The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 150: The Epiclesis (2024)

Episode Date: May 29, 2024

At the heart of the Liturgy of the Eucharist is the epiclesis, when the priest begs the Holy Spirit to come and transform the bread and wine into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. The Catechism explains this mysterious reality, and Fr. Mike reiterates that the Mass is not a repetition of Christ’s once-and-for-all sacrifice, but a re-presentation and celebration of his eternal sacrifice on the Cross. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1104-1112. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity and God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. It is Day 150. We are reading paragraphs 1104 to 1112.

As always, I am using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the Foundations of Faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The words are all in there. You can also download your own Catechism and year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y. You can also click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications.

I know I have subscribed, so why don't you also a little quick thank you to all those who have supported the production of this podcast with your prayers, with your financial gifts. Thank you so much. We could not do this without you. It is day 150. We were reading paragraphs, as I said, 1104 to 1112 yesterday, we talked about how the Holy spirit recalls the mystery of Christ especially here in that proclamation

Right in the proclamation of the Word of God the explanation of the Word of God that elicits faith to the Word of God Right we give that consent. We have our amen and a commitment. I also talked about an anesis yesterday, right the remembrance today We're talking about epiclesis or epiclesis. I've heard of both ways But we recognize that the Holy Spirit not only recalls the mystery of Christ and tells that story and brings it to us, the Holy Spirit makes present the mystery of Christ. And this is absolutely of utmost importance. In fact, I love, love paragraph 1104 where it says, the Christian liturgy not only recalls the events that saved us, but actualizes them, makes them present. And that's the thing that is of absolute importance for us to understand, is that

we're not redoing the sacrifice of Jesus. We are re-presenting to it, right? We're re-presenting the sacrifice that once for all, but we are there. Why? Because the Holy Spirit makes present the mystery of Christ. So that's what we're talking about today, among some other things. So let's say a prayer as we launch into today. Father in heaven, we praise your name and we give you glory. We thank you so much for the gift of your son. We thank you for the gift of your love for us. We thank you for the love between you and the son.

That is the Holy Spirit that has been poured out into our hearts in this moment Lord God we ask you to come and make your saving work present in our lives now in the liturgy outside the liturgy in our lives Lord God by the power of your Holy Spirit make present the reality of the Sun's life death and resurrection in everything that we do let every part of our lives be conformed to you. Let every part of our lives be touched and transformed by you. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen, in the name of the Father,

and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. It is day 150, we are reading paragraphs 11 of four to 11, 12. The Holy Spirit makes Present the Mystery of Christ Christian liturgy not only recalls the events that saved us, but actualizes them, makes them present. The Paschal Mystery of Christ is celebrated, not repeated. It is the celebrations that are repeated, and in each celebration there is an outpouring

of the Holy Spirit that makes the unique mystery present. The Epiclesis, invocation upon, is the intercession in which the priest begs the Father to send the Holy Spirit the sanctifier, so that the offerings may become the body and blood of Christ and that the faithful, by receiving them, may themselves become a living offering to God. Together with the Anamnesis, the Epiclesis is at the heart of each sacramental celebration, most especially of the Eucharist. As St. John Damascene wrote,

You ask how the bread becomes the body of Christ, and the wine the blood of Christ. I shall tell you, the Holy Spirit comes upon them and accomplishes what surpasses every word and thought. Let it be enough for you to understand that it is by the Holy Spirit, just as it was of the Holy Virgin and by the Holy Spirit, that the Lord, through and in Himself, took flesh. The Holy Spirit's transforming power in the liturgy hastens the coming of the Kingdom and the consummation of the mystery of salvation. While we wait in hope, He causes us really to anticipate the fullness of communion with the Holy Trinity. really to anticipate the fullness of communion with the Holy Trinity. Sent by the Father, who hears the epiclesis of the Church, the Spirit gives life to those who accept Him and is, even now, the guarantee of their inheritance.

The Communion of the Holy Spirit In every liturgical action, the Holy Spirit is sent in order to bring us into communion with Christ and so to form His Body. The Holy Spirit is like the sap of the Father's vine which bears fruit on its branches. The most intimate cooperation of the Holy Spirit and the Church is achieved in the liturgy. The Spirit, who is the Spirit of communion, abides indefectably in the Church. For this reason, the Church is the great sacrament of divine communion which gathers God's scattered children together. Communion with the Holy Trinity and fraternal communion are inseparably the fruit of the Spirit in the liturgy. The Epiclesis is also a prayer for the

full effect of the assembly's communion with the mystery of Christ. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit have to remain with us always and bear fruit beyond the Eucharistic celebration. The Church therefore asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit have to remain with us always and bear fruit beyond the Eucharistic celebration. The Church therefore asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit to make the lives of the faithful a living sacrifice to God by their spiritual transformation into the image of Christ, by concern for the Church's unity, and by taking part in our mission through the witness and service of charity. In brief, in the liturgy of the Church, God the Father is blessed and adored as the source of all the blessings of creation and salvation, with which he has blessed us and his Son,

in order to give us the spirit of filial adoption. Christ's work in the liturgy is sacramental, because his mystery of salvation is made present there by the power of his Holy Spirit, because his body, which is the Church, is like a sacrament – sign and instrument – in which the Holy Spirit dispenses the mystery of salvation, and because, through her liturgical actions, the Pilgrim Church already participates as by a foretaste in the heavenly liturgy. The mission of the Holy Spirit in the liturgy of the Church is to prepare the assembly to encounter Christ, to recall and manifest Christ to the faith of the assembly,

