The Sacrifice of Isaac
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Posted on 05/23/2005 9:09:48 AM PDT by NYer
“At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Saviour instituted the eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the ages...” – Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, #47
At about the half-way point through the year of the Eucharist, proclaimed by our Holy Father John Paul II last October, perhaps it is a good time to pause and reflect on the meaning of the event, the ritual, the sacrament which plays such an enormous role in our lives and the life of the world. We believe, no doubt, that the Eucharist is the “source and summit of the Christian life”, just as the Church teaches, and most of us have probably been more keenly aware of the Eucharist and focused more upon it during this year. Perhaps we are aware of blessings, even great ones, having come into our lives through this blessed sacrament during this period of its study, appreciation, and adoration.
Perhaps too, though, we have been aware of a general weakness among Catholics in their estimation of the Eucharist as well as deficiencies and abuses—sometimes even serious ones—in the celebration of the Holy Mass. These are no secrets, sadly enough; the problems are so widespread that the Holy Father addresses them in both of his recent letters on the Eucharist. Pope John Paul is not one to be overly negative and does mention many encouraging signs of “Eucharistic faith and love” present in the universal Church. Yet in Ecclesia de Eucharistia, the encyclical teaching on the Eucharist and the Church, he notes, “with profound grief”, shadows alongside the lights. The Holy Father speaks of abuses of the liturgy leading to confusion, the abandonment of Eucharistic adoration, of a distorted notion of priesthood and what we might spend a few moments examining ourselves, “an extremely reductive understanding of the Eucharistic mystery.” The Mass, the Pope says, is sometimes “stripped of its sacrificial meaning, it is celebrated as if it were simply a fraternal banquet.” Simply put, some Catholics have forgotten that the Mass is a sacrifice.
We, however, must not forget. We must not forget that the Eucharist—as the Pope John Paul says in Mane Nobiscum Domine (the encyclical on the Year of the Eucharist)—“has a profoundly and primarily sacrificial meaning. In the Eucharist, Christ makes present to us anew the sacrifice offered once for all on Golgotha.”
Well, what will be the antidote to this widespread forgetfulness? How about some “intense catechesis”? That is what the Congregation for Divine Worship recommends in their recent Suggestions and Proposals for the Year of the Eucharist. This catechesis could have a number of points of focus; one that the CDW recommends is mystagogy.
Now what may be at first glance simply a long, foreign word, is really something very much familiar, if somewhat underappreciated: the words of the Mass itself! Mystagogy here is simply letting the form of the mysteries (the sacraments) speak to us. It makes very good sense, really, that the words that the Church chooses for the celebration of the Eucharist should give us a pretty clear idea of what she believes it to be. So, is the Mass a sacrifice, as the Holy Father so strongly asserts? Here are a few selections from the Maronite Mass:
“May the Lord accept your offering…”, “I will go to the altar of God…I will enter your house, O Lord, and worship in your holy temple.”, “The priest bears me [Christ, the Bread of Life] aloft to the altar…”, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed and handed over for you and for many…”, “Each time you fulfill these mysteries you realize my death and remember my resurrection until I come again.”, “O Lord, we remember your death, we witness to your resurrection…”, “Through this sacrifice, offered to you by our sinful hands, grant, O Lord, a good memorial to our parents, brothers…”, “We have believed, and we have offered, and now we seal and break this oblation, the heavenly bread and living body of the Word of the living God.”, “You, O Lord, are the pleasing victim, who was offered for us; you are the forgiving sacrifice, who offered yourself for us to the Father. You are the Lamb of sacrifice, and yet also the priest who offered himself for us…”, “This is the cup which our Lord prepared on the cross.”
Now, even without all the italics and color highlighting, it is pretty obvious from these passages that the Mass is being spoken of as a sacrifice. No mere poetic imagery, this language reflects the earliest Christian understandings of the Eucharist. It is true, as Cardinal Ratzinger points out in his Spirit of the Liturgy that “the new reality of Christian worship”–the Eucharist–was born, so to speak, in the context of a Passover meal and still retains something of the structure of a meal. Nevertheless, meal does not suffice as a description of the Mass because it was the “new reality” which Our Lord commanded us to repeat, not the meal as such. And the new reality involved real sacrifice. So the Mass developed in the early Christian community and very soon, as the Cardinal points out, “found its proper and suitable form, a form already predetermined by the fact that the Eucharist refers back to the Cross and thus to the transformation of Temple sacrifice into worship of God...”
