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At Mass with Jesus on Calvary: Reflections on the Prayers of the Mass and the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, authored by Fr. Gene Martens, SJ
At Mass with Jesus on Calvary: Reflections on the Prayers of the Mass and the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist
by Fr. Gene Martens, SJ
For the ordinary Catholic, this book will clarify the teaching of the Catholic Church on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Even more, by means of its in-depth reflections on the prayers of the Mass, it will inspire and help Catholics in their daily lives to experience in an ever more meaningful and more enriching way their belief in the Real Presence, their participation in the celebration of the Mass, and their visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Furthermore, should a Catholic who has given up belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist happen to read this book, it will enable him or her to realize the truth of this most marvelous gift of God to his Church and thus to accept once again its blessing in his or her life.
Paperback: $17.95 | Kindle: $9.99
REVIEWS
Fr. James Swetnam, SJ, a review published June 2020 in Homiletic and Pastoral Review
TESTIMONIALS
“What enrichment to my Catholic faith I have received by reading Fr Martens’ book! I feel blessed to have the opportunity to receive a new depth of understanding in the celebration of the Mass. Thank you, Fr. Martens, for revealing these many complex mysteries to us.” –Mrs. Pamela Paull
“At Mass with Jesus on Calvary is concise and yet surprisingly rich; as reasonable as it is pious; as suffused with Scripture as with the Church’s magisterial teachings. Fr. Gene Martens spreads ray after ray of illuminating light on the hidden Deity of the Eucharist, on the Christ Who invites us to join Him on Calvary that we one day may come to see Him face to face. I highly recommend this book to all who seek greater understanding the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and more intimate union with Christ.” – Kevin Vost, Psy.D., author of books including Memorize the Mass!, Memorize the Latin Mass! and 12 Life Lessons from St. Thomas Aquinas
“For many years, we had the honor of hosting retreats for alumni and friends at Rockhurst High School that were led by Fr. Martens. Each were filled with messages like those in his book about Christ’s gift of the Eucharist. His book brings to life for the reader the beauty and meaning of these celebrations, which are so central to our Catholic faith and Jesuit spirituality. Fr. Martens Christ-like way of presenting these profoundly life-changing themes is a true gift for the faithful who will open his or her heart to the Lord.” – Laurence W. Freeman, Chief Advancement Officer, Rockhurst High School
“Fr. Martens’ book provides detailed connections between scripture, mass prayers, and church documents. We appreciate most his early point: ‘The Eucharist is not just a matter of our personal union with Jesus in Holy Communion. It also obliges and enables us to imitate Jesus in serving others.’” – Mike and Carol Mathews, Married couple, parents, and long-time residents of the Midwest. Mike worked for Celebration Magazine and is active in social service efforts. Carol was liturgist for Holy Spirit Parish and is active in diocesan liturgy work.
“Father Martens’ book At Mass with Jesus on Calvary will be an inspiring companion for all Catholics, especially teachers in parochial schools, PSR and RCIA programs, liturgies and all participants in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Readers will gain deep insights and feel Father’s profound reverence on every page.” – Charlene Nauert, Member of the St. Louis Archdiocesan Liturgical Commission
“Father Martens’ deep personal faith and devotion to the Eucharist is evident as he guides the reader to a deeper understanding of the Real Presence and invites us all to a fuller participation in the Mass through enhancing our awareness and comprehension.” – Patricia M Balke, PhD, author & educator, In God’s Image: Male and Female
“Fr. Martens gives us an insightful reminder into the beliefs of our Catholic faith, the Eucharist and the Mass. His examination is a thought-provoking journey into a better understanding of the Transubstantiation, giving biblical references and theological background for this gift to us. It is an important book for those who want to search further into the doctrine supporting this sacrament, those who are religious educators, or those who are preparing for Lay Ministry in the church.” – Sharon A. Curry, Catechist, and Eucharistic Minister
“Fr. Marten’s knowledge and understanding of the Eucharistic presence, the core of the Catholic belief, is an insightful reflection of his personal faith and hope. It affirms the words of the hymn, “without seeing you, we love you, without seeing you, we believe, you are our Savior, we believe in you.” – Sr. Carlene Welker, D.C., Pastoral Associate, Our Lady of the Holy Cross, St. Louis, MO
“Fr. Martens provides an awareness of key words and phrases in the Eucharistic prayers that gives the lay person a new depth of meaning while enriching their understanding of the Mass. This book would be excellent for a small-group study of the Mass.” – Patricia A. Meyer, LLM, Lay Pastoral Ministry Institute of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, FL
“Knowledge and the ability to teach are two separate gifts. Fr. Martens has both and demonstrates it with this book. When he addresses a student’s question on the Real Presence, ‘how do you squeeze a man into that tiny piece of bread?’ – it shows he is in touch with the person in the pew.” – Roger F. Meyer, Scripture Study Facilitator, Blessed Sacrament Parish, Seminole, FL
