I was just rereading todays gospel. And a crazy and scary thought cane to mind. Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast,* but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. - Matthew 9:14-15 I was struck by thinking how blessed i am to be invited every Sunday, really every day, to attend the wedding feast with the bridegroom- which is the Mass. I need to approach my attendance with more joy and reverence- to not take it for granted. I am in the presence of the Bridegroom at His invitation. Why would i ever want to fast from that! And the other thought which is a bit scary is what happens when Bridegroom is no longer here. I know Jesus will be present always but i wonder if this passage might be prophetic in warning that at some point our Catholic Mass could be somehow stopped or worse changed by Church in future that would invalidate it. I mean its only through the Mass where the true Presence can be manifested. The wording, when the bridegroom is taken away from them struck me tonight in a way I never thought of before. Without the presence of The Bridegroom through our Holy Mass , then we would be truly mourning. Idk but it really made me stop and think to be so grateful to have access to a Mass every day
miker, Such a scenario has been prophesied. I tremble, but there appears that some in the Church wouldn't mind fulfilling the prophecies of various saints concerning the creation of a invalid consecration for the sake of "unity"! But those of us who are faithful will have opportunities: where there is a will to seek out the Holy Sacrifice, I'm sure God will provide.
When I was in prison I could only get to Mass once a week. Also when travelling sometimes such as Islamic countries like Turkey I have found it impossible to get to Mass every day. It is true it causes pain and suffering. I asked a very Holy Dominican priest one time about people who lived and worked in places where there was no Mass. His answer was very firm. If a person decided to live and work in a country where they could not get Mass (such as Saudi Arabia) then it was there own fault for going there to live and they would have to take the Spiritual Consequences. However there are cases, such as travelling when it is not really our fault. In the future if the Mass is suppressed that would not be our fault either. But in my experience if we genuinely honestly want to get to Mass and try to do so but can't then Jesus , who wants to come to us a million times more than we want to come to Him comes to us anyway. He is God and can do as I like. In other words we will miss out on nothing. One of my most precious memories is saying the Rosary at night in my hotel room in Instanbul, that great Islamic city of ten million people. It seemed to me that those rosaries just took fire and my little hotel room turned into a great cathedral. That Jesus and His Holy Mother came to me when I could not go to them.
