 It's such a joy to be with you. We have so much to do and so little time to do it, I need to be able to move this because I'm a hobbit deacon and I can't see the monitors behind this huge ambo. That wasn't a joke. You know the church is so unhobbit sensitive, it's really disgusting. Anyway, I don't know about you, but for me this has been one of those conferences, you know, I've been asked to speak and yet I come being totally fed by what I've received and taking lots of notes. We've had so much richness over the course of this weekend and just by way of kind of leading into this time, if you recall Debbie started us off and one of the things that she said that really struck me was, we're living with no power because we have no purpose. Because we have lost our identity. Father Dave followed up with his decision, you know, to answer the call to say yes and he made this statement. He said, the key to saying yes is to surrender my will. And then Father Matt said, we need to separate the facts from the truth because the facts can change. And what struck me with that was, but the truth never changes, amen. And then Ralph came in and gave us an awakening of which I think we all have seen already. But he made the statement, if we really take the living waters into our soul, we must become sources of living water. Spirit has to flow through us to other people. They need to start drinking of the spirit from us, amen. And then Father Matt last night said, we are created for worship and he made this profound statement again and it was like a shot through the eyes and if we don't worship the one true God, we will worship false gods. We're called my people. We're sent. And one of the images that I got as we were up here praying was that of the prophet Daniel who was so assured of his identity in the Lord as being called a prophet, of being sent, that when he was confronted by the government and said, you must do this or you go into the lion's den, there was never a doubt. What was more important to Daniel was that he held on to God and he did not let go. Even though he looked in the face of the lions, even though he was thrown in there and he knew that these, according to the world standards, have the ability to devour me, he thought, what was more important is that he didn't hold on to his treasure, the Lord, his God. And my brothers and sisters, if we're going to leave here, we must go out and begin with this attitude in mind, having that identity that Debbie spoke of, that we are called to be sons and daughters of God, that we are the missionaries to go out into the world. We are the ones who need to let people know that God is alive and he's real. And you need to tell us, you need to tell the world, people need to know by the way you live your life, not just your words, but by the way you live your life that God is real. And until we decide that this is who we're going to be and that our lives is no longer of our own, even for our own families, but for God and God alone, only then will we find the courage and the trust in God and be open to the Spirit to allow us to move into those waters that scare the hell out of us. We come to this conference and I was soaking it in, it was weird praying and of course I'm standing right next to Father Matt and he's just going off like crazy. And I'm thinking, whoa cowboy, hold on here. But there's no woe in him because the Spirit was cruising through him and I'm just sucking it up, you know? And it's so cool to be in these kind of environments where we experience the life of the Spirit flowing through us, isn't it? It's contagious. But what happens when we go home? What happens when we go home to our parishes? Where do we find this kind of outpouring flow, constant, nonstop? Because it seems like we go back to our parishes and the circumstances of our churches and we know they're suffering. We know they're not allowing the Spirit to flow, not like they could, right? Like that word we heard, why are we trying to domesticate the Holy Spirit? But where do we get that? Where does that come from? If we don't have a conscientious awareness of where that source comes from, then again we keep looking from conference to conference or retreat and retreat. And that's not the way it's supposed to be. That's not the way Jesus set it up. Jesus set it up so that every day we had the opportunity to come back and recharge. But that's where the struggles are. That's where the struggles are. Is that every day we come back and we kind of, we go through the motions and we get caught up in our everyday lives and we're still so focused on the world here on earth, so focused on what we got to do here, there, and taking care of ourselves because there's that trust thing. We're not quite sure whether or not we can trust God with our finances, our lived experiences. And so we struggle. And then we exclude God out of portions of our lives. Where do we get replenished? Well, it comes back to here. As I've been preparing materials in my ministry, one of the things that I found is I speak missions across the country is that I was going places and lighting hearts on fire. The spirit was coming and igniting their hearts and then the parishes were ill-equipped. They had no follow-up. It's like giving birth and then leaving the baby there with no nourishment, no way of growing, no understanding of what do I