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III. Worship in the New Jerusalem

A. With the Angels and Saints

John is invited to "come up here" (see Revelation 4:1). And we are invited to come up to heaven, as well – to lift up our hearts - at the beginning of our Liturgy of the Eucharist.

When we lift up our hearts, we are asked to sing with the angels and saints.

This is not simply a fine expression of sentiment. As with everything else in the Mass, there is a "sacramental realism" at work here.

At this point in the Mass, we are in a mysterious way joining our song to the song that John – and the prophet Isaiah before him – heard in heaven: "Holy, holy, holy . . ." (see Revelation 4:8; Isaiah 6:3).

The second part of our song ("Blessed is he . . .") is taken from the Psalm that pilgrims to Jerusalem would sing at Passover. It was also the psalm that was sung upon Christ's triumphal entry to Jerusalem (see Mark 11:10; Psalm 118:26).

The biblical words give us clues to what's going on in the Mass. We have gathered around the altar – not only an earthly altar, but a heavenly altar as well. We have made our way to Mount Zion, the new and heavenly Jerusalem.

This is what John saw – "the Lamb standing on Mount Zion "(see Revelation 14:1).

The Letter to the Hebrews (see Hebrews 12:22-24) likewise speaks of the Eucharistic celebration on earth as entrance into and participation in the heavenly liturgy in the new Jerusalem.

In the Mass, says Hebrews, we approach "Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." There, we join "countless angels" and "the assembly of the firstborn" and Jesus, "mediator of the new covenant and the sprinkled blood" in a "festal gathering" or feast.

These lines are filled with biblical allusions and references. It is interesting to note that the word translated "assembly" is the Greek word ekklesia – the word for "church."

And notice the similarities between Hebrews' description of the Mass and John's Revelation. Both see a new Jerusalem, a new Zion, the dwelling place of the Lord (see Psalm 132:13-14). Both see angels and Jesus, the Lamb whose blood takes away the sin of the world. And both see a "feast" and a gathering of "firstborn" or "first fruits" of those who believe in Jesus (see Revelation 14:4). And both see this feast in the temple of heaven, a sign of the new covenant wrought in the blood of Jesus (see Revelation 11:19)

What these Scriptures show us is that the Mass is the summit of salvation history told in Scripture.

And this is the same thing that the prayers of the Mass tell us.

B. Praying Salvation History

The Eucharistic Prayer of the Mass is a prayer of thanksgiving in which the gifts we offer at the altar - bread and wine, and all the works of our hands and minds - are sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As with everything else in the Mass, these are biblical prayers, employing language found in the Scriptures, and also "summarizing" the biblical story (to read them, see Eucharistic Prayers).

But they are much more than that. The Eucharistic prayers retell salvation history, but they also make us a part of that history, through the sacramental change of bread and wine into Christ's body and blood.

The various prefaces to the Eucharistic prayers recall for us the entire biblical story, showing us always how the whole plan of salvation recorded in the Bible reached its summit in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which we commemorate in the Mass.

"We see your infinite power in your loving plan of salvation," we pray in Preface of Sundays in Ordinary Time III, one of several preface options for Masses celebrated outside of special seasons such as Lent, Easter, Advent, and Christmas.

This preface sketches God's loving plan, giving us in two short lines a summary of the entire Bible: "Man refused your friendship, but man himself was to restore it through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Another preface heard on ordinary Sundays, Preface of Sundays in Ordinary Time VIII, also gives us a summary of salvation history, showing us how all the history of Scripture was meant to culminate in the Church and the liturgy:

When your children sinned

and wandered far from your friendship,

you reunited them with yourself

through the blood of your Son

and the power of the Holy Spirit.

You gather them into your Church . . .

call them to be your people . . .

make them the body of Christ

and the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit.

Eucharistic Prayer IV provides an entire history of the world – beginning with God's forming of men and women in his own likeness and their loss of his friendship through disobedience. The prayer continues to outline Old Testament history - God's offering of covenants to mankind to help "all men seek and find" Him; the promise of salvation delivered through the prophets. "In the fullness of time," the prayer declares, God sent His only Son.

The climax of the salvation history told in the Eucharistic Prayers – as in the Bible – is the Last Supper.

C. In Remembrance of Him

As we noted in our first lesson, the words of "institution" in the Eucharistic Prayer are taken directly from the biblical accounts of the Last Supper, as recalled also by St. Paul (see 1 Corinthians 11:23-29;Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:15-20).

And the Church, in the Eucharist, fulfills Christ's command, recorded in the Scriptures: "Do this in remembrance of Me."

At this point in the Eucharistic Prayer, it is significant that the priest uses the exact words of Scripture: "This is My body . . ." and "This is the cup of My blood . . . "

Why is this significant? Because, as we pointed out in our first lesson, only the Word of God can "do" what Jesus has asked - transform bread and wine into His body and blood. Our worship can be life-transforming because the biblical Word we hear is "not a human word but . . . truly is the Word of God" (see 1 Thessalonians 2:13).

Only the Word of God has the power to deliver what it promises, it's power to bring us into communion with the true and living presence of Jesus. Only the sacred speech of God can perform the divine action of transforming bread and wine into the Body and Blood of our Lord. Only the sacred speech of God can bring us into communion with the living God.

And in the Mass, we respond to this great mystery of our faith in words also drawn from Scripture. The memorial acclamations ("Christ has died . . .") are also biblical prayers. With Paul, we affirm that when we eat this bread and drink this cup we proclaim His death until He comes (see 1 Corinthians 11:26). We also affirm that by dying and rising, He destroyed death (see 1 Corinthians 15:26) and that He will come again (see John 14:3). He is indeed, the savior of the world (see John 4:42; 1 John 4:14).

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