A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 23: The Sacrifice of the Mass

OLRL ^ | Fr. William J. Cogan

[NYer]

Lesson 23: The Sacrifice of the Mass

FORETOLD BY MALACHIAS THE PROPHET

"For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to My name a clean oblation:  for My name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts."  (Malachias 1:11)

THE SACRIFICE OF THE CROSS

"And it was almost the sixth hour; and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And Jesus crying with a loud voice, said: 'Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.' And saying this, He gave up the ghost." (Luke 23:44-46)

THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

"For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks, broke, and said:  'Take ye, and eat:  this is My Body, Which shall be delivered for you:   this do for the commemoration of Me.'  In like manner also the chalice, after He had supped, saying:  'This chalice is the new testament in My Blood:  this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of Me.'  For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until He come." 

(1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

1. What is the Mass?
      The unbloody re-enactment of the sacrifice which Christ offered to God on Calvary - but which He now offers through the priest under the appearances of bread and wine.

• What is a sacrifice?
     A sacrifice is the offering of a gift to God by a priest, and the destruction of the gift.

• Can there be true religion without sacrifice?
     No, because true religion has to have some external, public act by which men can demonstrate their worship of God.

• Were there sacrifices before the coming of Jesus Christ?
     Yes, God made Aaron and his sons priests and commanded them to offer sacrifices to Him.

  "But thou and thy sons look ye to the priesthood:  and all things that pertain to the service of the altar, and that are within the veil, shall be executed by the priests."    (Numbers 18:7)

• How were the sacrifices of the Old Testament offered?
     Usually the priest would take an animal, offer it to God, kill it and then burn it on an altar.

• Why were the sacrifices of the Old Testament imperfect?
     They were imperfect because...

  "It is impossible that with the blood of oxen and goats sin should be taken away."    (Hebrews 10:4)

• What was the perfect sacrifice?
     Jesus Christ offered the perfect sacrifice when He died on the Cross.

  "But this man offering one sacrifice for sins, forever sitteth on the right hand of God."    (Hebrews 10:12)

• How was the death of Jesus Christ the perfect sacrifice?
     It was perfect because both the priest and victim were not only man but also God.

  "But now once at the end of ages, He hath appeared for the destruction of sin, by the sacrifice of Himself."    (Hebrews 9:26)

• Did Jesus intend that His sacrifice be continued?
     Yes, because He instituted the Mass, which is the representation of His sacrifice on the Cross.

• Who offered the first Mass?
     Jesus offered the first Mass at the Last Supper when He changed bread and wine into His Body and Blood.

  "And taking bread, He gave thanks, and broke; and gave to them, saying:  'This is My Body, which is given for you.  Do this for a commemoration of Me.'  In like manner the chalice also, after He had supped, saying:  'This is the chalice, the new testament in My Blood, which shall be shed for you.'"    (Luke 22:19-20)

• How is the Mass a sacrifice?
     It is a sacrifice because it contains all the elements of a true sacrifice:  Priest and victim are Jesus Christ, and the destruction consists in the separate consecration of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

  Catholic theology teaches that, "a Sacrament effects (does) what it signifies (symbolizes)."  Jesus Christ died on the Cross from loss of blood; His blood is the price of our Redemption, according to Scripture and Tradition.  In the Mass, the separate Consecration - first of the bread into His Body, then of the wine into His Blood - signifies the separation of Christ's body and blood, which was the cause of His death on the Cross.  This signified or symbolized separation of His body and blood, therefore effects in the Mass the re-enactment of His death - though in the Mass, it is in an unbloody manner.

• Is the sacrifice of the Mass the same as the sacrifice of the Cross?
     Yes, they are the same in that the victim and the priest are the same, Jesus Christ.

  "For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until He come."    (1 Corinthians 11:26)

• What is the difference between the two sacrifices?
     The difference is that the Sacrifice of the Cross was a bloody sacrifice; whereas, the Sacrifice of the Mass is an unbloody one.

• Did Jesus Christ give anyone the power to offer Mass?
     Yes. He gave it to His twelve Apostles when He said,

  "Do this for a commemoration of me"    (Luke 22:19)

• Did the Apostles say Mass?
     Yes, they and their successors said Mass.

  "We have an altar, whereof they have no power to eat who serve the [Jewish] tabernacle."    (Hebrews 13:10)
  
  

  "And they were persevering in the doctrine of the Apostles, and in the communication of the breaking of bread, and in prayers."    (Acts 2:42)

• Are there men today who can offer the Sacrifice of the Mass?
     Yes, the power of offering Mass has been handed down during the past two thousand years through the Bishops of the Catholic Church, by the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

• Who is the principal priest in every Mass?
     Jesus Christ is the principal priest; whereas, the human priest stands in the place of Jesus and speaks the words.

