Posted on 04/30/2010 8:03:26 AM PDT by Salvation
Featured Term (selected at random):
The Sacrifice of the Eucharist as the central act of worship of the Catholic Church. The "Mass" is a late form of missio (sending), from which the faithful are sent to put into practice what they have learned and use the graces they have received in the Eucharistic liturgy.
As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass, "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." Consequently, the Mass is a truly propitiatory sacrifice, which means that by this oblation "the Lord is appeased, He grants grace and the gift of repentance, and He pardons wrongdoings and sins, even grave ones. For it is one and the same victim. He who now makes the offering through the ministry of priests and he who then offered himself on the cross. The only difference is the manner of offering" (Denzinger 1743).
The Mass cannot be understood apart from Calvary, of which it is a re-presentation, memorial, and effective application of the merits gained by Christ.
The re-presentation means that because Christ is really present in him humanity, in heaven and on the altar, he is capable now as he was on Good Friday of freely offering himself to the Father. He can no longer die because he now has a glorified body, but the essence of his oblation remains the same.
The Mass is also a memorial. Christ's death is commemorated not only as a psychological remembrance but as a mystical reality. He voluntarily offers himself, the eternal high priest, as really as he did on Calvary.
The Mass is, moreover, a sacred banquet or paschal meal. The banquet aspect of the Mass is the reception of Holy Communion by the celebrant and the people, when the same Christ who offers himself to the Father as a sacrifice then gives himself to the faithful as their heavenly food. It was this fact that inspired the Holy See, after the Second Vatican Council, to restore the practice of receiving Communion under both kinds for all the faithful: "The entire tradition of the Church teaches that the faithful participate more perfectly in the Eucharistic celebration through sacramental Communion. By Communion, in fact, the faithful share more fully in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. In this way they are not limited to sharing in the sacrifice by faith and prayer, nor to merely spiritual communion with Christ offered on the altar, but receive Christ himself sacramentally, so as to receive more fully the fruits of this most holy sacrifice. In order that the fullness of the sign in the Eucharistic banquet may be seen more clearly by the faithful, the Second Vatican Council prescribed that in certain cases, to be decided by the Holy See, the faithful could receive Holy Communion under both species" (Sacramentali Communione, June 29, 1970).
Finally the Mass is the divinely ordained means of applying the merits of Calvary. Christ won for the world all the graces it needs for salvation and sanctification. But these blessings are conferred gradually and continually since Calvary and mainly through the Mass. Their measure of conferral is in proportion to the faith and loving response of the faithful who unite themselves in spirit with the Mass.
It is in this sense that the Mass is an oblation of the whole Mystical Body, head and members. Yet, among the faithful, some have been ordained priests and their role in the Mass is essentially different from that of the laity. The priest is indispensable, since he alone by his powers can change the elements of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. Nevertheless the role of the participants is of great importance; not as though there would be no Mass without a congregation but because the people's "full, active and conscious participation will involve them in both body and soul and will inspire them with faith, hope and charity." The more active this participation, the more glory is given to God and the more grace is bestowed not only on the Church but on all the members of the human race.
(Etym. Latin missa, from mittere, to send; so called from the words of dismissal at the end of the service: Ite, missa est, "Go, [the congregation] is dismissed.")
I don’t argue about words. Translate “presbyteros” any way you want and it still describes Catholic ministerial priesthood.
The Scripture is Catholic.
Paul does not teach anything that invalidates St. James or supports your theological fantasies. The fact that you need “a course in hermeneutics” in order to explain away clear gospel only shows that your hermeneutics is a technology of fraud designed to better bamboozle the gullible.
I imagine in your universe God is Catholic, because the pope said so.
Temper, temper.
God is Catholic because Jesus Christ established the Catholic Church.
That is sick! Words either have meanings or they don't - and you apparently stick with the false idea that they don't. I find that sickening for many reasons - the big one is not believing what God has revealed to us. God told Adam and Eve that if they ate of the tree of "Good and Evil" they would "surely die". Now Satan chose your method of dealing with those words, ignored what they meant, and say that they would "not surely die" - and the Catholic church, following in the footsteps of a pagan philosopher named Plato, changed the meaning of the terms we translate as "living being" to be "never dying soul", i.e., an "immortal soul". These are just two of the hundreds of false ideas Catholicism foisted upon its members. I find it sickening, absolutely sickening! Jesus said that there is a Judge for those who don't believe in Him - "The very words I spoke will be your judge!" So, go ahead and say what you said above...you're going to be judged by Jesus' words.
Dear friend, be encouraged that though there are many in the Catholic Church with their fingers in their ears regarding what the Bible teaches, there are others who WANT to hear the truth of God’s word, untwisted by pagan philosophies masquerading as God’s religion.
Keep up the good work.
2 Timothy 2:24-26 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
I have enjoyed your thoughtful, pertinent comments and exposition of biblical words and their meanings for those reasonable men (and women) who want to become better acquainted with what God has to say about leadership in His church.
The “presbyteros” — whatever translation into English you attach to it, — is one who according to the scripture is sacramentally consecrated (1 Tim 4:14), sent by Christ as himself (John 20:21), given the ability to consecrate the Eucharist (Lk 22:19), as I pointed out in my 37.
Thank you. God's word never comes back unfulfilled.
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