The Mass and the elections

The election fever is now upon us. Many feel it''s a nightmare, a madness that beats all other forms of madness. However we may feel about the election, we cannot deny it is a necessary national exercise in a democracy.

We may choose to be angered, sad or tortured by it. Or be amused and play it just like any sport with due study. Whatever, I propose that we do something I feel is truly indispensable. Truth is no matter how dirty the elections and politics can be, which only show the raw and naked truth about ourselves, there is always hope. Often, great things rise from the scum and slime of our fallen humanity. God''s providence cannot be thrown off by our stupidity. Whatever our political color may be, let''s be reminded that we need to pray. And for Christian believers, there''s that special prayer, the acme of prayer with Christ himself as both the offerer and the offered, the priest and victim.

This is none other than the Holy Mass. This is the sacrament of Christ''s passion, death and resurrection, the culmination and summary of Christ''s redemptive work.

It has a universal and unifying character, such that however we may be in our life, in business as in politics, etc., we all somehow get reconciled, united and saved in Christ. Through the Mass, God''s grace and mercy, his redeeming truth and teaching can still manage to rescue us in spite of our sin. It effects our genuine reconciliation with God and with everybody else, in spite of our differences and conflicts.

God''s providence cannot be thwarted, no matter how much we oppose it. This is the effectiveness of the Holy Mass. It is the best way to adore God, to thank him, and especially to atone for our sins and defects, and to ask for favors.

It perfects what is imperfect, heals what is wounded, makes up for what is missing. It empties sin of its evil, death of its sting. Whatever form of human misery we may have, the Mass offers what is truly necessary for us.

All times and places, all men and women find their life and strength, their meaning and purpose in the Mass. Thus, it cannot help but be a living, actual action of Christ with us up to now and even to the end of time.

It links us to heaven while still on earth. It connects us to the very sacrifice of our Lord on the Cross and enables us to receive the fruits of that sacrifice

As a sacrament, its action is not simply to dramatize or symbolize what happened in the past. It makes that event present again right before us. We should understand that in the Mass we have a living encounter with Christ on the Cross.

We then have to understand that every time the Mass is celebrated, beyond its prayers and rituals, we have to see our Lord dying on the Cross in Calvary. Our Lord is inviting us to somehow participate in his suffering, in his loving.

We then cannot remain passive in the Mass. We cannot be mere spectators. We necessarily have to get moved by our Lord''s supreme act of love. Even if we only have the barest of common sense and human decency, we can already make many considerations and resolutions while at Mass.

In the Mass, we are transported to what took place 20 centuries ago, standing beside our Lady, with some holy women and St. John, right there at the foot of the cross.

Our faith tells us more. In the Mass, we somehow would be with everybody else, because the Mass is the act of Christ together with the whole Church, the people of God. So it is the most social thing we can take part in, even if the Mass is celebrated by a lonesome priest with no people.

Given all these data about the Mass, should we not rather take our duties towards it most seriously? Especially, as we plod through the treacherous trails of our elections?

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