After Holy Mass, we are called upon to live in the Spirit and to continue the struggle against the limitations of the body. In this struggle for life there are both victories and defeats; sins are committed and wounds are received. But, love and the healing of the wounds are active and effective. So, we go to the Mass that Jesus celebrates for us and leave it renewed and ready to go out into the world.

Hence, we can say that at the first step the Church takes, at the moment when Jesus celebrates Mass for us, our own Mass begins, as does our sacrifice for others. Our sacrifice grows as a result of Christ's sacrifice, and it is the highest result we can reach, a point of departure and of arrival.

So our lives can be a Mass, a Eucharist for others. This fulfills us, unites us and becomes something concrete in the world. We are linked with Christ in the true unification of life, and we become a living sacrifice to render glory to the Father. We become His presence in the world, continuing the work of Redemption, having been ourselves the result of this Redemption.

For this reason, in the sense that it is a life of love, the Christian life is essentially Eucharistic, giving itself willingly and joyously to others. In this way, the Eucharist becomes a source of peace. Every path to peace is the way of the Eucharist. The more unselfish the love we show to others, the more easily peace can be made with God and with man.

>Celebrate Mass With Your Heart
Fr. Slavko Barbaric, O.F.M.