The Cross Is Here

The Mass is not a new sacrifice. It is the re-presentation in space and time of redemption. Why should we be penalized by the eternal God because of the accident of time? Are there not women today who want to be Veronicas and to offer veils to the suffering Christ? Are there not men like Simon who want to help carry the cross? Do we not want to take our own sufferings, to have them united with Him in order that they might be considered part of the expiation for our sins? It is said that science might someday be able to go back and pick up all the sounds that were ever spoken because they still exist someplace in space. That means that we might recover the voice of Alexander and Gregory and Demosthenes, even the voice of Christ; but what is that compared to going back and finding and repeating the very sacrifice of the cross? What compares to taking the cross of Calvary and transplanting it to New York, London, Tokyo, and Berlin, and applying the benefits of redemption to our souls now? What a mystery of love! This is the Mass.