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Review by Dr Pravin Thevathasan



Word Without End
The Mass
Splendor of the Incarnation
Francis J. Pierson
In Ipso Press

A recent survey confirms what many of us knew already: a very large number of Catholics do not believe that Our Lord is present in the Blessed Sacrament, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. It makes for depressing reading but it is surely the logical outcome of the man-centered liturgies that have been thrust on so many of us in recent times. There are better places than churches to celebrate ourselves. But that is not what the Mass is about. The Mass is our participation in the Divine Love Story. We can never fully understand the Mass as "
God's mysterious being greatly exceeds our human imagination."

In order to have an inkling for what the Mass is all about, we need to understand two other miracles: the Incarnation and the Resurrection. Mystery shrouded the Lord God who identified himself with the nomadic people of Israel. There is greater mystery still when the Second Person of the Trinity became Incarnate and dwelt among us. But the mystery now has a human face. This is a real, physical event, a fact of history. And more: it is the greatest event in history. God shows us his face in Jesus Christ.

The physical Resurrection of Christ fulfills what the Incarnation promises.

There are endless experts who tell us that it is all symbolic. No, says the author. Without Our Lord's physical Resurrection, we will not rise from our graves at the end of time. In the Incarnation, God became man. In the Resurrection, man becomes deified. Our true identity is with Christ.

The Incarnation and Resurrection are real, historic events. But it is the Eucharist that brings these realities into the present moment. The Eucharist enables us to actively participate in the events of salvation history. Jesus is just as present to us as he was to his disciples. But in a more intimate way: he brings to perfection our wounded human nature by means of his own perfect human nature. The Eucharist is "God's own signature on the new and everlasting covenant" with us. It guarantees both our adoption as sons and daughters of God and secures our future eternal life in the kingdom.

The author uses so many different disciplines to make his point: theology, philosophy, science, history, literature and film. He does so in a highly effective way.

Why bother going to Mass? Read this book to find out why. It is vitally important especially now.




Copyright ©; Dr Pravin Thevathasan 2019

Version: 27th August 2019



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