Catholics will get more out of Mass if they learn the biblical story of the Mass. At St. Mary’s of Redford in Detroit, the beloved parish of my youth, there’s a sermon etched in stone and stained glass that aches for a well-formed and worldwide audience.
The Biblical Heritage of the Mass
St. Mary’s proclaims the biblical story of the Mass within its French-Romanesque structure, a story illustrated in four windows that peer down upon the sanctuary. But it is also a story that remains hidden from the casual visitor and, more significantly, from too many Catholics in general.
From a distance, the windows’ stunning beauty catches your attention. Because the sanctuary’s enormous arch and associated pillars obstruct your view, however, you move forward for a closer, more informed look. When you enter a semicircular walkway that rings the sanctuary, and provided that you have “eyes to see” (cf. Mt 13:10-17), you will encounter the biblical story of the Mass, the Catholic Church’s liturgical heritage writ large on stained glass, for each window depicts a famous sacrifice of the Old Testament that prefigures Jesus Christ’s everlasting Sacrifice of Calvary:
• Abel’s sacrifice of his firstborn lambs (Gn 4:2-4);
• Melchizedek’s offering of bread and wine (Gn 14:17-20);
• Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac (Gn 22:1-19);
• and the sacrifice of the Passover lambs, which helped liberate Israel from Egyptian bondage (Ex 12:1-32).
As a backdrop to the altar on which Christ’s Sacrifice is made sacramentally present at every Mass, the windows at St. Mary’s are well placed, because they collectively portray the biblical story that culminates in the same Sacrifice that Christ first made known to us at the Last Supper.
Unfortunately, given their faith formation, many Catholics understandably don’t have “eyes to see” the Mass’s biblical heritage, nor really grasp how Christ’s Sacrifice can be made present throughout time. Like St. Mary’s stained-glass story observed from a distance by a visitor, the meaning of the Mass remains obscured from many Catholics. At St. Mary’s, a far-off glimpse will only contribute to a sentimental memory of a lovely church. Unless visitors come forward, they will never observe, let alone begin to understand, the wonderful story that the windows proclaim.
Similarly, Catholics at Mass can hear the brief yet intriguing message that the offerings of Abel, Melchizedek and Abraham are somehow connected with Christ’s Sacrifice in Eucharistic Prayer I. However, unless they’re “welcomed forward” for better instruction, the profound relationship between these Old Testament luminaries and “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29) will remain tragically obscure to many of them.
Melchizedek at the Last Supper
All Catholics at least know that the Church teaches that Christ died for them on Calvary 2,000 years ago. After all, the crucifix is probably the most well-known and recognized Catholic image. But the Last Supper and Christ’s death and Resurrection are often viewed by too many Catholics as vaguely important, past events. These Catholics do not understand that the Bible conveys a truly Catholic story, in which salvation history first prefigures and then wondrously records Christ’s Sacrifice of Calvary. In addition, many Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and many of those who do believe cannot provide a biblically based, basic explanation of how Jesus’s one self-sacrifice is mysteriously made present at each and every Mass.
The Church needs to find better ways to convey her rich teaching in both Sunday liturgies and elsewhere, because too many Catholics are either not participating in Mass or participating without adequate formation. As the Ethiopian eunuch said, “How can I [understand], unless someone guides me?” (Acts 8:31).
The architecture of St. Mary’s provides us direction, reminding us that all effective catechesis begins and ends with Jesus. The four windows flank an imposing statue of Mary with the Infant Jesus, whose sheer size, accompanying lighting, and central location just behind the sanctuary immediately grab your attention when you enter the church. It’s as if Our Lady, true to form, leads us to — not away from — Jesus. She initially draws our gaze, only to focus our eyes on her beloved Son, cradled in her arms.
Why the focus on Jesus? The windows tell the story. Adam and Eve’s Original Sin ruptured mankind’s communion with God, while the various sacrifices depicted in the windows advanced the cause of restoring that precious communion. For the discerning observer, i.e., one who “follows” the sacrificial lamb motif, the windows explain how God prepared and made provision for His Son’s ultimate restoration on our behalf, fulfilling the work begun by Abel, Melchizedek, Abraham, the Passover and all of the Temple sacrifices.
Jesus came to earth to become both perfect Priest and Victim, and so at St. Mary’s our eyes move from the statue of the Infant Jesus, to the windows, back to the Infant Jesus, and then down to the altar, the sacred table on which the Church commemorates and re-presents His one, perfect Sacrifice at every Mass:
The presentation of the offerings at the altar takes up the gesture of Melchizedek and commits the Creator’s gifts into the hands of Christ who, in His sacrifice, brings to perfection all human attempts to offer sacrifices (Catechism, no. 1350, emphasis added).
Where did Christ first “take up” the gestures of Melchizedek, mysteriously offering His Body and Blood under the appearances of bread and wine? The Last Supper. What Christ first presented and anticipated at the Last Supper in mystery, and told us to continue “in memory” of Him, He also lived out on Calvary in history.
One, Divine, and Mysterious Sacrifice
This is the great “undertold” story of the Mass. The whole Church — the whole world — needs to know that the Last Supper was not simply a symbolic precursor of Christ’s redemptive suffering on Calvary. Rather, these two historical events actually encompass one, divine, and mysterious Sacrifice that impacts all of salvation history, and that is why we can continue — 2,000 years later — to “re-present” and celebrate that same Sacrifice at every Mass! (cf. Catechism, nos. 1366-67).
While some view the Eucharistic Sacrifice of the Mass as a stumbling block to authentic ecumenism and worldwide evangelization, the Church understands that the Mass is indispensable to achieving her divinely ordained mandate:
The Church’s mission stands in continuity with the mission of Christ: “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you” (Jn 2:21). From the perpetuation of the sacrifice of the Cross and her communion with the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, the Church draws the spiritual power needed to carry out her mission. The Eucharist thus appears as both the source and the summit of all evangelization, since its goal is the communion of mankind with Christ and in him with the Father and the Holy Spirit (Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, no. 22).
God “desires all men to be saved” (1 Tm 2:4; cf. 2 Pt 3:9), and therefore the biblical story of the Mass, the story of salvation history, is a story for all mankind. May we learn it and live it well, so that we can better participate in Christ’s saving mission.
Thomas J. Nash is a Director of Special Projects at Catholics United for the Faith. He is the author of Worthy Is the Lamb: The Biblical Roots of the Mass (Ignatius Press) from which this column is excerpted and condensed with permission of Ignatius Press. He is also a co-author of Catholic for a Reason III: Scripture and the Mystery of the Mass (Emmaus Road Publishing).
