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There's an interesting parable that many people find difficult to understand. I was fortunate to have a priest explain it to me. It's often called the parable of the dishonest manager or crafty steward (Luke 16:1-8). Let's read it:
Then Jesus said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.”
Then the manager said to himself, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.” So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?” He answered, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.” He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.” Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?” He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill and make it eighty.”
And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.
There seems to be some confusion as to the nature of the Mass. Some people claim that it is a sacrifice, re-presenting the death of Christ on the Cross. Therefore, we should be very serious at Mass and show no signs of joy. Other say that it is a celebration of Christ's resurrection and that the Mass should have a more festive mood. So what's the answer? What does the Church teach?
In a nutshell: all of the above.
The holy Mass is a sacrifice and a celebration. We commemorate the Passion and resurrection of Christ.
The holy Mass is certainly a great mystery. Many volumes could be written about it and would never exhaust its richness. The Church and the Saints have written extensively about it over the centuries. I will not attempt to survey the entire literature of what has been said about the Mass. I will limit myself to a very short quote from paragraph 1330 of the Catechism, which provides the basic answer to the question posed in the title of this post.
Paragraph 1330 is situated in a section of the Catechism that enumerates the various names given to this wonderful sacrament. In paragraph 1330, we read the following (italics are in the original text, additional emphasis added by me):
"[This Sacrament is called] the memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection.
The Holy Sacrifice, because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Savior and includes the Church's offering. The terms holy sacrifice of the Mass, "sacrifice of praise," spiritual sacrifice, pure and holy sacrifice are also used, since it completes and surpasses all the sacrifices of the Old Covenant.
The Holy and Divine Liturgy, because the Church's whole liturgy finds its center and most intense expression in the celebration of this sacrament; in the same sense we also call its celebration the Sacred Mysteries. We speak of the Most Blessed Sacrament because it is the Sacrament of sacraments. The Eucharistic species reserved in the tabernacle are designated by this same name."
As you can see, the Church has answered our question quite succinctly in paragraph 1330.
I encourage you to read the entire section on the mass as explained in paragraphs 1322 to 1419 of the Catechism.
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Is there an aspect of the Catholic Faith that you struggle with? Please drop me a line in the comments section and we can have a friendly talk about it.
Asking questions is not a sign of ignorance. It's a sign of intelligence: you want to know and understand something. A faith that has never been questioned may not be fully mature. But if you have questioned certain aspects of the Faith and have looked for the answers, then your faith grows much stronger.