But is this an outdated theory or an opinion of a few? No. Pope Paul VI in 1968 taught in the Credo of the People of God: “We believe that the Mass, celebrated by the priest representing the person of Christ by virtue of the power received through the sacrament of Order, and offered by him in the name of Christ and of the members of His Mystical Body, is indeed the sacrifice of Calvary rendered sacramentally present on our altars.” And the Holy Father was here echoing the solemn definitions of the Council of Trent, four hundred years earlier: “If anyone says that in the Mass a true and real sacrifice is not offered to God, or that the offering is nothing else than Christ being given to us to eat: let him be anathema.” Very strong and very clear; the Mass is a sacrifice, and not just a meal.
Well, what of it? How does knowing that the Eucharist is truly and primarily a sacrifice help us in this Year of the Eucharist? The answer will, perhaps, be clear if we turn to the words of the Second Vatican Council. The council fathers, speaking of Christians wrote: “Taking part in the eucharistic sacrifice, the source and summit of the Christian life, they offer the divine victim to God and themselves along with it.” So when we assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we are not “mere spectators” but rather are true participants in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, not simply by receiving the sacrament, but by joining ourselves to Christ our High Priest, and offering up with Him all that we have, all that we do and all that we are. How awesome! It is precisely this that we must not forget.
Throughout the 20th century, the Popes constantly and forcefully preached on the sacred liturgy and the need for all of Christ’s Faithful to participate in it fully, consciously, actively (phrases the 2nd Vatican Council borrowed from the allocutions of Pope Pius X, given sixty years earlier). What we need to keep in mind in this present century is what, exactly, we are participating in. In order to do that we probably all need, as the CDW suggested, some “intense catechesis”. Well, maybe this be some sort of small start.
As a conclusion, why not meditate briefly on the words of Pope Pius XII, from his encyclical Mediator Dei? The Holy Father here presents us with a forthright call not to miss the enormous opportunity we have in each celebration of the Holy Sacrifice. Let us never miss that opportunity!
“...[A]ll the faithful should be aware that to participate in the Eucharistic Sacrifice is their chief duty and supreme dignity, and that not in an inert and negligent fashion, giving way to distractions and daydreaming, but with such earnestness and concentration that they may be united as closely as possible with the High Priest, according to the Apostle: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” And together with him and through Him let them make their oblation, and in union with Him let them offer up themselves.”
He's both, not "rather than".
Already discussed. Hebrews is drawing a contrast between the sacrifices of the Old Law, which were repeated sacrifices most of which applied only to one individual, and Christ's sacrifice, which is one single offering for all mankind.
By the way, ever noticed Hebrews 13:10?
"We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat."
Wait ... "we," the Christians, have an altar, which is, by definition, a table for sacrifice, from which those who serve the [Jewish] tabernacle have no right to eat, obviously implying that Christians do have a right to eat from that altar.
Protestant commentaries fumblingly explain away that verse, saying that "altar" really means "cross" and "eat" is, uh, metaphor for ... um, er, "believe" ... yeah, that's it.
Catholic commentaries, OTOH, don't have to.
He's not on the cross anymore. "It is finished."
I love that pic...I gave copies of it to my 5th grade catechism class...they too were impressed.
Actually there is an aspect of that. Though only offered Himself once on the cross, there is another aspect of His offering that remains forever. He started out in the "form of God" Phil 2:6-11, but then ended up as a glorified human and no longer exists in the purely spiritual form of God. That change is permenant and forever. His very presence in Heaven as a glorified Human and lamb of God is a permanent condition. When I first read what you were saying I pictured Him doing some wierd ritual to offer himself or something. If you are still thinking that than I still disagree but there is a continual offering aspect to Him in Heaven that definitely does exist.
From the perspective of heaven, all times are present, all things are seen, there is no past and no future. God is the Lord of all things and the servant of none, time included.
Sacris solemniis
iuncta sint gaudia,
et ex praecordiis
sonent praeconia;
recedant vetera,
nova sint omnia,
corda, voces, et opera.
Noctis recolitur
cena novissima,
qua Christus creditur
agnum et azyma
dedisse fratribus,
iuxta legitima
priscis indulta patribus.
Post agnum typicum,
expletis epulis,
Corpus Dominicum
datum discipulis,
sic totum omnibus,
quod totum singulis,
eius fatemur manibus.
Dedit fragilibus
corporis ferculum,
dedit et tristibus
sanguinis poculum,
dicens: Accipite
quod trado vasculum;
omnes ex eo bibite.
Sic sacrificium
istud instituit,
cuius officium
committi voluit
solis presbyteris,
quibus sic congruit,
ut sumant, et dent ceteris.
Panis angelicus
fit panis hominum;
dat panis caelicus
figuris terminum;
O res mirabilis:
manducat Dominum
pauper, servus et humilis.
Te, trina Deitas
unaque, poscimus:
sic nos tu visita,
sicut te colimus;
per tuas semitas
duc nos quo tendimus,
ad lucem quam inhabitas.
At this our solemn feast
let holy joys abound,
and from the inmost breast
let songs of praise resound;
let ancient rites depart,
and all be new around,
in every act, and voice, and heart.
