We do not participate within our Lord's Passion as passive people who are now disconnected from this moment in earth's history as if we were mere observers who now glance at this event as if we are disconnected from it by time and place. Instead, we each are very intimately connected to the Passion of the Lord. The Lord's Passion was not simply accomplished at one point in time some two thousand years ago, but instead it continues to penetrate into the very fabric of our life here on this earth. The Lord's Passion does not only effect those who were present that day at Golgotha, but instead the very effects of the cross are now felt throughout the whole earth.
We are very active participants in our Lord's offering of Himself upon the cross. Our participation in these events extend far beyond our simple participation in the Lord's Passion this night by the words that we spoke in participation of our Gospel. We of course can envision the pain that our Lord endured especially as those nails were driven into his hands and feet and the spear was thrust through His side creating for us what are known as the Five Wounds of Christ. Our participation extends into our Lord's Passion here because through our sin and lack of faith we have led to these wounds being thrust upon our Lord. It is through our indifference to the Divine Truth that Christ brought into the world that these nails were driven into His Hands and Feet and the spear was thrust into His Side.
Despite our sin and all of the indifference in our life that have led to God having to take on our human flesh and die upon the cross in the Second Person of the Holy Trinity we can now claim with good faith that we have been redeemed. Yet again we are not bystanders who look towards the cross separated from the distance of time and place, but instead we are truly ushered into the very life of the cross through the mercy that is extended to us from Christ's sacrifice. Prior to the cross the veil which hung in the temple separated humanity from having an intimate relationship with God, but now with Christ's death the veil in the temple has been torn in two and we now are able to enter into this intimate reality of God's profound love for each of us.
Tonight is most different for us because we do not come here for the celebration of Mass, but instead a service which calls to mind the reality of the cross. Nevertheless, the Mass and thus too the Holy Eucharist shows that we are not passive onlookers, but instead they serve as a reminder that Calvary has happened once and for all time and therefore time continues to stand still here and thus when the Mass is offered we are present with our Lord at the sacrifice that was offered upon the cross and has in return reached its culmination through Christ's Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven. People exclaim that Mass is long and boring! Why? But, because they see themselves as a passive onlooker who is separated from Calvary by time and place. Saint Josemaria Escriva instead exclaims: "The Mass is long, you say, and I add: Because your love is short." Indeed how could we ever exclaim that Mass is boring or long if we understand that we are participating fully in Christ's love as it was proclaimed from the cross.
Fulton Sheen exclaims: "The greatest love story of all time is contained in a tiny white Host." Again whenever we behold and receive Christ who is present within the Eucharist, as we will do this night, we are not passively receiving and looking upon a symbol, but instead we behold the true love of God because the Eucharist is Christ's Body and Blood which shows the same intimate love that He expresses for us from the cross.
This night we will receive our Lord in Holy Communion and we will make a pilgrimage forward to reverence the Holy Cross from which our salvation was won. We are not passive onlookers who have been separated from this mystery by time and place. We have contributed to our Lord's wounds through our sin, we have received from these wounds and His death redemption from our sinful past, and we continue to journey to this great moment of love and are present at Calvary itself whenever the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered. May we not be content with being passive onlookers who allow the cross to remain at a distance, but instead may we journey forward to reverence the cross and realize that it is very much so a part of who we are in this day and age.
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