makes plain to you. I say that He will derive from me what he makes plain to you, because all that belongs to the Father belongs to me.” (John 16, 5-8; 12-15)

Christ, therefore, sends the Holy Spirit into the world to guide and strengthen the new people of God.

All that has been said so far in this section is important, because it begins to show us how Christ lives on today. Those who believe in Christ do not put their trust in a dead Christ, but in a Christ who lives on and shares His new life with the new People of God.

 “I am the vine, you are the branches. You have only to live on in me, and I will live on in you.”

The question that now rises is : How and where can we MEET CHRIST today?

WHERE WE MEET CHRIST TODAY

We now come to the very heart of Christianity. We come to what is called the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, where Christ Himself is present in a most extraordinary but real way.

On the night that He was arrested Christ had a last meal with His chosen followers. He knew what lay ahead of Him and He looked down through the centuries seeing all of us who would come after Him. His love for us would not allow Him to leave us alone. It would find a way to remain with us.

He was about to go out into the night and offer His life to the last drop of His blood as a gift, a sacrifice to His Father for us all. During the meal, “He took bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them saying, `This is my body given up for you. Do this as a memorial of me.

“Then He took a cup (of wine) and offered thanks, and gave it to them saying, "Drink, all of you, of this for this is my blood, of the new Testament, shed for many to the remission of sins."

Christ had taken the ordinary food of the Jews, bread and wine. He said over it, “This is my body. This is my blood,” changing it into His own body and blood – with all the appearance and taste of bread and wine remaining. He offered it to His followers, as Prasad. He told them to do this always as a memorial of himself. The Catholic Church is faithful to this command when she offers the same sacrifice daily in the Mass or Eucharist. (Mathew Chapters 26, 26ff)

SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

In making the central act of His life take the form of a sacrifice or puja, Christ built on a need that men of all ages and races have felt – namely, to take something of value and offer it to God as a sign of their total self-gift.

A small child may offer flowers to God, others may offer fruit or oil or sweets, others may offer animals. But always present is the desire to give one-self fully to God, expressed in the offering of a gift.