Remember we that eve,
when, the Last Supper spread,
Christ, as we all believe,
the Lamb, with leavenless bread,
among His brethren shared,
and thus the Law obeyed,
of all unto their sire declared.
The typic Lamb consumed,
the legal Feast complete,
the Lord unto the Twelve
His Body gave to eat;
the whole to all, no less
the whole to each did mete
with His own hands, as we confess.
He gave them, weak and frail,
His Flesh, their Food to be;
on them, downcast and sad,
His Blood bestowed He:
and thus to them He spake,
"Receive this Cup from Me,
and all of you of this partake."
So He this Sacrifice
to institute did will,
and charged His priests alone
that office to fulfill:
tn them He did confide:
to whom it pertains still
to take, and the rest divide.
Thus Angels' Bread is made
the Bread of man today:
the Living Bread from heaven
with figures dost away:
O wondrous gift indeed!
the poor and lowly may
upon their Lord and Master feed.
Thee, therefore, we implore,
o Godhead, One in Three,
so may Thou visit us
as we now worship Thee;
and lead us on Thy way,
That we at last may see
the light wherein Thou dwellest aye.
= )
We know what the High Priest did on Yom Kippur. That may have been a "weird ritual," but it was a weird ritual directly prescribed and demanded by God, so who are we to judge?
Scripture doesn't describe in detail what it means for Jesus to offer himself continually to the Father in heaven. We probably couldn't comprehend it if it did. Our faith teaches us that the Mass makes that offering present on earth.
He started out in the "form of God" Phil 2:6-11, but then ended up as a glorified human and no longer exists in the purely spiritual form of God. That change is permenant and forever. His very presence in Heaven as a glorified Human and lamb of God is a permanent condition.
Exactly. You'll notice that when St. John sees Jesus in Revelation, he sees him "looking like a Lamb that had been slain".
But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."
No metaphor, just future glory. And definitely no need to turn back into Jews. No pepper shakers on sticks, no tall hats.
Pange Lingua
Pange lingua gloriosi
Corporis mysterium,
Sanguinisque pretiosi,
Quem in mundi pretium
Fructus ventris generosi
Rex effudit Gentium.
Nobis datus, nobis natus
Ex inacta Virgine,
Et in mundo conversatus,
Sparso verbi semine,
Sui moras incolatus
Miro clausit ordine.
In suprema nocte coenae
Recumbus cum fratribus
Observata lege plene
Cibis in legalibus,
Cibum turbae duodenae
Se dat suis manibus.
Verbum caro, panem verum
Verbo carnem efficit:
Fitque sanguis Christi merum,
Et si sensus deficit,
Ad firmandum cor sincerum
Sola fides sufficit.
Tantum ergo Sacramentum
Veneremur cernui:
Et antiquum documentum
Novo cedat ritui:
Praestet fides supplementum
Sensuum defectui.
Genitori, Genitoque
Laus et jubilatio,
Salus, honor, virtus quoque
Sit et benedictio:
Procedenti ab utroque
Compar sit laudatio.
Amen. Alleluia.
Sing, My Tongue
Sing, my tongue,
The mystery of the glorious body,
And of the precious Blood,
Shed to save the world,
By the King of the nations,
The fruit of a noble womb.
Given to us, born for us,
From a stainless Virgin,
And having dwelt in the world,
Sowing the seed of the word,
He closed in a wonderful way,
The days of his habitation.
On the night of His last supper,
Reclining with His brothers,
The law having been fully observed
With legal foods,
He gives Himself as food with His
Own hands to the twelve.
The Word in Flesh makes true Bread
His Flesh with a word;
Wine becomes the Blood of Christ,
And if sense is deficient,
To confirm sincere hearts,
Faith alone suffices.
Then let us prostrate and
Venerate so great a Sacrament,
And let the old law yield
To the new rite;
Let faith stand forward to
Supply the defect of the senses.
To the Begetter and the Begotten,
Be praise and jubilation,
Health, honor, and strength,
And blessing too,
And let equal praise be to Him,
Who proceeds from Both.
Amen. Alleluia.
The Son is not omnipresent. The Bible says He is at the right hand of the Father. He is not on the cross.
I know it does, it's just misguided.
I love that hymn!
??? I have no idea what you're connecting in that verse with Hebrews 13:10.
No metaphor, just future glory. And definitely no need to turn back into Jews. No pepper shakers on sticks, no tall hats.
Huh?
I love all poems and hymns written by Thomas Aquinas...this one is a great one!
His humanity isn't; his divinity is.
The Bible says He is at the right hand of the Father. He is not on the cross.
God is not bound or constrained by his creations. Time is one of his creations. That's "basic monotheism 101". God sees and knows all things as present.
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