Tuesday 7th week of Easter
"Jn 17:1-11a"
Jesus said, "I glorified thee on earth, having accomplished the work which thou gave me to do...I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou gave me out of the world; thine they were, and thou gave them to me, and they have kept thy word ... and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world."
Men are obliged to glorify God, to worship Him. And the best worship that men can give is when we glorify God with Jesus Christ. The summit of Christian worship is the Holy Mass; in it Jesus 'glorifies the Father on earth' and we (who are still 'in the world') unite ourselves to Him. For that reason there is nothing more important in the world than the Mass; each and every single Mass, because it is the Sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary.
During World War II Nazis forced many priests into concentration camps and many of these were sent to Dachau. At least 2,720 priests were together in a single area, the 'Priesterblock' , and they were permitted to have a single altar on which to celebrate one Mass a day. One priest said the Mass and others attended it. Bl Karl Leisner was then a deacon. His ordination to the priesthood was delayed because he was suffering from tuberculosis. But before he could be ordained the war broke out and he was arrested. He had already spent 5 years in concentration camps. On December 17, 1944, knowing that his health was getting worse, he was secretly ordained by a fellow prisoner, a French bishop. He said he wanted to die as a priest and he especially wanted to say the Mass before he died. Already very ill with tuberculosis, Leisner's first Mass on December 30 was in fact his last, because he died soon after. Many priests who attended it said that they could never forget his love and devotion for the Mass. They could see in his face that he had prepared that Mass and longed for it his entire life.
To help the priest prepare himself for the Mass, in some sacristies you can find the following text: "O Priest of God, say this Mass as though it were your first Mass, your last Mass, your only Mass." Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, help me to attend the Mass as if it were my first Mass, my last Mass ... the only Mass of my life.