do now. And so I started to create some materials and one of them was a very simple booklet and it's called Pick Up Your Cross and Follow Me. And it just talks about the four fundamental disciplines of a disciple of Christ. I'm growing up as a young Catholic. I didn't even know there were four fundamental disciplines that we're supposed to have entrenched in our lives. And one of the disciplines is the Eucharistic Gathering. And at first, when I was writing this down, I put it as all the sacraments, but it wasn't all the sacraments. The very beginning of the church, Acts chapter two at the end of that chapter, it talks about the church gathered around and they focused on four things, the fundamentals. And one of them was the breaking of the bread. It was around the altar. Why? Why was it this? Well, one of the reasons it's not all the sacraments, although you need all the sacraments to lead us to here, but why was it around the table? I never really thought about that. And I started chewing on that more after I got my first round of those books out of that book out. And I realized as I studied more, I realized, no, it's not all the sacraments, it's particularly this one. It's particularly focused here on this place. Why? Why is it that that takes place? I couldn't, you know, I mean, I never thought about it as a kid growing up. But you ever wondered why the church says upon mortal sin, you must go to mass every weekend? Ever wondered why? I never connected the dots, but it's around the altar. What is it that is so much about this that the church declares in the Catechism, reference number 2031, throw that slide up there. Look at this. The moral life is spiritual worship. We present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Now think about that for a second. We present our bodies, and yet Father, in just a little while, is going to come, and he's going to consecrate the bread and wine into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ. But what is also taking place here? A communion, come in union, a union with us and him. And so we come every day, if we have the opportunity, to offer up our bodies as a gift of sacrifice. Every day, we're reminding ourselves, today, Jesus, I die for you. Today, Jesus, everything in my life is irrelevant compared to what I want to give to you today. Whatever is in my life, whatever I'm all about, let my purpose be completely yours. We come back to the table to remind us. We come back to enter in, to refresh ourselves, and we're going to get to that in a minute, but it's a reminder of our bodies, a living sacrifice, which means that if I'm going to sacrifice, there's death. But there's also life. Well, what does that look like? It means that I no longer live for my needs, for my wants. I live only for Jesus. I live only for him, for his purpose. And that puts us in those situations where we start talking like Dave talked about, about having those divine appointments. I've never had a bathroom encounter. That is really just awesome. Did it kind of feel like it was a confessional, like you're sitting in one? No, it just, us Hobbes were just simple minded, I don't know, just within the body of Christ that we form and in communion with the offering of his Eucharist. In the liturgy we celebrate the celebration of the sacraments, prayer and teaching. Let's get down to the bottom of that. As does the whole of the Christian life, the moral life finds its source and summit in the Eucharist. What does that mean? What does it mean that this is the summit? This is where we are. This is where we focus. This is everything we go and work towards, right here. What does that mean? And what does it mean that it's the source? The source of what? What is this the source of? Because we need to tap into that. I gotta be honest. And I'm sure my brother priests will appreciate this comment, but sometimes when you come and you go to Mass, you sit down in the chair and the crowd is looking at you up on the altar and we're there and we're looking at the crowd. I mean, you think it's just you're staring at us? Well, we're staring at you too. But one of the things that I've become more aware of in the last maybe couple of months is that when we come, we're not really here. We tune out so quickly, don't we? And I'm trying to think through, well, Lord, what is it that's going on? Why does that happen? Sometimes for me at my home parish at Holy Family, just up the road here, before I start to preach to hum, I'm like, I'm watching a crowd and I'm watching them listen to the readings and they sit down and they begin to start relaxing and then the next thing they're like going, and you see this glaze go over their eyes. And it's as if we do what we were trained to do as little kids, right? Because as a little kid, you don't care about what Father's doing in the altar. Little kids, you're like bored. It's like, wah, wah, wah. So what do we do? We tune out and we don't pay attention. And next thing you know, it's time for the gospel. I'm supposed to stand up, right? We're just so, you know, it's an automatic pilot. And I'm like, Lord, why is this happening? Why is it that this is taking place? What is going on? And so I started to just look for answers. Go to that next slide. St. Ignatius of Antioch, he made this statement and it struck me. It says, I hunger for the bread of God, the flesh of