The Holy Mass as it Relates to the Interior Life ~Part II

Fr. Samuel Waters | The Daily Knight | Sermon

Today I will continue this sermon series commenting on the Lord Have Mercy (Kyrie Eleison) and The Gloria (Gloria in Excelsis Deo). The Lord Have Mercy will continue to focus on the sinfulness of the Priest and Congregation and the Gloria will focus on the Holiness of God.

Lord Have Mercy on Us

Lord Have Mercy on us was the cry of the 10 leapers. We are covered in the sores, rotting with leprosy. Let us show our sores to the Lord as we beg Him as He passes, “Lord Have Mercy on us.”

Let us show to the Father of Heaven the five wounds of His Son. What a treasure they are. They were inflicted for love of us.

Every time you recall that we contributed to the Passion and Death (Jesus saw all of our sins when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane). Remember that His wounds are worth more than all the treasures in this world. Bring forth your thanksgiving.

Christ decreed that all human creatures be called to participate in His Divine Life. He pours out His Life in us. He raises us to be His sons. Adam’s sin dragged down all of his posterity. God restored man by giving His only son to us. He became flesh. He then became a Host, so great, it unites Heaven and Earth; so small that it can be held between a man’s fingers.

We leave Him alone in His Sacrifice & at times express no desire to be a host like Him, “Lord Have Mercy on Us.”

The two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus, did not recognize the Lord who walked with Him. How often do we fail to recognize, even deny Him in the many difficulties which come to us, “Lord Have Mercy on Us.”

The Lord has united Himself to our Souls. He has called us to Himself and attached us to His Heart.

However, we go our own way, seeking other unions attaching our heart to passing things, “Christ Have Mercy on Us.”

No wonder the priest should feel confused on entering The Holy of Holies. He has been raised to the highest dignity on this earth and he lives close to the shadows of death. Seeing shadows all about him, he cannot but repeat very often this cry of the Lepers, “Christ Have Mercy on Us.”

You who accompany the priest, reading your Missal devoutly are surrounded by shadows, do you not have the desire to cry out, “Christ have Mercy on Us?”

We are all members of the Church whose Head is Jesus. All are brothers in Christ, to hurt a brother is to hurt Christ. How many offences against Charity could I avoid? The least we must do for our brothers is to pray for them without exception. If only we had faith in the value of prayer. If we but had a Living Faith and a blindness to the vanities of this world. We of little faith, let us ask for an increase of faith, “Lord have Mercy on Us.”

We who are quick to ask God for favors, let us be quick to thank Him when He grants them. Only one leper returned to thank Christ. Our life need be one continuous act of thanksgiving, souls in the state of grace (souls without mortal sins on them), light always burning in our souls where the Trinity dwells. We must make ourselves aware of our weakness also. We need to be aware of the gifts we have received but also fear the possibility of losing them also. This should move us to cry out, “Lord Have Mercy on Us.”

Confessing our faults glorifies God, exhausts His omnipotence and His Holiness. To acknowledge our own lowliness is to ascend on high. Casting our eyes to the ground brings God down from Heaven Let us say with the priest, “Lord Have Mercy on us.”

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Glory to God in the Highest

The first words of this hymn are those of the angel who saluted the shepherds on Christmas Night, “Glory to God in the Highest,” (Gloria in Excelsis Deo).

Everything in the stable spoke to the shepherds of Heaven. The manger, the cold, the child, all spoke of Heaven. The more the shepherds thought of the child, the more He reminded them of the lambs of their flock.

The shepherds, full of enthusiasm, were enlightened by the Light of the World. We are called to be like them, a living testimony of God’s Glory.

What good is our piety if we do not amend our life, if we do not fulfill our responsibilities. There are many who sing the praises of God, but who are clothed in vanity, covered in impurity, have bitterness towards their neighbors.

This hymn is a continuation of the Kyrie Elleison. Our soul acknowledges the weakness and the nothingness of itself and it excites itself to admiration and joy at the mystery of God.

The soul delights in glorifying God in His perfections which are shown to us by His handiwork and the work of our Redemption. In glorifying God, we find happiness and peace God is the spouse of our soul, our Father, our brother, our everything.

We thank God for His great glory. It is also our glory, because Christ conquered it for us through His infinite merits. He promised it to us, if we persevere in the Truth and l live a living life.

The Glorification of God is put into practice through our good will. If we fulfill the Divine Law (The Commandments of God and Church, Natural Moral Law), carry out the duties of our State in Life (those duties that are depending on whether we are Single, Married, Religious Brother or Sister, Priest) faithfully and lovingly, then we give glory to God. Our actions will be in unison with our principles. Our life will be in conformity with the noble end for which we were created (Eternal Life with God and the Heavenly Host). Our conscience will be at peace. (“On earth, Peace to Men of Good Will”).

The soul addresses God the Father first. Then it adores, praises and glories Jesus. The soul blesses and gives thanks to the Son who according to the Will of The Father and through the cooperation of the Holy Ghost willed to be conceived in the chaste womb of Mary, Ever Virgin and willed to be our Lord.

The soul praises and blesses the Son of God because He becomes the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei) in order to save all men by His death on the Cross. Christ became the Man of Sorrows in order to burden Himself with our sins in order to take away the sins of the world. This re-united man to God. Jesus had compassion on our infirmities and died for us.

There is no greater proof of His love for us. He will have mercy on us and He will listen to our request.

How are we to ask in such a way that He will hear us? We are to ask Him humbly, confidently and with perseverance (suscipe deprecationem nostrum).

We must ask Him to inspire us to pray for the things He wishes to give us. If God chooses not to grant our request, we should make an Act of Perfect Acceptance. “Not My Will, but Thy Will be done.”

God alone is Holiness Itself. The Sanctity of Creatures is only a participation in God’s Holiness (Tu solus Sanctus). Only Christ is Holy because only He, through the Incarnation is the Son of God. Jesus possessed Sanctifying Grace in its fulness, sharing it with no one.

Your soul was infinitely docile to the impulse of the Spirit of Love. Only You, the Christ, are holy because You possess the Divine Life in its fulness. Only You are Holy because we hope for our Holiness only from You. The grace of Pardon and all the graces of salvation, riches, supernatural benefits in our souls all come to us from You alone. That is why all our souls all come to us from You alone. That is why all our praise is to be given to You, Christ. Through You may all our praise ascend to Your Father for the gift which He makes us to You. “Thou only are Holy, Thou only Oh Jesus Christ are Most High with the Holy Ghost in the Glory of God The Father.” (Tu Solus Sanctus, Tu solus Dominus, Tu solus Altissimus Jesu Christe cum Sancto Spiritu In Gloria Dei Patris Amen).