Posted on 11/08/2014 8:35:21 PM PST by walkinginthedesert
The natural law requires sacrifice
In the first place it is to be seen that the Natural Law requires us to sacrifice. Saint Thomas states in the first place that there are three main types of laws. There is first and foremost human laws (positive laws), there is the Natural Law, and lastly there is the Divine and Eternal laws. It is precisely the Natural Law that we will focus in for this specific article. The natural law is basically the “structure which God creates in man so that he inclines man to specific types of actions. He designs man to perform specific types of acts. He designs him in a specific way”1
The Church states with Saint Thomas Aquinas that we are bound to follow the Natural Law. One of the aspects of the natural law is precisely that it commands all of the virtues. One of these virtues is precisely that of sacrifice. Saint Thomas further states that sacrifice is itself the highest act of religion. “Sacrifice is defined as an offering of some good thing back to God. This can include a merit or some sort of good work which we perform and offer back to God”2
The need for Divine Revelation
Once we realize that sacrifice is necessary and that God obliges us to do it, the question that should come up is, how and what does God want us to sacrifice? It is after all only through Divine Revelation that we can know what sacrifices are pleasing to God. Fr. Chad Ripperger gives a very good analogy regarding the problems we would have regarding performing sacrifices, without the help of Divine Revelation. Without Divine Revelation we would not know what the nature of God is, and thus we would not be able to know what sort of sacrifices please him, as well as which sacrifices displease him. Fr Chad Ripperger states that without the help of Divine Revelation “this is tantamount to going to someone’s house for the first time and they don’t know you, but when you arrive, they presume to make all sorts of assumptions about you; for dinner we are going to have brain and squid intestines because they think that is what you like.”3 With these types of assumptions about God, we will surely offend God by offering false sacrifices, which he never liked or willed.
In the Old Testament God gave very precise and strict instructions on how sacrifices were to be done. This is true in regards to Exodus all the way through Deuteronomy. In the New Testament Jesus himself states “do this in commemoration of me”. (Lk 22:19)
A short history of sacrifice: The reality of the necessity of Divine Revelation
Cardinal Gibbons states “We find sacrifices existing not only among the Jews, who worshiped the true God, but also among pagan and idolatrous nations. No matter how confused, imperfect or erroneous was their knowledge of the Deity, the pagan nations retained sufficient vestiges of primitive tradition to admonish them of their obligation of appeasing the anger and involving the blessings of the Divinity by victims and sacrifices.”4
Throughout history man usually tends to have a desire to offer sacrifice to God. This is true of the Pagan world such as the Aztecs, the civilization of Carthage, and various tribes in the Middle East, yet they were not precisely what God wanted. God did not reveal himself to them. So many of these cultures for example practiced things such as human sacrifice, and various other types of sacrifice that failed in some way from what God really wanted. These sacrifices were displeasing to God. An example of such abominable practices of sacrifices is found in Jeremias:
Because they have forsaken me, and have profaned this place: and have sacrificed therein to strange gods, whom neither they nor their fathers knew, nor the kings of Juda: and they have filled this place with the blood of innocents. And they have built the high places of Baal, to burn their children with fire for a holocaust to Baal: which I did not command, nor speak of, neither did it once come into my mind. (Jeremiah 19:5)Sacrifices in Biblical Judaism
Throughout the Old Testament the chosen people of God are always offering sacrifice to Him. This is true as early as Cain and able. Able offered to the Lord the firstlings of his flock, while Cain offered of the fruits of the earth. Later “when Noe and his family are rescued from the deluge which had spread over the face of the earth, his first act on issuing from the ark, when the waters disappeared, is to offer holocausts to the Lord, in thanksgiving for his preservation (Gen 8). Abraham the great father of the Jewish himself offered victims to the Almighty at His request (Gen 15). We even read that Job was accustomed to offer holocaust and sacrifice to the Lord to propitiate His favor. God is very concrete and explicit in how he wants the Jewish to offer sacrifices in the book of Exodus.
The sacrifice at Calvary and the Mass
It is precisely the Holy Sacrifice at Calvary which constitutes the perfect and eternal sacrifice which could ever be offered up. It is in this specific moment in which our redemption is brought about, and which the submit of Salvation History reaches its climax. It is this precise sacrifice that fulfilled all the Old Testament Sacrifices.