Jesus Christ. When's the last time you went to Mass and you were really looking for God? I mean, really hungering Him. When's the last time you had a desperation need for Jesus? You see what I mean? How is it that He has this attitude? I'm like, God, I want that attitude. What is it going to take for me to get to the place that instead of me just kind of, spotlight, ready? Instead of me just coming out and coming to Mass like the rest of the people, that I'm actually coming to the altar because I desperately need Jesus. When is the last time we had that heart? When's the last time we had that desperate need for God? When were we looking for Him in that way? Because we just kind of go through the motions. We just keep playing church. Is it because we, besides receiving the bread and wine, the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ after it's consecrated, do we believe we're getting anything else? Our hearts opened like we've been working on opening our hearts through this entire conference, right? And what's happened? Every time we open up our hearts and we ask God to show up, what happens? We get filled up, yes? Have you not been getting filled up this weekend? It comes from there. But we've been desensitized to the Mass. Why have we been desensitized? I'm convinced that this time, and just a little bit when we go for Mass and all of our churches during the time of Mass, the physical building of our churches, I am convinced that that is one of the greatest battlegrounds of the church, is the physical space with which we come to celebrate Eucharist. It is one of the greatest battlegrounds where the enemy comes in with us and keeps you away from him. We tune out. It happens to me. I get like one of the choices spots. I'm right here. I get to see Jesus come right here. I'm the closest one besides the priest to the Lord when he shows up. And even in this position, I don't even pay attention to the words. It's just so easy to let our minds wander off and lose focus and no longer pay attention. It's just so easy to go off someplace else and no longer be attentive to our beloved. The church says we should have full and active participation. Well, it's not that we're just supposed to sing and know when to kneel and when to stand. And full and active participation, what does that mean? When I look at St. Teresa of Lissue, she makes this statement. The next slide. The guest of our soul knows our misery. He comes to find an empty tent within us. It's all he asks. He's hoping that we're gonna show up. And then when we have full and active participation it means that we get rid of all the junk. That we let go of everything. Let go of it all and bring it to the Lord so that we are empty vessels ready just like you were for this conference to be filled. Lord, come and fill me. Come and fill me. But you know, that's where the wrestling match is. It's just so often we go through this stuff and we just come to mass because we have been eating and drinking of so much of the stuff of the world that we're no longer hungry or thirsty for God. Wouldn't you say that's true? I mean, if we were to just do a, this is one of my own personal wrestling matches but if we were to just do an evaluation of our own lives, how much TV do we watch compared to how much we pray? I suspect some of you are like, I've been me and that we put in, won't think at all about dropping two, three hours a night of watching television. But that prayer thing, it's another thing. It's such a battle. St. Francis DeSales put it this way. He said, when you have received him, stir up your heart and do him homage. Just like Father Matt was talking about last night, this whole idea of worship. So here is this saying telling us that when you're in the midst of this, stir up your hearts, be intentional, consciously aware. Here's what's going on. Lord, I'm here. I'm here just like we've been talking about doing all week and long. Come Lord, fill me. But we still don't have that desperation yet. But here he is in terms of full and active participation. Stir up your heart, stir it up. Do him homage. Speak to him about your spiritual life. Gazing upon him in your soul. Well, there's an eye opener. Gazing upon him in your soul. Remember what Father Matt was talking about? Go into the interior room. Go in there where no one else has access, but it's just the place you've set up for just you and him to have a one-on-one gaze upon him. You see, these are the things that when we gather around here, we have to begin to start tuning in. We have to realize that it's not just I'm fulfilling an obligation. It's not just, but now I need to be here. Why do you need to be at mass? What is the legitimate need that you have for being at mass? Well, I don't wanna commit a mortal sin. No, no, no, no. Get away from the rules. What is the legitimate need you have to go to mass? Because that is what we need to tap into. What is the need? Where is it? What are we struggling with? Where he is present in your happiness. Welcome him as warmly as possible. But then here's the kicker. It was like a two by four across my face. And behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of his presence. That your actions may give proof to all of his presence. Does our lives actually give proof that God is real? By the way we live our lives, do we look more like everybody else in