  The priest we see at the altar shares in the priesthood of Jesus Christ through the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

• At what part of the Mass does the sacrifice itself take place?
     At the Consecration, when the priest says, This is My Body."  "This is the chalice of My Blood..."

• How can you offer God the perfect sacrifice?
     By uniting yourself with the priest at the altar, such as by reading the Mass prayers in a missal or prayer book.

PRACTICAL POINTS

1. Catholics have to attend Mass every Sunday and on the six Holy Days of Obligation.  To miss Mass deliberately on Sunday or a Holy Day is a mortal sin.

• The Church urges her members to attend Mass every day, especially during Advent and Lent.

• The priest may offer Mass for the souls in Purgatory.  It is a custom among Catholics to have Masses said for their dead relatives and friends, instead of buying flowers.  A "spiritual bouquet" of Masses not only helps the soul of the dead person but gives greater consolation to that person's relatives than flowers do.

• The priest may also say Mass for the intentions of the living, for example, for a couple on their wedding anniversary, for the intentions of someone on his birthday, to pray for the sick, to ask for other favors, to thank God for favors received.

• An offering of money, called a stipend, is made to the priest who says the Mass. This is not payment for the Mass but is for the support of the priest.

  "Know you not, that they who work in the holy place, eat the things that are of the holy place; and they that serve the altar, partake with the altar?  So also the Lord ordained that they who preach the gospel, should live by the gospel."    (1 Corinthians 9:13-14)

[NYer]

Lesson 23 of 43 .. we’ve reached the midpoint of our study.

[Salvation]

Well done, FRiend!

[Salvation]

A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 1: Religion
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 2: The Bible and Tradition
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 3: God and the Holy Trinity
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 4: Prayer
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 5: Public Worship of God

A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 6: Angels and Devils
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 7: Human Beings and the Purpose of Life
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 8: Sanctifying Grace
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 9: Heaven
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 10: Mortal and Venial Sin

A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 11: Hell
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 12: Purgatory
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 13: Original Sin
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 14: Jesus Christ, Our Savior
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 15: Jesus Christ, True God and True Man

A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 16: The Catholic Church is the Only True Church
A Brieft Catechism for Adults - Lesson 17: Qualities of the Catholic Church
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 18: The Pope, the Vicar of Christ
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 19: The Seven Sacraments
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 20: The Sacrament of Baptism

A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 21: The Sacrament of Confirmation
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 22: The Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist (Holy Communion)
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 23: The Sacrifice of the Mass

[Salvation]

The Early Church Fathers on The Real Presence - Catholic/Orthodox Caucus

[Salvation]

What You [Catholics] Need to Know: Eucharistic Mystery [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]

What You [Catholics] Need to Know: Eucharist (Real Presence) [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]

What You {Catholics} Need to Know: Mass (Sacred Liturgy) [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]

[starfish923]

Very nice post, as usual.

[Iscool]

Can there be true religion without sacrifice?

No, because true religion has to have some external, public act by which men can demonstrate their worship of God.

Completely wrong and unbiblical...

Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

The only worship God will accept is Spiritual worship...And external, public demonstration with anything including bread and wine is a comepletely unacceptable worship to God...It could be compared to Cain's offering to God which was totally unaccpetable as well...

So where did you guys get this idea that you need a physical demostration of your worship???

Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Mat 15:16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
Mat 15:17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?

Forget your wine and bread sacrifice...It does nothing and it is offensive to God...

Phi 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Were there sacrifices before the coming of Jesus Christ?

Yes, God made Aaron and his sons priests and commanded them to offer sacrifices to Him.

"But thou and thy sons look ye to the priesthood: and all things that pertain to the service of the altar, and that are within the veil, shall be executed by the priests."(Numbers 18:7)

You can not apply that to your church...You certainly can't apply it to Christian worship of Jesus Christ...

Mat 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

The veil was ripped wide open...Now ALL have access to the altar...Do you guys not understand the parables???

Luk 5:36 And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old.

Luk 5:37 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.

Luk 5:38 But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.

There is no priesthood, it is done away with...

Heb 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Heb 9:25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;

You can not offer Jesus as a sacrifice...Only He can offer it...And He's not interested...

Heb 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Jesus put away sin by that one sacrifice...That is the mystery that Catholics don't get...

Are there men today who can offer the Sacrifice of the Mass?

Yes, the power of offering Mass has been handed down during the past two thousand years through the Bishops of the Catholic Church, by the Sacrament of Holy Orders

Heb 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Heb 13:16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Jesus never said to eat bread and drink wine as a form of worship...He said to do it in rememberance of his suffering and death, not a re-creation of His sacrifice...

The sacrifice of praist to God is the only sacrifice that is acceptable to God...

Of course this won't change the hearts of die-hard Catholics, but perhaps there are some on this thread who will see the TRUTH in God's word...