Many Protestants thus while acknowledging both the reality regarding the perfection of the Sacrifice at Calvary, and also acknowledging the reality that Christ abolished the Old Testament sacrifices of the Jews, end up at a false conclusion. They conclude that because the Sacrifice of Calvary is perfect and because it is thus the fulfillment of all the Old Testament sacrifices, that Christ himself abolished the need for any more sacrifices. This is clearly not true. We should thus ask ourselves, did God in rejecting the Jewish oblations (sacrifices) or even in fulfilling them, deem or intend to abolish all sacrifices altogether? Rather Christ rejected and even fulfilled the Old Testament sacrifices, namely because they were simply types or prefigurements for the perfect sacrifice of God Himself, which we commemorate in a real way in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
This then leads us to one of the main aspects of the Mass, namely that it is the same sacrifice as that of Calvary.
The Mass the same sacrifice as Calvary
We therefore confess that the Sacrifice of the Mass is and ought to be considered one and the same Sacrifice as that of the Cross, for the victim is one and the same, namely, Christ Our Lord, who offered Himself, once only, a bloody Sacrifice on the altar of the Cross. The bloody and unbloody victim are not two, but one victim only, whose sacrifice is daily renewed in the Eucharist, in obedience to the command of Our Lord; Do this for a commemoration of me5 The same Catechism further states that just as Christ was the one offering himself up at Calvary, the same Christ offers Himself up at each Mass through the priest who acts in persona Christi:
The Priest is also one and the same, Christ the Lord; for the minister who offers Sacrifice, consecrate the holy mysteries, not in their person, but in that of Christ, as the words of Consecration itself show, for the priest does not say: This is the body of Christ, but, This is My Body, and thus acting in the Person of Christ the Lord, he changes the substance of the bread and wine into the true substance of His Body and Blood6
For this reason it is completely false to believe as many Protestants do, that we somehow "re-sacrifice" Christ at each Mass. Rather we simply offer up the same sacrifice at Calvary, which is re-presented in a real and literal way during the Mass. The Sacrifice at Calvary was so perfect, that it is Eternal and with no end. The Mass as the perfect prayer
Another aspect of the Mass is that just as it is the perfect sacrifice (since it is the same sacrifice as that of Calvary, which is perfect), the Mass is also the perfect prayer of the Church. This is why Pope Saint Pius X stated so explicitly:
The Holy Mass is a prayer itself, even the highest prayer that exists. It is the Sacrifice dedicated by our Redeemer at the Cross, and repeated every day on the Altar. If you wish to hear Mass as it should be heard, you must follow with eye, heart and mouth all that happens at the Altar. Further, you must pray with the Priest the holy words said by him in the Name of Christ and which Christ says by him. You have to associate your heart with the holy feelings which are contained in these words and in this manner you ought to follow all that happens on the Altar. When acting in this way you have prayed Holy Mass.”
“Don’t pray at Holy Mass, but pray the Holy Mass" This is why it is very reasonable that the “active participation” in the liturgy which the Council Fathers of Vatican II had in mind, did not necessarily involve what has come to be “the clericalization of the laity” in which in order to actively participate in the liturgy, you are almost obliged to do some type of Church ministry. This includes being an Extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, a lecturer, and various other things. Rather an active participation is nothing other than following along and uniting your prayers with that of the Priest who is celebrating the Mass. It involves uniting your prayers with the priest at the scene of Calvary which is what is being literally and really being made present. The Mass should thus be one of constant meditation and of interior participation in the Mass and not so much exterior activity. There is a due reverent silence that is given at Mass.
The Various Effects of Mass
Fr. Chad Ripperger states “Because Mass is itself the same sacrifice at Calvary which is made presented to us in the Mass, it is the font of all graces. Redemption and the obliteration of sin was the result of the Holy Sacrifice at Calvary. The same thing happens during each Mass that we attend, it is as if Christ’s blood was being shed again and being offered up, but this time in an un-bloody way, yet the same graces are granted.”7
It is precisely because the Mass is the same sacrifice as that of Calvary, that it has many effects that come whenever a Mass is celebrated and whenever we ourselves attend it.
The Mass itself gives us the opportunity for Holy Communion. “each sacrament according to the Church has specific effects that are proper to that sacrament. This is what is known as sacramental graces. Each sacrament gives us specific graces which allows us to achieve the finality in which that sacrament is directed towards”8 In the case of the Mass we receive Holy Communion. Just as we get nurtured and remain healthy when we receive natural food, Holy Communion we feed on the supernatural food that is Christ’s body, we are thus less vulnerable to fall into Mortal and Venial Sin.
When we go to Mass we receive the same effects as that of Calvary. That means that we receive redemption, but we also grow in virtue. When we are attending Mass, we have the freedom for praying and petitioning God for the various virtues which we lack in. The prayers of Mass also help cleanse us from all venial sin.