the world? Or are we standing out? Are we standing out in such a way that people are going, what is up with you? And not like you people are kooky. I mean, you are, but still it's not the point. What is it? What is it about you? You know that old phrase, you know, if you were to be arrested today would there be enough evidence sufficient to show that you're really a Christian or a Catholic? When I was a youth leader back in the day, in the old days, in the 80s, in Miami, Florida, no less, before Safe Child Environment rules, I decided I wanted to really unpack that at a youth group meeting. This is in Miami. Back in the day, you're gonna totally judge me when you hear this, but don't. So I decided, I had my leaders together, my core team together, and I said, guys, here's the deal, something's gonna happen tonight, and I just want you to know I'm in complete control. Because you see, I didn't wanna tell them because I wanted them to be aware, I wanted them to be just as surprised as everyone else. And I had moved to my home parish from where I was working as a missionary in inner city Miami in Little Havana. So I had some friends in Little Havana, and I had them dress up as gang members. And then, don't judge me. And then they came and a couple of them had weapons, guns, hunting guns, with blanks, and clubs, like baseball bats. And they dressed up like gang members. And next thing I know, I'm up front giving a talk, and you hear, bada, bada! And then, five or six of these guys come rushing into the room. One of the guys comes up to me with a baseball bat, I left the guys with the guns in the back so nobody would freak out too much. And the guy with the baseball bat, and I said, hey, what are you doing? He took the baseball bat and went, and I went, boom, boom, boom. And I fall back on the ground and I sit up, and he goes, Jew, Jew talked to my brother about Jesus and he left my gang. Jew took my brother from me. So today, I'm going to take you from them. And the girls in the group go, huh! And then I just left a pregnant pause. And then, I looked at the group and I said, so if this was real, would you be guilty of doing something like this? And one of the girls afterwards said, you know, we all done and everybody did that. Oh my gosh, it was just a joke. Okay, great, great, great. And the girls came up and went, Ralph, I can't believe you did that! But you see the point is when people watch us, do they know? Do people at work all know that the spirit is alive in us? Do they know? You see, because Father talked last night about fasting. Again, fasting is so huge, but we need to do some different kind of fasting. Yes, there's the fasting from food. Yes, there's the fasting from struggling with letting go of television or things like that. But why don't we start fasting from being afraid to be Christians? Why don't we start fasting from being afraid? Why don't we start fasting from not speaking up when there is injustice? Why don't we start fasting from the things that really make us become the disciples of Jesus Christ that we're called to be? That when we start doing that, I guarantee you you will find the desperation you need to come to the altar. But until we do that, we remain secure, comfortable, protected. As an evangelist, the question out in the world today, there's just one, do you know Jesus is real? I just need you to answer that question. They need you to answer that question. How do you know? Don't tell me stories about a cross. I can read that. I wanna know how you know Jesus is real today. How do you know? Are you ready to give that answer? Are you ready? Are you prepared to give that answer because it's gonna require some self-disclosure? Because the truth is only until you begin to start talking about the vulnerabilities and brokenness and stuff of your life, only then can we then say what Jesus did to make it better, amen? But we're too afraid. Again, we sit back because we're still trusting in our own ability to protect ourselves and we're not trusting in divine providence. We're not trusting that God is going to do what he said he's gonna do. You see, if we belong to him, there is nothing else we need to worry about. Could we get hurt? Yes. Could we suffer? Absolutely. Could we die? Absolutely. I believe in our culture, the United States, we're gonna see martyrs in the Catholic Church, if not in my lifetime, our teenager's lifetime. You know the persecution is coming, it's already started. It's first gonna be green persecution. They're gonna get you where your false God is, your money. You wanna play? You want your green? You play with us. And the test will come and you will either rise or you will fall because like Debbie said, you gotta decide who's your daddy? Who's your daddy? Do you have great certainty? Do we know what's going on? Do we understand? Because when we get to this place of seeing the desperation of going out in the world and living the way we're called to live, the world is gonna hate you, Jesus said. You're gonna be suffering and persecuted for my namesake, why? Because we're standing up for the truth. Because we're finally living the truth completely and not holding back anymore. I remember one time I was in Texas and I had the opportunity, I was preaching a mission and Monday was Father's Day off and so they had a communion service at the church but Father has a private