Video Transcript

You know, if you’re not paying close attention, you might miss some things that are right in front of you.

And this is true even in the Catholic Mass. There’s a part of the Mass you might miss if you’re not paying attention. And part of that’s because it includes a prayer that’s being whispered over the chalice that is not necessarily supposed to be heard by everyone. And this is the part of the Mass where the priest takes a chalice full of wine and pours a tiny drop of water right into the chalice. Now, what is this little part of the Mass about? Well, it’s about me, you, Jesus, and the liturgy. Pope Julius commented on this part of the Mass and he said, “We see that the people are signified by the water, but Christ’s blood by the wine. Therefore, when water is mixed with the wine in the chalice, the people are made one with Christ.” K, We need some wine here. Listen to this. All right, get over there.

A little closer. Now the Catechism says in 1108, “In every liturgical action, the Holy Spirit is sent in order to bring us into communion with Christ and so to form his body. The most intimate cooperation of the Holy Spirit, and the Church is achieved in the liturgy. For this reason, the Church is the great sacrament of divine communion, which gathers God’s scattered children together.” So we have Pope Julius saying that this act represents both us and Christ and the Catechism saying that the liturgy brings us into communion with Jesus Christ. And now the priest says a special prayer over the chaice. He says, “By the mystery of this water and wine may come to share in Christ’s divinity who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” Now, how difficult would it be to remove that one drop of water from this glass of wine?

It’d be very difficult. And just like the water into the wine, we are entered into communion with Jesus at Mass. Now, water is common and inexpensive. But wine is costly. It’s difficult to make. It takes a lot of labor. It’s a very special drink. When the priest mixes the two, it’s a symbol of what is happening to us in the liturgy and in our communion with Jesus in the Eucharist. You are made to be completely and inseparably a part of the life of Jesus Christ. So the liturgy of the Church is important. It’s not just something the Church made up. And at every Mass we can pay attention to the small act that reminds us, the liturgy is the work of the Church that incorporates us into the Body of Christ in the liturgy. We participate in the life of the Trinity by offering worship to the Father through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. And we are mixed together like water and wine.

This is the fanciest I’ve felt during one of these videos.