from my heart and mind. Participation in the Eucharist is a lifting up of my entire life which contains not only my self and everything I am capable of
doing and everything I have already done, but also the lives of countless people I have interacted with and at times have committed myself to in various ways.
Participation in the Eucharist is like immersing your body in a Class 5 river rapid. With all its power and strength, it rushes toward its ultimate goal, the lake of calm and life.
Every Mass we are called and invited by Christ to place with the priest upon the Paten and into the Chalice, our hearts and lives and the hearts and lives of all those dear to us and those we are praying for, and promised to pray for and
those we encounter throughout our lives and the forgotten ones who have no one
to pray for them. We immerse into Christ’s Sacred Heart through Eucharist our
enemies and those who wish us evil, those whom we have injured, and the souls
of the deceased who are in need of our prayers.
With every Mass we enter into - with all our mind, our heart, our soul and our strength: Venial sins are forgiven and temporal punishment due to sin is diminished; our negligence and omissions are supplied by Christ Himself; the souls in purgatory draw nearer to Heaven; we are preserved from many dangers, sins, misfortunes and our purgatory is
diminished; we are blessed in temporal affairs; we are united to Christ when we give ourselves to Him and He to us; every single Mass we celebrate pleads for us before God at the hour of our death. So exhort you all, "Be a Eucharistic Being."
Fr. Alex Valladares, Pastor