chapel and a rectory. And he said, Ralph, we can have Mass over at the rectory today and I'm like, great. So he had one of these narrow altars, like maybe about half the depth of this one and it was a kneeler in front of that altar and so I'm kneeling and Father does the consecration and he's holding up the host and there it is, right there. And in the midst of holding up that host, the Lord just quietly said, Ralph, I love you so much. And of course, you know, the tears start flowing. Boogers snarps start working their way and then he goes on and he says, and I want you to know that I have never held anything back, more boogers snots. I'm sure Father is going, what is going on in there? What are we holding back? What are we holding back from God? We can give great token lip service and say, I believe, but when the time comes to live it, we hold back. Where is the action that supports the belief? Where is the trust in God? Where does it come from? See, I don't think we really understand all that takes place here. I don't think we get it all. Next slide. Do you realize that Jesus is there in the Tabernacle expressly for you? For you alone, that was a tough one. Just for me, Lord, why? Right, then all those feelings of unworthiness and stuff kick out. But then, he burns with desire to come into your heart. Don't listen to the demon, laugh at him. See, I believe a lot of times in the midst of mass, right in the battleground of our lives, right in the midst of where we're coming to mass, those suckers are working overtime, particularly at the consecration, or right after we've received the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. I mean, have you ever been kneeling there at the time of the consecration and the most vile thoughts come into your mind? You're like, oh, Lord, it's because it's not you. It's them. Because they don't want you to see him. They don't want you to engage. They want you to think about what time is kickoff. I need to get what supplies for food after mass. We're having people over. What's going on tomorrow? So we're so busy worrying about the rest of whatever that we spend no attentive time being present in the moment. And Jesus is like the spouse going, I just want you here. I talk about how sometimes when I come home from a trip, my wife will have dinner ready for me. And what's it like if I sit down at dinner with her and my mind is just focused somewhere else? I'm physically there, but emotionally, I'm not connected. Mentally, I'm not tied in. And she's, I hope, missed me. She wants to be with me. The same is true of our Lord. He doesn't just want us there. He wants us there. He wants us there. He wants our hearts open. He wants them empty so that he's ready to fill them in. And he wants us asking, I need you. I need you. I want you. I am desperate for you. For me, the longest time was I was kind of going through because I was one of those kids that got confirmed and I left the church because this didn't mean anything to me. It didn't mean anything. It just was a whole bunch of stuff. You know, the priest was going through the pages and he's saying the words and I'm tuned out. I'm like, and then I began to look. Then I began to listen to the words. The words that they say. Because you see, a sacrament is a physical sign of an invisible reality. In the Catechism it says that the sacraments are efficacious in nature. That's like a $100 church word. It says that the sacraments do what they say. But if we're not tuned into what they say, we don't know what they do. And so here I am and I started to look into mass and again, I'm trying to connect dots. I'm like, yeah, why is it that the Catholic Church celebrates Easter for three days instead of just one? I was a one-dayer and then I began to realize it's three days, why? And I couldn't understand. And then I began to connect some dots and I'll show you what I mean. When did Jesus atone for your sins? On the cross. Yes and no. Yes and no. Where's a married couple? Married couple. Married couple. Not perfect. She's like no, no, and you're like yes, yes. Okay, so I'm gonna ask you first. When were you married? June 6th, 1987? Good answer. So you both approached that day as single guy, single gal, yes? At what time did you cease to be single guy and single gal? Her turn, you gave your right answer. What? What happened at two o'clock? We got married. So is that what time mass began? That's a question. Yes, okay. She's like, I don't wanna answer anymore. Okay, so back to you. At what time in the mass did you cease to become single guy and single girl? When the priests then, or deacon, rude? When the guy says that you're now, right? That's not true. Little earlier, when? The moment, cause you see you two are the celebrants. We're not. You celebrate the sacrament. So it's the moment you say your vows. The moment you say the words. See, God gives us this amazing ability. God had this amazing power because he's God. When he says something, it happens. Let us create the heavens and the earth. Boom. Let us create the sky with the sun and the moon. Let us separate the water from the land. He says it, it's done. Boom. And now he gives us that ability. I promise to be faithful and true in good times and in bad, right? When you recite the words, it is done. So then you are legally married at that point. You go on through the rest of the