Mass itself also provides an orientation for the rest of the day. It helps organize the rest of the day, reminding us what saint Ignatius of Loyola would call “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam” which is Latin for “For the Greater Glory of God”. The reason why the Mass helps orientate our day towards God Himself is precisely that the Mass is Christ/God centered (or at least it should be). For it is God who we are offering sacrifice to. This is why I love the action that is done in several parishes, such as those which offer the Tridentine Mass or “Extraordinary Form” of the Mass. They practice what is known as Ad Orientem worship. The priest faces the East. The priest faces the altar, the same direction as the congregation. This is a sign that the whole ecclesiastical community (The Church) is offering the same sacrifice to the same and Almighty God. It is one of syncretism and orientation towards the True God who is being offered sacrifice.
A Modern rejection of Sacrifice
One main reason why modern society rejects a notion of sacrifice is describe by the fact that the reality of suffering is almost forgotten. "technology has made our lives so simple and easy, and thus hard to ignore the difficult things. Similarly people say “well if we are to offer a good thing back to God, then why should I offer something such as my suffering. The fact of the matter is that by offering it, it is a call to the virtue of sacrifice. It is not so much that the person suffers aimlessly. One of the virtues of Christ dying on the Holy Sacrifice at Calvary, is that it adds merits to our sufferings, which without it, our sufferings are vain."8 Sacrifice is itself as Saint Thomas Aquinas calls “the highest act of religion”. This is why the modern rejection of sacrifice is a sad reality. If we do not offer proper and due sacrifice to God, then we have nothing to show for ourselves. In our own particular judgement would priests be able to present God the various Masses they celebrated and offered up? Or would laypersons be able to present to God the various means which we could have offered up as sacrifice? This could include the various Masses we attended, or it could simply be the daily struggles and sufferings we encountered. Whatever the case may be, the reality is that God Himself desires sacrifice, and the perfect of these is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is this sacrifice alone, that is perfect, just as the Crucifixion at Calvary was perfect.
notes:
1)Fr. Chad Ripperger "Talk given on Sacrifice in the Mass" 2) ibid 3)ibid 4)James Cardinal Gibbons "The Faith of Our Fathers, Tan Books 1876, pg. 266" 5)The Roman Catechism of the Council of Trent pg. 275 6)ibid 7)Fr. Chad Ripperger "Talk given on "Frequent Mass and Confession" 8)ibid 9)Ripperger "op cit. Sacrifice in the Mass"
True, while i think most Protestant churches miss how the Lord's supper is to show the Lord's death till He comes. It is not by somberly ingesting a piece of bread handed out by a minister, but by unselfishly sharing a communal meal with the focus on caring for each other, because Christ "purchased with his own blood." (Acts 20:28) Thanks be to God.
Oh it’s way way worse than trampling the blood of Christ underfoot. It’s taking it into a sinful body that isn’t worthy of it.
But that’s how merciful God is.
You really ought to read more if that's the impression you have.
Read the Diary of St. Faustina. Read the Divine Comedy. Julian of Norwich. The pious Catholic who goes up to receive the Holy Eucharist is positively *awash* in Love, almost in ecstasy thinking about what Our Savior did for us.
You apparent confusion comes from you don't know know what to do in memory of Jesus...
And that of course is where the position of the one High Priest comes in...
Ah, see how far we've fallen. The Rationalist invents himself a Christianity where everything *must be explained or it cannot exist*.
Yes mystical. The man who cultivates a sense of mysticism is being honest about where he stands in relation to the Ineffable God. Much better that than the rationalist who watches the Red Sea part before him yet won't cross because he can't explain it.
So let me see if I get your point here. God’s Eternal vantagepoint of the Universe is *not really applicable to the issue*?
Funny, I’d think it was more applicable to the issue than our own.
Is it true, or is it not true, that Calvary, like every other moment in time, is eternally present to God the Father who lives in the Eternal Now?
That's quite an oxy-moron...How do you buy into that???
Responding to Protestant sects who denied that the Eucharist is anything more than a memorial, the Council of Trent (1545-63) declared that “The same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross, is present and offered in an unbloody manner” in the Mass.
For those of us who believe the God of the scriptures, there is no validity of your Catholic council of Trent...
This does not mean, as some critics of Catholicism claim, that the Church teaches that, in the Mass, we sacrifice Christ again. Rather, the original sacrifice of Christ on the Cross is presented to us once more.
