Replies

Christ died once and for all in space-time for our sins. It’s a common mistake to equate sacrifice with death.

Hello, the whole point of sacrifice is death. It's a very common conclusion to come to to equate sacrifice with death. The whole OT is filled with sacrifices for sin that required death. Jesus sacrifice on the cross resulted in His death.

If you're going to say that the mass and Eucharist is the same sacrifice as Jesus on the cross, it necessitates death.

You can't have the cross without it. You can't have payment of sin without it.

you evidently didn't read the whole post -- excerpting doesn't help, you know, not while reading The Bible, nor while reading a mundane post

Christ’s bloody sacrifice on Calvary took place once, and it will never be repeated. To repeat his sacrifice would be to imply that the original offering was defective or insufficient, like the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament that could never take away sins. Jesus’ offering was perfect, efficacious, and eternal.

Jesus is eternally a priest, and a priest’s very nature is to offer sacrifice. In the case of Christ, the eternal sacrifice that he offers is himself. This is why he appears in the book of Revelation as a lamb, standing as though he had been slain (Rev. 5:6). He appears in heaven in the state of a victim not because he still needs to suffer but because for all eternity he re-presents himself to God appealing to the work of the cross, interceding for us (Rom 8:34), and bringing the graces of Calvary to us.

The Mass is a participation in this one heavenly offering. The risen Christ becomes present on the altar and offers himself to God as a living sacrifice. Like the Mass, Christ words at the Last Supper are words of sacrifice, "This is my body . . . this is my blood . . . given up for you." So, the Mass is not repeating the murder of Jesus, but is taking part in what never ends: the offering of Christ to the Father for our sake (Heb 7:25, 9:24). After all, if Calvary didn’t get the job done, then the Mass won’t help. It is precisely because the death of Christ was sufficient that the Mass is celebrated. It does not add to or take away from the work of Christ—it is the work of Christ.

Isn’t it glorious — the Sacrifice is done, once and for all, the Eucharist is where we experience this once and for all time sacrifice. It’s the Real Presence! Where you experience the personal relationship with Christ in the Eucharist! Beautiful isn’t it, being in communion with the Lord in the Lord’s One Holy Apostolic Catholic Church?

Let me amend this to

It’s a common mistake to equate sacrifice always with death in this time. To understand the sacrifice of the Mass, it is essential that one understand the biblical picture of a sacrifice: It is always a gift; it is not always a killin. This is why Scripture can speak of a sacrifice of praise (Hos. 4:12) and the sacrifice of thanksgiving (Ps. 50:14).