mass and then at the end of the mass, he says, let me introduce you to Mr. and Mrs., right? And then you're good Catholics and you wait for the proper year before you consummate your marriage, right? Okay, what? You see, the point is the consummation happened a year later. But I'm looking at him, it probably happened that night. The consummation happened that night. But that night doesn't mean you were married. When you spoke the words, you were married. See, we celebrate Easter for three days because Jesus on Holy Thursday, the institution of the Eucharist, he comes and he says the words. This is my body. This is my blood. When the priest comes and he says the words, it is done. It is right here where Jesus says, I give it to you. When you listen to the words, it says, therefore, one time, not the priest's words, that's his words. Therefore, oh Lord, as we celebrate the memorial of the saving passion of your son, it's not a remembrance of a story, it's the make present, the sacrifice. We're brought to the very place where Jesus says I give myself for your sins, where he gives himself completely to us. It is done here, absolutely here. And every time we come to mass, we're brought to the place where Jesus gave himself, gives himself because it's an eternal sacrifice. We're not remembering it. We're brought back into this eternal sacrifice where we're right there when Jesus does it for me and for you. It's what he does to bring us into intimate union with him. That's how he does it through marriage. You see, the cross on Sunday is the consummation of the event that was spoken into reality on Thursday. That's why it's three days. Trituum, three days to sit down and watch what God does to bring forth life in us. You see, Father Matt was talking about this whole idea of coma zone last night. We were created in relationship with God to live in a garden of life of Eden. And when sin enters the world, we die. And we remain in a state of death until we get baptized. And then we have this crazy free will and we sin again and we constantly have to go back and come back to the Lord. But you see, it's all bringing us back to here. Every time we go out and we live in the world separated from God, there is death. We get sucked into what the world does and we get so focused on living our lives for a hundred years that we forget that God gave us an eternal inheritance. What could we possibly receive in a hundred years on earth that would be worth more than what God has for you for eternity? What? And so God calls us back to his table. Come back and remember. Come back and re-enter the sacrifice. Because you walked away from me from a week if it was the last time you went to Mass and you lived in the world and you died again. Because surely all of us had to have sinned in a week. You think? God calls us back. He's preparing us for eternity with him. But what does Satan do? And every time we show up at the altar, we come in and we tune out. The days are coming when I'm gonna lose my voice. Where we have to fight in Mass. We have to fight to be present. We have to fight through the tiredness of whatever we did stupidly the night before so that we can be attentive to the Lord. So that we can be in union with our beloved. We have to fight. Remember on the cross when Jesus is finally his last word, remember what happens? He says, it is, you see when you're celebrating the Passover Feast, the celebrant, these guys had it memorized, they didn't have the book. But at the end of the feast, the celebrant concludes. And he concludes and he says, it is finished. Jesus on the cross, when he was going, well before the cross on Holy Thursday, he didn't finish the celebration of the liturgy of the Passover. Did you notice? In the middle of the liturgy of the Passover, he didn't finish. If you're one of the apostles and you're a Jew, you're sitting there going, wait a second, he's saying stuff that's not in the rubrics. These aren't the words. It's like us going to Mass and all of a sudden Father throws out something from left field. Where the heck is that coming from? And so they're tuning in and like something is different. He's saying, this is my body. That's not in the rubric. This is my blood. And then he makes this crazy thought. He says, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until I come into my Father's kingdom. But you see, they just finished the third cup and you drink from the chalice four times. And in between the third cup and the fourth cup, you recite, you sing hymns 116 through 119. And then the fourth cup, you drink it. And when you drink from the fourth cup, the celebrant says it is, well, Jesus drinks from the third cup, makes the profession. He will not go through it again, drink again. And the apostles are going, what is going on? And then they sing Psalm 119. And then Jesus says, let's go. And he gets up and he leaves. And the apostles are going, what? Where's the Lord going? And he all get up and they follow, but nobody wants to ask. Lord, you just, he's God. We've been calling him rabbi all the time. You'd think he'd have the rubrics of the Passover feast memorized. And what's he doing? He leaves. What is he doing? And then Jesus goes through his passion. And then he gets crucified. And now he's on the cross and he's seeing the women and he's seeing his mama. And he says, mom, here's John, John, mom. He's