It wasn't presented to you to begin with...Why would it be presented to you now??? We don't require a sacrifice...God requires the sacrifice....
And of course you guys teach that YOU sacrifice Christ...It's all over Catholic literature...
This re-presentation, as Fr. John Hardon notes in his Pocket Catholic Dictionary, “means that because Christ is really present in his humanity, in heaven and on the altar
Of course Jesus is NOT present in his humanity...Don't any of you Catholic ever read a bible???
Joh_16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
Joh_15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
he is capable now as he was on Good Friday of freely offering himself to the Father.
How could he??? He's not here...HE IS RISEN...The Holy Ghost is here in his place...Christians are indwelt with the Holy Ghost/Jesus/God, comforter...What need would we have of a representation of the sacrifice???
This understanding of the Mass hinges on the Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
It's a complete mis-understanding; no, a perversion...
LOL...let's say I am searching the Scriptures like anyone else and the HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTED ME that Holy Communion is the Body Blood Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Whaddya gonna do about that Iscool? Don't I as an individual believer have the right to search the Scriptures? It's the BIBLE ALONE for me, baby, and the BIBLE ALONE tells me I'm right. ;)
Genesis 14: And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
Not sure why it’s so hard to believe that Calvary is being re-presented at Mass....shucks, we’re watching John 6 play out all over again in this thread! ;)
I don't think so...I see that as a philosophical (wisdom of man) attempt at an explanation for things of God that are not understood in the spiritual realm...
At one time I bought my first car...Past tense...I can tune into my conscience and see myself buying that car right now...But guess what, I am not buying my first car today, and tomorrow or the next day...God has given us no indication he see anything any differently...
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
When was 'in the beginning'??? Does it say that God is creating the earth???
The creation is past tense...God certainly knows that...It's done with...It's finished...Just as God knows the sacrifice of his Son is past tense...It is finished...
Eternally known or present does not mean eternally ongoing.
Then show us from "the Bible alone" where the sin of eating blood was rescinded. And while your there show us where the assumption of Mary was taught by the apostles.
John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
There is nothing in the revelation of Scripture, nothing at all, to suggest something like the “eternal now,” though there are modern philosopher/theologians who suggest it. Paul Tillich, for example, who also introduced other concepts, such as the quasi-pantheistic notion of God as the “ground of being.” Such anti-Biblical notions have been a “gateway drug” leading some to theological liberalism and even atheism. It was a cause of great spiritual harm to me personally, though my path into the Christo-Buddhistic matrix was through Bultmann. By God’s grace, I was rescued from that nonsense, but not without considerable pain.
But we do know God relates to time differently than we do. A thousand years being as a day, etc. But this is not timelessness. This is eternal spirit not being hemmed in by decay and demise like we are. We have our fleeting moments and return to dust. A thousand years is really beyond our imagination. Not so God. He acts in time and history and never wearies and never grows old. He never has less time to do what he plans.
But none of this is the artificial construct of the Eternal Now. In Scripture, we are told Jesus died for our sins, once for all. Past tense. That is the revealed truth God wanted us to have. To remake that by force fitting it into an artificial construct of time, in order to justify an artificial construct like transubstantiation, defies both reason and Scripture.
Peace,
SR
What utter nonsense.....and no wonder the leadership and Priesthood ‘focus on this ritual’, it keeps people coming back to a false concept that they are receiving the “saving power of Christ” again and again...and again.
Clearly they forget that we celebrate His Resurrection as His ultimate Victory.
As I see it one of many differences of catholics and other faiths is they are stuck at celebrating a Crucified Suffering Christ....while the rest of us celebrate A Risen Glorified Christ.
This is likely why they cannot seem to grasp the words of Jesus...”It is finished”....that we are complete in Him....and further that they have to prove they are worthy by their rituals and works.
As I see it Mass it’s just another Roman tactic to keep the people dependent on the Priesthood and remaining with the catholic church. After all without their Priesthood the whole thing would fall.
I am going to continue to show you with scripture that you stopped way short of what the Holy Spirit is trying to teach you...You have to skip miles and miles of scripture to come to that conclusion...
But the truth is: you guys go for your catechism alone...And you may occasionally look in your Catholic bible to see if a word or two matches what's written in the catechism...
You are charged with: Search the scriptures, Test the spirits and Prove all things...
But for reality's sake, it's easy to see that self proclaimed bible believers agree with each other that your Eucharist is illegitimate...
It is only those (some of who may read the bible) who do NOT believe the bible who follow along with this Catholic Eucharist thing...
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