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Tuesday 6 May 2014

Don't be like Judas, leaving early ....

We attend each and every Mass to hear the Word of the Lord, celebrate the Eucharist (the breaking of the bread) and the fellowship with your fellow Christians. Together we celebrate the Mass as Church and as a worshipping assembly united to Christ through the priest and it is not something done individually. We have just received the God, the One who created us, the One who died on the cross for us, the Eternal, the Almighty God into our heart and soul and why can't we stay till the end of Mass to thank God for the bread of life we have received and His blessing. Our thanksgiving for Mass cannot be reduced to the individual sphere and must be carried out as Church. This collective thanksgiving is done through the priest at the closing prayer to which all respond "Amen."

Finally, the Mass is intimately united to Christian life and mission. The final blessing and dismissal send us forth to transmit what we have received to our brothers and sisters. If we leave directly after Communion, then we lose this important component of our spiritual life.

Those who leave early just after receiving the Holy Communion and before the final blessing, are just like Judas leaving early at the last supper to betray Jesus.


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