Detroit - Tom Nash says his understanding of the biblical foundations of the Holy Eucharist began in the northwest Detroit church of his childhood.
Now, the lessons he began to learn from the stained-glass windows in St. Mary of Redford Church are being explained in deeper detail in a new series on the Eternal Word Television Network, “The Biblical Story of the Mass,” which Nash is co-hosting with Fathers of Mercy Fr. Wade Menezes.
By laying out the scriptural foundations of the Mass, Nash hopes not only to equip Catholics with the arguments they can use to counter Protestant criticism of the Mass as “un-biblical,” but also to strengthen their appreciation and understanding of the great gift of the eucharistic sacrifice.
Nash tells how he first began to understand how the sacrifice of the Mass was prefigured in the Old Testament from four windows that ring the back of St. Mary of Redford Church, behind the altar. Those windows depict the sacrifice of Abel, the sacrifice of Isaac, Melchizedek’s offering of bread and wine, and the Passover sacrifice.
That first episode aired on Sunday, Aug. 29, but will be re-shown several times by CTND.
Throughout the series, Nash and Fr. Menezes explore and explain the biblical underpinnings for the Eucharist that can be found in both the Old and New Testaments. They show how the Catholic understanding of the Mass as a re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice is consistent both with scriptural language about His “one sacrifice” and also his eternal role as high priest – that the “sacrifice of that first Good Friday continues in heaven,” and that it becomes present to us through the Mass, Nash says.
“At Mass, Heaven and Earth become one,” he continues, adding that he wants viewers to understand that “paradise is as close as their neighborhood parish church.”
Besides increasing viewers’ understanding of the biblical foundations for Catholic liturgical practices, Nash also sees an important side benefit in introducing more people to the beauty of his boyhood church.
“I’ve already had e-mails from people talking about making a pilgrimage there, and I hope more people do that. They can see the biblical story of the Mass writ large in St. Mary’s windows,” he says.
And he points out that the entire church is a notable architectural work of art, having been designed by Ralph Adams Cram, the famous architect who was perhaps the principal figure in the revival of interest in Gothic architecture.
Nash completed the eighth-grade at St. Mary’s parish school before his family moved to Ann Arbor, where he graduated from Fr. Gabriel Richard High School and then went on to the University of Michigan.
He continued his journalism studies at the University of Missouri and also earned a master’s degree in theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio.
He worked in secular broadcasting and for a Catholic lay organization before joining EWTN as a theological adviser. He first expounded on the theme of his new television series in his 2004 book, “Worthy is the Lamb: The Biblical Roots of the Mass” (Ignatius Press).
Nash says he has always maintained a fondness for both his old parish and for his home city.
“I guess you can take the boy out of Motown, but not the Motown out of the boy,” he says, adding that he hopes Detroiters will always remember Fr. Richard’s city motto, coined in the wake of the 1805 Great Fire, about how Detroit would “rise from the ashes.”
“God has had His hand on the city throughout its history, and I urge people to visit it and appreciate its great heritage of faith,” he says.