going through the whole thing. And then finally, God, where are you? And then finally, Jesus decides to bring in the Roman who now is caught up in the drama. He's watching. He's thinking, dude, this guy doesn't deserve to die. And Jesus says the word, I thirst. Well, we got some vinegar wine, fruit of the vine. Takes the branch, hyssop branch. Sound familiar? The Passover feast, they took the hyssop, the leafy part of the hyssop branch, dipped it in the blood and put it over the doorposts on lentils. The Roman centurion takes the hyssop branch, the long stem, puts a sponge on it, dips it in the blood, holds it up to the Lord's mouth. And he drinks the fourth cup. And he says, it is, do you know what that means, literally? It is consummated. The mass is not just the foot of the cross where we come and see Jesus die for us. It is also the wedding feast of the Lamb of God. We are getting married. We're coming into conjugal union. How? By receiving the groom into us, like the bride receives her groom on her wedding night. True presence, body, blood, soul and divinity, why? So that we can receive our groom into us. You see, maybe if you understood the ancient Jewish wedding rituals. I gotta hurry, I've only got two hours, okay. You see, the way it works is the father of the groom comes to the son and says, yo, Caleb, what do you think about marrying that Philly, Elizabeth? And he's thinking, yeah, not bad, I'll figure it out. Joseph, what do you think your Philly, Elizabeth, marrying my butt Caleb? Not a bad match, I'll check with the Lizzie. Lizzie, what do you think of Caleb? Yeah, we'll work it out. So they get together and they come up with a contract. See, back in that day, the groom's family had to give the father of the bride something for the bride, right? Something, money or whatever, they come up with a bride price. Was it a cow, was it whatever? They had to give him some financial contribution for the daughter, which, by the way, I think we need to return back to that practice. I have five daughters, I'm bleeding through the nose, okay? But anyway, I'm putting on this big party and I get squat from the groom's family. What is wrong with this picture? So they come up with a bride price. What's the price for the bride? And then to solidify that, they seal the deal by drinking from the chalice and it's done. Remember in the Gospels where Jesus, where it says Joseph is married to Mary, but they're not living together? They'd gone through the bride price, they'd gone through drinking that thing, but now it's not the 21st century where the kids go back and live with their parents, they gotta go back and create their space to live. So the groom is over here working on his place to live and the bride doesn't know when the groom is coming. Remember the Gospels? Lord, when are you gonna return? I don't know, only my dad in heaven knows. Nobody knows when I'm coming back, right? But where are you going? I'm preparing a place for you, right? So meanwhile, the bride is waiting because the groom is gonna come like a thief in the night and snatch the bride. And what happens is he comes to her house where dad has set up the bridal chamber and he sneaks in and he snatches the bride so she doesn't know when she's gonna get snatched. So she has to be in a constant state of preparedness, cleanliness, purity. That is why we need to be in a constant state of purity before we receive the Lord in the blessed sacrament. Why? Because it's our wedding bed. And so we need to be in a state of grace to receive the Lord and not just show up to mass because whatever, regardless of what we watched the night before, you see, we need to have this amazing realization of what's going on. And so at the appointed time, Jesus shows up and he takes his bride and he takes her into the wedding chamber. It's the most beautiful thing. And they conjugate, you know, and then they get cleaned up and then comes the next part. See, like in modern weddings right now it's all about the bride and the dress, right? So at that point when the wedding begins everybody stops, just hush and quiet and they're looking at the bride. And as the father of the bride worried about the cost of the dress, I'm thinking, father Nathan, could I see you before mass for just, okay. So when they're cleaned up then they enter into where the party is going on which by the way is a week long party, remember? Remember the wedding at Cana? Jesus shows up with 12 of his buddies and they drink most of the wine so Mama Mary goes to Jesus and says, fix it. Right? A week long party. Okay, I'm sorry Lord. You gotta get me off the stage quick and I'm burning out. Let me finish this thought please. So at that moment the groom takes his bride and when they enter into the reception area it's like a parting of the Red Seas. The music stops and wherever dad is sitting in a place of honor, his father, everyone stops and is quiet and they watch the groom take his bride, all stud-like, you know. To his dad and he comes to his dad and says, dad, I wanna introduce you. Jesus is taking you to his father. Are we paying attention to the amazing gift of the groom giving himself to us? And are we working, dying to become a bride equally sacrificial to her groom? Because as we've been talking about the whole weekend is that it's all about, so let us truly enter into a love with our beloved.