“Fr. Gene Martens provides a beautiful explication of the sacred gift of the Eucharist. Through his ordinary language and insightful metaphors, he offers a valuable resource that is vibrant and compelling as well as easy to understand–perfect for use in adult formation programs in a parish setting and preparation material for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion.” – Angie Doerr, Director of Religious Education Emerita, St. Francis Xavier College Church, St. Louis, Missouri
“The thoughts of Fr. Gene Martens on the Eucharist are in spiritual harmony with St. Paul who describes faithful followers as the body of Christ. All who love the Eucharist as communal celebration with the real presence of Christ will be enriched by this book.” – Vic Hummert, Hospital Jail Chaplain
“In this book, far from struggling, faith and reason celebrate together. It’s one of the miracles of the Eucharist. This is a comforting read, reminding us page after page that the Truth does not change. Expressions might and ought to; Truth does not. Our intellects, like a searchlight that doesn’t reach so far, cannot penetrate the mystery but can indeed throw light on the wonders of the Sacrament. Fr Martens has done all of that and written it in plain language and vivid image.” – Fr Joe Tetlow, SJ
“Evident in this book is the author’s years of success in the classroom. His style is clear and informative, always geared toward the student – of any age. I recommend this book to those who are seeking to deepen their love and devotion to the Eucharist as well as to those in adult formation programs in parish settings. They won’t need a discussion starter.” – Sr. Marianne Postiglione, RSM, Associate Director, Emerita, ITEST
“I highly recommend this book because Father’s spiritual life has allowed him to live his words and reflect to those who know him a better relationship with our God. I am excited to recommend this book and know it will bless many with his knowledge and efforts.” – Carol Atchity, BVM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Fr. Gene Martens, SJ, holds Licentiate Degrees in Philosophy and Theology from St. Louis University. He also holds a Certificate of Higher Religious Education from the Institut Pastorale Cathechetique of the Catholic Faculty at the University of Strasbourg, in France.
From 1966 to 1976, Fr. Martens taught religion at Rockhurst Jesuit High School in Kansas City, Missouri. During those years, in the wake of Vatican Council II, he gave numerous religious conferences to parents and helped to present a diocesan training program for religion teachers. He was a member of the editorial team which produced A New Look at Life, published by Paulist Press in 1970, as the eighth-grade program for the English language version of the “Come to the Father” series of religion texts.
Over the years from 1966 until the present, Fr. Martens has preached dozens of retreats to Religious Women, lay women and men, and also a few to high-school students. In addition, he has given many Days of Recollection or Spiritual Conferences to priests and other adults and even a few talks to children. As part of most of these various forms of spiritual education, Fr. Martens included lectures on the nature and meaning of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Mr. Francis Etheredge is married with eight children, plus three in heaven.
John Paul Heil is a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Ordained in 1974, he studied at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, where he received his Doctorate in Sacred Scripture in 1979. After teaching at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis for 27 years, he joined the faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at CUA in 2006.
This book focuses on worship in the letters of Paul in an effort to shed some light upon this key theme and bring the various dimensions of its significance into the foreground of Pauline studies. Each of the thirteen New Testament letters attributed to Paul are treated exclusively from the aspect of worship, as understood in its most comprehensive sense in the biblical tradition, with the liturgical and the ethical facets of worship held in dynamic interrelationship. The result is a fresh way of reading and listening to the letters of Paul for a deeper appreciation of their original purpose and message.
John Paul Heil presents an original analysis of the theme of worship in the book of Revelation guided by a new illustration of its comprehensive chiastic structure. The worship that Revelation exhorts and enables is in the divine Spirit of prophetic witness against all forms of idolatrous worship on earth in favor of a true, heavenly, and universal worship of the Lord God and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb, for an eternal and heavenly life. The audience begins this worship in the eucharistic supper into which Revelation leads them by inviting them to respond to the promise of Jesus, “Yes, I am coming soon” with “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus” They thereby affirm and welcome the coming of the Lord Jesus, the exalted sacrificial Lamb, to the eucharistic supper that anticipates his final coming and the divine grace, the gift of eternal life, of the Lord Jesus that is intended to be the destiny of all -“The grace of the Lord Jesus with all”
The Gospel of Matthew encourages and inspires its audience to practice the true, authentic, and holistic worship required for believers in Jesus to live in the kingdom of heaven. In accordance with all that Jesus taught and exemplified regarding authentic worship, believers are invited to complement their worship of God by worshiping and praying to Jesus as God’s beloved Son, who represents “God with us.” They are also invited to complement their ritualistic worship, especially the baptism and Eucharist instituted for them by Jesus, with an ethical worship that extends to others, especially to disciples, children, and “the least ones” with whom Jesus identifies himself, the mercy God desires for a holistic worship. Indeed, a compassionate mercy toward all is the distinctive and noteworthy hallmark that characterizes the theme of worship in the kingdom of heaven, according to the Gospel of Matthew.
