Defending the mass

[Sir_Knight]

How would one address the following …

If Christ being perfect and it being impossible for Him to do anything imperfect, is not His sacrifice also perfect? Yet the Catholic church teaches that Christ is resacrificed upon the alter EVERY mass. He is still atoning, or partially atoning for the sins of His people according to Rome. This flies in the face of Hebrews 10:1-2,12 which state:

“For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?..but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.”

Yet Rome inspite of the testimony of God has Christ dragged down from His heavenly throne and nailed to His cross again and again and over and over. Look at the theology of Rome as taught by Cardinal O’Brien.

“The priest brings Christ down from heaven, and renders Him present on our altar as the eternal Victim for the sins of man - NOT ONCE BUT A THOUSAND TIMES! The priest speaks and lo! Christ, the eternal and omnipotent God, bows his head in humble obedience to the priest’s command”
Cardinal John A, O’Brien, The Faith of Millions, Our Sunday Visitor (1938), p. 235.

So, not only is Christ resacrificed, but now He submits humbly to the priest to be killed–over and over and over. Unfortunately the theology of Rome and the theology of the Bible offer two different Christs on two different crosses. I will stick with a Savior who has truly paid for all my sins, and who is now SEATED at the right hand. When Christ said “it is finished” or in the Greek “Tetelestai!” He meant it.

… Source.

 

[Pro-Life_Teen]

We do not sacrifice Jesus Christ at every Mass. He told us to do this in memory of Him, and we do it.

 

[Ecce_Homo]

Pro-Life_Teen:

We do not sacrifice Jesus Christ at every Mass. He told us to do this in memory of Him, and we do it.

On the contrary, the Mass and the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary are one and the same. Whereas the latter was bloody, the former is not. However, this is the only difference. It has been the constant teaching of the Church that the Mass *is *Christ’s sacrifice. Hence the Mass is the greatest and most perfect offering to the Father.

This does not mean that Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary was imperfect. Quite the opposite. It means that Christ deigned to perpetuate that sacrifice until the end of time.

 

[MrS]

Christ’s sacrifice is re-presented at the Mass. As in Revelations where we see the lamb as if “being” slain.

Christ is not limited by time … His sacrifice is eternal, one, and perfect.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Sir Knight:

How would one address the following … … Source.

I find it so strange that people accept this sort of stuff about the Catholic Church and Catholic Beliefs. You would think with the technology we have today people could grasp this better.

If I watch a video of a plane crash one hundred times. Does the plane actually crash over and over? Are the people killed and injured a hundred different times? NO! The plane crashed once in time and we are watching it again and again outside of time.

Christ died on the Cross once in time and God the Father sees this one sacrifice outside of time each time the Mass is celebrated. Christ is not re-sacrificed each time.

 

[Ecce_Homo]

“For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?..but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.”

In this paragraph of Hebrews, a good observation is made. Had the sacrifices of the law been perfect, surely they “would not have ceased to be offered.” Since Christ’s sacrifice was perfect, it follows that Christ’s sacrifice should not cease to be offered.

The author of the argument understands the Church to teach that each Mass is a new sacrifice of Christ. But this is not the Church’s teaching. The Churches teaching is that it is the same sacrifice.

I hope this is a start to addressing the argument.

God bless.

 

[JimG]

The quote certainly does mis-state Catholic theology. The Church does not believe that Christ is sacrificed again and again. His sacrifice on Calvary was once only, and the Mass plugs us into it.

The Mass is a time-machine which puts us into the very presence of that one sacrifice.

 

[alyssa]

The Lambs Supper by Hahn gave me a VERy good view of the mass I’d never thought of before…you might want to check it out. Easy reading, and not very long.

 

[Franciscum]

Br. Rich SFO:

I find it so strange that people accept this sort of stuff about the Catholic Church and Catholic Beliefs. You would think with the technology we have today people could grasp this better.

If I watch a video of a plane crash one hundred times. Does the plane actually crash over and over? Are the people killed and injured a hundred different times? NO! The plane crashed once in time and we are watching it again and again outside of time.

Christ died on the Cross once in time and God the Father sees this one sacrifice outside of time each time the Mass is celebrated. Christ is not re-sacrificed each time.

Poor analogy.

Catholics do not watch some sort of recording of the ultimate sacrifice at Calvary. Catholics actually take part in this ultimate sacrifice.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is *transcendental. *It’s not limited to the time keeping system we mortals rely on here on Earth. In sum, the Mass has never ended, beginning with the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ…

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Franciscum:

Poor analogy.

Catholics do not watch some sort of recording of the ultimate sacrifice at Calvary. Catholics actually take part in this ultimate sacrifice.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is *transcendental. *It’s not limited to the time keeping system we mortals rely on here on Earth. In sum, the Mass has never ended, beginning with the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ…

Poor analogy, maybe inadequate since the Mass is really beyond our human minds. It has helped some others understand the idea that we can re-present an event without repeating it.

“Catholics do not watch some sort of recording of the ultimate sacrifice at Calvary.”

Of course not. My point was that today we should be able to get our minds around the basic idea of “Re-presenting” an event that took place in a prior time without repeating the event.

At Mass we participate in the original Sacrifice of Christ outside of time, we do not participate in another Sacrifice of Christ.

 

[Franciscum]

Br. Rich SFO:

Poor analogy, maybe inadequate since the Mass is really beyond our human minds. It has helped some others understand the idea that we can re-present an event without repeating it.

“Catholics do not watch some sort of recording of the ultimate sacrifice at Calvary.”

Of course not. My point was that today we should be able to get our minds around the basic idea of “Re-presenting” an event that took place in a prior time without repeating the event.

At Mass we participate in the original Sacrifice of Christ outside of time, we do not participate in another Sacrifice of Christ.

No, poor.