Deacon Aaron Williams

Spirit and Truth
By Deacon Aaron M. Williams
During this past Holy Week, I read a homily a friend of mine delivered on Holy Thursday. He raised an important point about the identity of the Mass which I had not given much consideration until now. He said that in the Mass, “We are in no way re-enacting the Last Supper…the Mass is not the Last Supper.” The reason I find this statement so striking isn’t because I disagree with him — I couldn’t agree more that he is right! But, far more important than that is that most Catholics, and indeed some people who teach others about the Mass, get this point wrong or falsely assume that simply because our Lord instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper that the Mass itself is a reenactment of that same supper.
The fact of the matter is that when Christ gave us this Sacrament, he gave it as a sign of his own passion, death and resurrection — what the Second Vatican Council termed the “Paschal mystery.” The Passover meal of the Jews recalled the meal that the enslaved Hebrews ate before they were led in Exodus out of Egypt. To eat the Passover (Seder) meal, was to recall the moment before God rescued them. But, not the Eucharist. Christ the Lord took this Passover meal and made it not a sign of another meal before a saving act, but a sign of the act itself — “This is my Body, which will be given for you.” Thus, the Catechism of the Catholic Church very rightly proclaims, “In the liturgy of the Church, it is principally his own Paschal mystery that Christ signifies and makes present” (1085).
This is one area where Catholic theology strongly diverges from our Protestant brothers and sisters. For the Protestant, to eat the “Lord’s Supper” is like a Seder meal — a symbolic meal that we use to remember Jesus’s ‘last meal’ on Earth. But, when the Catholic gazes upon the sacred host held aloft by the priest, we look not upon a simple meal, but upon Christ crucified and sacrificed for us all. The Cathechism says, “The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross…the sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice” (1366-7).
The celebration of the liturgies of the Triduum each year gives us time to reflect particularly on the individual aspects of the Paschal mystery, but in each Mass we experience these events in a single expression. In every Mass, we receive the benefits of our Lord’s passion, death and resurrection.
This revelation should enable us to undergo a different sort of preparation for the Mass. We are not coming together each week for a simple family meal — although this idea has been promoted in recent times. The concept of the Mass as a sit-down meal between God the Father and the human family, while quaint and charming, hardly does justice to the reality of Christ’s sacrifice. Is the Eucharist a meal? Yes, of course. But, it is a meal that comes as the fruit of sacrifice — just as in the old covenant, the Hebrew people would eat the flesh of sacrificed animals in order to reap the effects of the sacrifice. In the Mass, the Lord himself feeds us his own sacrificed flesh so that we can benefit from the effects of that same sacrifice.
The altar in every church is therefore both the altar of sacrifice and the table of the Lord — the two aspects go hand-in-hand. This is the reason that the architectural legislation of the Church requires the altar to be made from a solid material and to be dignified. It is not meant to be a mere family dinner table, but a true altar. In fact, it is strongly recommended that the altar of each church be completely immovable as the focus and center of that church. Likewise, we do not adorn our altars in the same way we would prepare a thanksgiving meal at home — with tablecloths and cornucopias of produce. The Catholic altar is wrapped in white linen (signifying the burial shroud of Christ), and the only objects which are set upon it are those things needed for the sacrifice, namely the elements of bread and wine along with other things such as the missal and candles.
Finally, because the Mass is a true sacrifice, it is demanded of us that we bring something to it to be offered to God. I am not speaking of a physical object or a monetary donation, but of the spiritual sacrifice of our own good works, sufferings and sins. All of those things, we can place in the hands of the priest who, obedient to God’s command to “do this in memory of me,” offers it all with and for us to the Father.

(Deacon Aaron Williams and his classmate, Deacon Nicholas Adam, will be ordained to the priesthood May 31 at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle.)

Seminarian corner
By Deacon Aaron Williams
As the world observes the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima, Portugal, many bishops are taking the opportunity to consecrate their diocese to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, as requested by Our Lady of Fatima 100 years ago. I am very thankful that our own Bishop Joseph Kopacz has chosen to do likewise, but for more reasons than the simple anniversary of Fatima.
When our diocese was founded 180 years ago, it was originally established under the patronage of Our Lady of Sorrows (the titular title of the basilica in Natchez). I have done much reading on the history of our diocese, but I have never been able to find even speculation on why such a title was chosen. It could be as simple as a particular devotion of Bishop Chanche, our founding bishop. Regardless, I find the patronage of Our Lady of Sorrows very fitting considering the history of our diocese.
For one thing, the state of Mississippi has a history of sorrow — particularly in our struggles with poverty and racism. Likewise, the history of Catholicism in this state includes the martyrdom of several Jesuit priests and many lay Catholics during the eighteenth century when the Gospel was first brought to Mississippi. Even today, there are struggles in maintaining a Catholic identity in our diocese, especially due to our very small numbers — where most of our schools have a majority of non-Catholic students and many of our parishes find themselves very empty on Sunday.
I suppose we could just give up and say that Catholicism just didn’t work out in Mississippi; but, for that reason, I find Our Lady is still a great patron and model for our diocese today. Of course, Mary’s life and motherhood was filled with various sorrows and often some confusion. I doubt Mary always understood why things had to happen the way they did in her life and in the life of her Son. Still, Mary also experienced great joys and appears as a joyful mother both in her visit to Elizabeth and at the Wedding in Cana.
In this way, Mary stands as a great model of a life-long disciple to Christ by her willingness to endure the struggles of the faith and deeply ponder her joys. For that reason, I find our bishop’s choice very appropriate to coincide this consecration with the launch of the diocese’s Pastoral Priorities. Mary is the model Christian. Thus, if we want to learn how to better express the Christian mission in our diocese, we should look to no other guide than Mary.
The three core goals of our Pastoral Priorities are to create welcoming and reconciling communities, to facilitate life-long discipleship, and to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord. At the Wedding in Cana, we see Mary as a sort of reconciler — attempting to prevent the embarrassment of their hosts. Likewise, Our Lady of Fatima requested that we fervently pray for the reconciliation and peace of the world. Surely, Mary can also bring about such reconciliation in our parishes.
I already said that Mary was a life-long disciple of Christ, but it is worth stating that she was also the first disciple. Who better than Mary to teach us how to follow her Son? Finally, Mary’s command to “do whatever he tells you” can be taken by us as a command to make Christ the Lord of our hearts. He was truly both her Son and her Lord, and so by promoting devotion to her, our bishop is proclaiming the Lordship of Christ in our diocese. Likewise, families which make a place for Mary in their home similarly set Christ as the Lord of their family.
I hope that all the priests, religious and lay faithful of our diocese take great advantage of the opportunity given by our bishop in this total consecration to Mary’s Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. There is a lot of room for growth in what is still a very young diocese in the history of the Church. From the beginning, Mary has been the mother of the church in Mississippi and we should frequently request her fervent intercession on our behalf. This consecration is a great opportunity for the renewal of the Catholic faith in our diocese, and we would be making an incredible mistake to not take advantage of this moment.
(Deacon Aaron Williams is concluding a ministry internship with the Catholic Community of Meridian. He and his classmate, Deacon Nick Adam, will return to Notre Dame Seminary within the week to complete their final year of seminary formation before their priestly ordinations on May 31, 2018.)