This book demonstrates that Luke-Acts provides its audience with a basic foundation for all of the various dimensions of Christian worship. With the arrival of Jesus, and especially his being raised from the dead by God, the preeminent locations, leadership, and times for worship move beyond the Jerusalem temple, Jewish synagogues, Sabbath, and the Jewish feasts of Passover and Pentecost to worship in and by the Christian community. As Son of God and Lord, Jesus becomes an object of true worship along with God the Father. Jesus serves as a subject for laudatory worship. Jesus teaches about prayer, engages in it, and serves as an object for supplicatory worship. Jesus not only took part in the ritual worship of being baptized by John, but as the risen and exalted Lord baptizes believers with the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of baptism. In addition, the many meal scenes throughout Luke-Acts provide numerous insights foundational for proper celebrations of the Eucharist.
This book proposes new and comprehensive chiastic structures as well as new unifying themes for the often-neglected New Testament letters of 1 Peter, 2 Peter, and Jude. In accord with these structures, which organize the oral performance of these letters in a context of communal worship, the subtitle of the book, “Worship Matters” expresses the letters’ main concern. By “worship” is meant not only liturgical worship but also the ethical behavior that complements it for a holistic way of worshiping God. “Matters” refers not only to the “matters” or issues regarding worship in these letters but also to the fact that worship “matters” in the sense of making an all-important difference to Christian living, not only for the original audiences of letters, but equally for their contemporary audience. Accordingly, this book proposes that: 1 Peter exhorts its audience to worship for life, both present and eternal, through the sufferings of Jesus Christ; 2 Peter exhorts its audience to worship in the knowledge regarding the final coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; and Jude exhorts its audience to worship in the mercy and love of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This book proposes a new and comprehensive chiastic structure as well as a new unifying theme for the Letter of James. In accord with this structure that organizes its oral performance, the words “worship to live by” express what the letter as a whole is exhorting its audience to adopt. “Worship” includes not only liturgical worship but also the ethical behavior that complements it, so that the result is a holistic way of worshiping God. And the words “to live by” embrace the worshipful conduct by which to live out presently one’s birth to a new life as a believer before the final coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, with a view to the future eternal life to be granted at the last judgment as the outcome of such worship. In short, the Letter of James urges its audience to practice the worship to live by now in order to live eternally.
This book seeks a more comprehensive understanding and appreciation for the Letter to the Hebrews by examining it from the viewpoint of its prominent theme of worship. It aims to demonstrate the topic of worship in all of its rich and varied dimensions provides the major concern and thrust that embraces Hebrews from start to finish. The author of Hebrews encourages his audience to hold on to the letter he has written to them as “the word of the encouragement” (Heb 13:22). In a very carefully concerted and masterfully artistic way, the letter persistently encourages the members of its audience with regard to their worship. Indeed, Hebrews was intended to be presented orally in a public performance as a liturgical or homiletic letter, an act of worship in itself, heard by its audience gathered together as a worshiping assembly. Hebrews exhorts the members of its audience not only with regard to their liturgical worship in which they engage during their communal gatherings, but also with regard to their ethical or moral worship in which they engage by the way they conduct themselves outside of their communal gatherings. This close examination of Hebrews through the lens of worship is intended to inform and enrich the worship of Christians today. Hebrews presents important and unique points about worship not found in any other New Testament writing. The goal is to illustrate and illuminate these points for the benefit of those who desire to deepen their worship as Christians by deepening their understanding of the magnificent literary masterpiece that the poetically lively letter to the Hebrews articulates for all Christians.
Dcn. Bob Evans and his wife Rose live in Phoenix where he serves as a deacon in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, ministering at Blessed Sacrament parish in Scottsdale. They have three children and six grandchildren. His formal training in Scriptures was at the Kino Institute.Since 2004, he has been engaged in extensive biblical studies and is a popular teacher who draws heavily from the works of many others in bringing people deeper into Sacred Scriptures. He teaches Biblical Foundations with the parish-level U of Faith, Scripture for Homiletics to candidates in deacon formation and Jesus’ Parables in a diaconate post-ordination program. He mentors newly-ordained deacons, serves as the Asst. Director of Deacon Personnel for the Diocese of Phoenix, and helps as a Spiritual Director on Cursillo retreats. His website may be found at 
