Sometimes it’s tempting to mindlessly approach Mass on Sundays, counting down the minutes until it is over. However, each word that is said and each element that is used should speak to the depths of our souls.
For example, the chalice we see at Mass, while we know it holds the wine that is turned into Jesus’ blood at the consecration, do we take a moment to meditate on this profound truth?
In the book The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by Nikolaus Gihr, he delves into the symbolism by connecting it to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
[The chalice] reminds us of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; for that Divine Heart is the laboratory in which the blood of our redemption was prepared, and also the source whence this blood of all redeeming merit was so abundantly and lavishly poured out, and daily fills the chalice on our altars. In the sacrificial cup of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is contained the Precious Blood of our redemption. Into and from this Sacred Heart once flowed and will flow for all eternity that precious Blood which purchased, ransomed and redeemed us.
This connection is often visibly portrayed in religious art, showing the Sacred Heart bleeding into the chalice, or even a priest holding up his chalice in front of a crucifix, as Jesus’ blood flows into it.
The next time you attend Mass, try to see the chalice in a new way, not simply as a receptacle for consecrated wine, but as the Sacred Heart itself, beating wildly with love and ready to pour its contents inside us at holy communion.
Read more:
A guide to loving the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Read more:
The spiritual reason chalices are made from precious metal
And today we celebrate...