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12 C H R I S T, T H E T R U E N O U R I S H M E N T O F O U R C H A R I T Y The Mass nourishes our spiritual life. The fruitful reception of communion progressively assimilates us into the intimacy of Jesus. As with bodily nourishment, in spiritual nourishment there is also a process of assimilation. But in this case it is not we who assimi- late what we eat, but Christ who assimilates us into his body when we receive it. In this way, the Eucharist builds up the Church by uniting us more intimately with God and with each other. There is a whole analogy bet ween bodily and spiritual nour- ishment that teaches us about the effects of Holy Communion on our soul. The reception of Jesus in the Eucharist sustains our life as children of God. So much so that, if we do not receive him, we lose that life, just as we would die of hunger if for too long a time we do not eat. Moreover, Eucharistic food repairs our strength for spiritual combat. It possesses the power to forgive venial sins if our hearts are properly contrite. It also matures us as children of God to the point of being able to communicate life, that is, it enables us to love God and our brothers and sisters with sacrificial love. Finally, spiritual nourishment is a source of consolation and joy. This intimate union with Christ makes us live more in tune with his heart; that is, it makes us share more and more his thoughts, his purposes, his affections and his secret intimacy. It is precisely the degree of this union that determines our active participation in his sacrifice. Participating actively in the Mass is not about singing or reading; it is about uniting the sacrifice of our own life more intimately with that of the Lord. In this way, the Eucharist is the sacrament of charit y par excellence. To its fruitful cele- bration all the other sacraments are oriented, just as all the virtues are ordered to the virtue of char- it y, without which we are nothing for eternal life. T H E S A C R I F I C I A L L O V E O F C H R I S T The Mass not only makes Christ present, but also his sacrifice, by which he merited all the graces that men can receive for their salvation. Indeed, Christ wanted to leave us not only the real presence of his entire humanity and divinity in the Mass. He also wanted to leave us the sacrifice in which his effective love for the Church was fully manifested. The Eucharist makes present the one sacrifice of Christ. The same priest (Christ) offers it and the same victim is offered (Christ), but the sac- rifice is no longer offered in a bloody manner. Christ no longer dies. The sacrifice is offered sacramentally. In this mystery, the Church is invited to participate actively by uniting herself to the one sacrifice of Jesus. The Bride of the Lamb is called to share in the sacrificial love of the Bridegroom. There is no fuller way to participate in the mission of the Redeemer both for the salvation of men and for the glorification of God. The forgiveness of sins and all grace have been merited by Christ in his one sacrifice. When the Church offers herself together with her Bridegroom in every Eucharist, these graces are poured out on earth. The mystery of the relationship between the Mass and the application of the graces merited by Christ helps us to understand a little better how the Mass is a source of Christian life. Moreover, the whole life of the Church is oriented and united to that of Christ, to glorify God by participat- ing in the sacrificial love of her Bride- groom. The love of Christ's heart gives more glory to God than all the sins of all men can give him, because there is more love in his Sacred Heart than hatred in the hearts of all sinners. This is an amazing reality that speaks to us of the value of every Eucharistic cel- ebration. This dimension helps us to understand how the Mass is the center and summit of the Christian life. Never is a man's life so great as when it is offered on the eucharistic altar. OCTOBER 2022 | DENVER CATHOLIC