to make the saving work of Christ present and active by his transforming power, and to make the gift of communion bear fruit in the church. Alright, so there we are, paragraphs 11.04 to 11.12. Let's go back. Just, this is, man, incredible. Christian liturgy, not only recalls the events that saved us, remember the Paschal Mystery, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that pouring out of the Holy Spirit, the ascension to the Father, it actualizes them, it makes them present. So when you and I approach the altar, when you and I

approach the Mass, what is happening is not... and this is so important... what has been lost when people have walked away from the Mass is, yeah, you have times of prayer, yes, you have times of like song. You have times of Scripture being proclaimed. All of those things are good. They're very good. They're wonderful. I mean, throughout the Scriptures, there's times when when God is praised through song. I mean, the whole Book of the Psalms, our collection of songs that would be sung liturgically. Incredible. Great. But if we walk away from the Mass, right, if we walk away from the Eucharistic liturgy,

we're walking away from this thing that happens, this gift that we've been given, that makes the very events that saved us present to us. When you and I go into mass, I mean, regardless of whether it's maybe quiet or you might say boring or ordinary, or with organ and scola and incense and all the, you know, the, we'll call them smells and bells, right? All that beauty and everything in between, right? What's happening at every Mass is the saving events. The events of salvation are made present to us.

We're present to them. As I said the other day, that heaven and earth touch, that time and eternity kiss. Like at every Mass, we are are presented to heaven we're presented to the Lord himself we're participating in those mysteries and that's again this the tragedy of when someone walks away from the mass at the mass the paschal mystery of Christ is celebrated not repeated remember it's a once-for-all sacrifice Jesus he died once for all he rose from the dead once right so this is

celebrated it's not repeated the celebrations are repeated and in each Jesus he died once for all he rose from the dead once right so this is Celebrated it's not repeated the celebrations are repeated and in each celebration There's an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that makes the unique mystery presence. I mean anytime again Let's highlight this every time you and I go to mass It can again it can be just you and the priest Or it could be World Youth Day right where? Where there's a million people gathered, or more than a million people gathered to worship. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit makes the unique mystery of the saving events of Jesus Christ present to us.

And now, highlighting the Epiclesis, right? The Epiclesis is that moment in the mass where the priest extends his hands over the gifts and prays for outpouring of the Holy Spirit to make these gifts a holy offering. So that's the epiclesis or epiclesis, I've heard it both ways, is the intercession by which the priest begs the Father to send the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, so that the offerings may become the body and blood of Christ. So if you are familiar with the Mass where they ring

bells and most most Masses I think have bells, the three times that bells will be rung, maybe there's a fourth time. But the first time is when the priest extends his hands over the gifts, and that is the Epiclesis. So that's where we're begging the Father to send the Holy Spirit upon the gifts. And this is key. I mean, go all the way back to St. John Damascene,

who says this, he says, you know, you ask all the bread becomes the body of Christ and the wine, the blood of Christ. Well, tell you, the Holy Spirit comes upon them and accomplishes what surpasses every word and thought. He even makes the connection. He says it is very, very similar, maybe even the same action in some ways as when the Holy Spirit overshadowed the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Son of God became incarnate in her womb. Right? So that's really in so many ways this is a similar action and at least by analogy,

if not in reality, is the Holy Spirit came upon the Blessed Virgin Mary and God himself the Word made flesh in her womb Well, the Holy Spirit comes upon the bread and wine and what happens is they are transformed into the body and blood soul and divinity Of Jesus Christ and that's so incredible now the last thing our participation in this our participation in the Eucharist is meant to change us There's this last paragraph, this is so important, it says the church therefore asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit to make the lives of the faithful a living sacrifice to God by our spiritual transformation into the image of Christ. Right, so when we go to the Mass we're not only offering up the great sacrifice

of the Son to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit, we're also asking the Father to send the Holy Spirit to make our lives a living sacrifice to God. And that's so important. Why? Because remember, those of us, if you're baptized, part of that baptismal priesthood, right? The Kingdom Priesthood. And remember, our great High Priest is not only the High Priest who offers the sacrifice,

he is the sacrifice himself Because of that there's an element where okay Wait, if I've been given a share and the priesthood of Jesus that means in some mysterious way I'm also invited to share in the self offering of Jesus, right? So Jesus is both the priest and the victim Well, if if you and I are sharing in his priesthood That means we must also share in his victimhood if Jesus is both priest and the victim. Well, if you and I are sharing in his priesthood, that means we must also share in his victimhood. If Jesus is both priest and sacrifice, then we not only share in his priesthood, we share in the fact that we meant to offer our lives as a living sacrifice to God. And so not just at Mass,

but every moment of our lives. And this is the moment right now. I think this is the great thing, as you're listening right now, to be able to say, okay God, it's true, you've incorporated me into the body of Christ, you've shared your priesthood with me, me personally as a ministerial priest, all of us listening, baptized as baptismal priests, as as kingdom priests. God, let this moment be a spiritual offering to you. Let this moment be a living, let my life in this moment be a living sacrifice. If you're listening in your car, listening as you're brushing your teeth, listening as you go out for a run, let my life in this moment be a living sacrifice. If you're listening in your car, listening as you're brushing your teeth, listening as you go out for a run, Lord God, accept this moment as a sacrifice to you. And it doesn't have to be a painful sacrifice.

Maybe you like running, maybe you like your commute. This moment though, that's what's being offered because your heart is what's being offered, your whole body is what's being offered, yourself is what's being offered. And so because you and I, we have been incorporated into Christ as priest, as victim, we get to say in this moment, Lord God, send your Holy Spirit to help me also be a living sacrifice to the praise of your glory. Does that make sense? Just we can pray that right now. And I'm just so excited about this. Tomorrow, we're taking the next step.

Article two, the Paschal Mystery in the Church of Sacraments. But today, I want you to know, I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike, I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.