Let your life be a Mass (Fr. Slavko Barbarych, OFM)

We come to Mass from our daily life, which consists of a constant struggle with sin. In this struggle, the world, the flesh and the forces of darkness collide with the world of God and the world of Spirit, love and peace.The human heart is the arena where this struggle takes place. It is a beacon from which the light of a better world, the light of better human relations, the light of truth and peace should shine. The human heart is a space where justice and peace meet and embrace. But if sin takes power in the heart, then darkness and all other evil come from it. St. Paul exhorts: “Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16).And in the Epistle to the Romans it is said: “Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its lusts, and do not give your members over to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been raised from the dead, and your members as weapons of righteousness. For sin will no longer rule over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:12-14).After every Mass, we are not only called, but also armed to live by the Spirit and fight against the deeds and fruits of the flesh. In this struggle of life, victories are achieved and defeats are suffered, sins are committed and wounds are acquired, but love also works and wounds are healed. This is how we come to the Mass that Jesus sends for us, and we return from the Mass renewed and armed.Therefore, we can say that with the first step when leaving the church, when we participated in Jesus’ Mass for us, our Mass begins, our sacrifice for others, and our sacrifice comes from Christ’s and leads to Christ’s sacrifice as its culmination, source and goal. Therefore, our life can also be a mass, a Eucharist for others, which is thus perfected, united and effective.Thus united with Christ in the true unity of life, we also become a living sacrifice to the praise of the Father’s glory. We become His presence in this world and continue the work of redemption after we ourselves have been regenerated by the fruits of that same redemption.For these reasons, the Christian life is, in essence, a Eucharistic life, which means a life of love for others, which we then generously and gladly share with others. Here the Eucharist becomes a source of peace. Every way of peace is a Eucharistic way. Where people live with love and share with others, peace is born, and the more unconditional love is shown to others, the easier it will be to achieve peace with God and people.Sin is always a reality through which we kill something in others – either we take something from them or we don’t give them enough of what we owe them. This opens the door for various conflicts, destruction and wars. Our life is a mass for others, and this Eucharistic dimension of our life can be recognized in the structure of the Holy Mass. MERCIFUL FORGIVENESS AND CREATION OF UNITYWe have seen that the first act of the liturgical sacrifice is the confession of sins and the prayer that the Lord will have mercy on us. This is a condition for the beginning of the Eucharistic service. God is glorified by his forgiveness, his acceptance of his lost children, his new meeting with his lost sons.In his sacrifice for others, the Christian must first begin to feel precisely this dimension of the liturgical sacrifice. And unconditionally. This means that when we find ourselves in circumstances in life where we have done something against someone and destroyed the possibility of unity, we must immediately and without delay make it right. By forgiving and seeking forgiveness, this is already accomplished in the Mass.By forgiving and seeking forgiveness, this is already accomplished in the Mass. It has already happened in the heart, and the vital confirmation of all this should be the most natural consequence of the very first action of the Holy MassIf a Christian were to insist on disagreements with others, on disputes and conflicts, thereby causing bad interpersonal relationships, he would thus be denying an essential component of his Christianity. He who does not forgive closes the door in front of himself and does not receive forgiveness, thereby excluding himself from the community to which all forgiveness leads, because the first fruit of forgiveness, or reconciliation, is new communication with God and people.Disagreement gives rise to all other evils in the personal life of a person, family, community, Church and even the whole world. If people had more spirit of reconciliation and willingness to forgive, then conflicts, wars, separations, drunkenness, drugs, suicides, anxiety and many other evils could be easily overcome.And here you can understand that to sin, to make a mistake, to commit a sin is not such a big problem for humanity, as is the human reluctance to forgive and reconcile.Making peace with yourself means accepting yourself, and the same goes for making peace with others and with God. Acceptance creates a new unity that makes human life and work, and human existence in general, happier, richer, and more meaningful. The separation that comes from sin makes a person unhappy, because there is no meeting Therefore, the first and main task of everyone who goes to Mass is to forgive and seek forgiveness, to proclaim God’s mercy; with your life, actions and words to speak and testify about God’s generous forgiveness, to pray for the grace of forgiveness and reconciliation. And at the Mass, in which a Christian participates in the church, he should pray for all unreconciliation and for all the unreconciled.

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