The Mystery of the Mass
On Coming Full Circle
When I was 19-years-old, I left the Catholic Church. Six years later, I came back. One of the first books I read after my reversion was The Lamb’s Supper by Scott Hahn. I’ll be honest: it confused me. Not because it didn’t make sense; it did! Rather, it confused me because the ideas he wrote about were so foreign to me. I was confused about why this was the first time I was hearing them.
Not once, in all my eight years of attending Catholic school and growing up in a Catholic home, had anyone ever told me that in the Mass, Heaven comes to earth and there, we worship with the angels and the saints.
Not once had anyone ever told me that in the Mass, we adored Christ as King in the Word proclaimed.
Not once had anyone told me that in the Mass, the whole congregation witnesses the representation of Christ’s atoning sacrifice and is, in a sense, mystically transported to Calvary.
And while I had heard plenty of times that the Eucharist was the Supper of the Lamb, I associated that phrase with horrifically cheesy hymns from the 1980s, not with the glorious, wild, mysteries of the Book of Revelation.
I also I had no idea that the entirety of the Holy Mass, from first to last, was drenched in the words of Sacred Scripture, and that the Sacred Liturgy taking place in every Catholic parish in the world was the culmination and fulfillment of the whole story of salvation history.
I remember putting down the book to call up the friend who had recommended it to me and saying it complete frustration, “How did I not know this? Why did no one ever explain this to me, or explain it in a way that made sense?”
I felt angry, sad, and cheated all at the same time. Yet, once I calmed down, I also felt blessed to finally be learning such great and beautiful truths, which broke open my heart and changed both me and my relationship with God forever.
Today, I also feel blessed.
10 long months after I sent the manuscript off to my editors, my newest book, The Supper of the Lamb, is finally available for purchase. It’s also in my house. Which means my children won’t ever feel cheated like I did. They will grow up knowing all that I didn’t know because they will hear me read these truths to them, day after day, in rhyming couplets that stay in their memories like a song.
Based upon Scott’s Hahn’s book The Lamb’s Supper, which changed so much for me, The Supper of the Lamb combines his brilliant mining of the Church’s ancient teachings on the Mass, with Tricia Dugat’s vibrant art, and my rhyming poetry. Together, we make these great truths not only accessible to children, but fun and engaging.
Our goal with this book was to give children a glimpse into the eternal truths about the Liturgy and equip them with the language and tools they need to grow in their understanding of that truth in the years to come. I think we’ve succeeded.
This afternoon, at 12:30 EST, I’ll be reading The Supper of the Lamb Live on Instagram. Please hop on if you can. I have been waiting for so long to share this with you and can’t believe today is finally the day!
Working on this project is something I never could have imagined, all those years ago, when I first read The Lamb’s Supper. God is so good. He let my cry of frustration be turned into a passion for helping even the littlest Catholics know the wonderous treasure we have in the Mass. I pray you love this book as much as I do. I also pray that it does in your heart and the hearts of all the children you love, the work that Scott’s original book did in mine.
Blessings,
Emily
P.S. You can order The Supper of the Lamb from the St. Paul Center and just about everywhere books are sold online. I’d also be so grateful if you recommend it to your local Catholic book stores, schools, parishes, and libraries. Bulk orders of 100 books or more are discounted 50 percent, so if you’re interested in placing a large order for your parish, please reach out to me and I can connect you with the right people at the St. Paul Center. It’s a fantastic book for Christmas, as well as Baptism and First Communion, and while its target audience is children ages 4-10, children on either side of that age range can still enjoy it.
Congratulations!!! What a gift from the Lord to be able to bring these truths to the little ones.
I would love to see this translated into Spanish one day. If there is ever interest in that, I’d love to help.
Your Catholic teachers told you. You didn’t listen because your parents and you judged your teachers as stupid. The WORLD was smart and true!!