Holy Communion as a Sacrifice Re-presented

[Randy_Carson]

Holy Communion is a type of sacrifice. It is a re-presentation, not a repetition, of the sacrifice of Christ. Hebrews 9:26 makes clear that “he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Christ’s atoning life, death, and resurrection make divine grace available to us. We also present ourselves as sacrifice in union with Christ (Romans 12:1; 1 Peter 2:5) to be used by God in the work of redemption, reconciliation, and justice. In the Great Thanksgiving, the church prays: “We offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us . . .”

Holy Communion is a vehicle of God’s grace through the action of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8), whose work is described in John 14:26: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” The epiclesis (biblical Greek meaning calling upon) is the part of the Great Thanksgiving that calls the Spirit: “Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine.” The church asks God to “make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world . . .”

Holy Communion is eschatological, meaning that it has to do with the end of history, the outcome of God’s purpose for the world—“Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again”. We commune not only with the faithful who are physically present but with the saints of the past who join us in the sacrament. To participate is to receive a foretaste of the future, a pledge of heaven “until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at his heavenly banquet”. Christ himself looked forward to this occasion and promised the disciples, “I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18). When we eat and drink at the Table, we become partakers of the divine nature in this life and for life eternal (John 6:47-58; Revelation 3:20). We are anticipating the heavenly banquet celebrating God’s victory over sin, evil, and death (Matthew 22:1-14; Revelation 19:9; 21:1-7). In the midst of the personal and systemic brokenness in which we live, we yearn for everlasting fellowship with Christ and ultimate fulfillment of the divine plan. Nourished by sacramental grace, we strive to be formed into the image of Christ and to be made instruments for transformation in the world.

Thoughts?

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Holy Communion is a type of sacrifice. It is a re-presentation, not a repetition, of the sacrifice of Christ. Hebrews 9:26 makes clear that “he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Christ’s atoning life, death, and resurrection make divine grace available to us. We also present ourselves as sacrifice in union with Christ (Romans 12:1; 1 Peter 2:5) to be used by God in the work of redemption, reconciliation, and justice. In the Great Thanksgiving, the church prays: “We offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us . . .”

Holy Communion is a vehicle of God’s grace through the action of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8), whose work is described in John 14:26: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” The epiclesis (biblical Greek meaning calling upon) is the part of the Great Thanksgiving that calls the Spirit: “Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine.” The church asks God to “make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world . . .”

Holy Communion is eschatological, meaning that it has to do with the end of history, the outcome of God’s purpose for the world—“Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again”. We commune not only with the faithful who are physically present but with the saints of the past who join us in the sacrament. To participate is to receive a foretaste of the future, a pledge of heaven “until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at his heavenly banquet”. Christ himself looked forward to this occasion and promised the disciples, “I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18). When we eat and drink at the Table, we become partakers of the divine nature in this life and for life eternal (John 6:47-58; Revelation 3:20). We are anticipating the heavenly banquet celebrating God’s victory over sin, evil, and death (Matthew 22:1-14; Revelation 19:9; 21:1-7). In the midst of the personal and systemic brokenness in which we live, we yearn for everlasting fellowship with Christ and ultimate fulfillment of the divine plan. Nourished by sacramental grace, we strive to be formed into the image of Christ and to be made instruments for transformation in the world.

Thoughts?

What you write applies to not only Holy Communion, and most of it does, but it also applies to the whole Mass!

 

[John_Hiner]

Randy:

Your comments seem helpful and good. However, they may under-appreciate the current salvific work of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Consider this: “Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of majesty in the heavens, A minister of the holies, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord hath pitched, and not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is necessary that he also should have some thing to offer.” Hebrews 8:1-3 (Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition.)

People sometimes have a hard time reconciling this need for perpetual sacrifice in the Mass with the language about “once for all” e.g.: “Who needeth not daily (as the other priests) to offer sacrifices first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, in offering himself.” Hebrews 7:27 (Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition.)

I think this difficulty comes from a lack of consideration of the liturgy of sacrifice in the Temple at Jerusalem. Descriptions of this procedure can be found in various places, including Judaism 101 online. If one is used to imagining pagan sacrifices as practiced by the Romans, Incas, and Mayans, then there are several features of the Temple Sacrifice that might be helpful to note with regard to the Mass.

First, many of the sacrifices in the Temple were meals. That is, after the blood of the victim was poured on the sides of the altar, a portion of the offering was burnt, a portion was given to the priests for them to eat, and the rest of the flesh was returned to the one who brought the sacrifice, to be eaten with his family and friends. (The Passover meal is an example of this; the lamb was slain and offered in the Temple, then the family’s portion was returned to them, to be eaten at home.) Hence, Jesus did not “change” the sacrifice into a meal, He continued and perfected the practice that already included a communal sharing of the flesh as the completion of the liturgy of sacrifice.

Another thing to be noted is that the victim was slain separately from the offering of the sacrifice. In the Roman practice, we often imagine the death itself as the entire sacrifice: the bird is killed on the altar and this is the sacrifice. The same is true in imagining the Incan and Mayan sacrifices in the New World.

However, this was not the way the Temple sacrifice worked. The victim was killed by the person who was making the offering or by the Levites, away from the altar. The flesh and the blood were separated and gathered into suitable vessels. These offerings were then taken to the altar and given to the Priest who poured out the blood and burned the appropriate portion of the flesh as the offering to God. (The sacrifice was not complete, in those sacrifices that involved a following meal, until the Priest consumed some part of the victim.)

In this way, the death of the victim and the “presentation” of the offering to God were separate stages of the Temple liturgy. Once we understand this as the process of the Temple sacrifice, it is easy to appreciate the way in which the Mass is a perpetuation of the Sacrifice of Calvary, and exactly what miracle is involved. The Victim of the Mass was slain, once for all, as the Letter to the Hebrews says. However, this did not complete the Sacrifice; the Flesh and the Blood of the Victim must also be brought to the altar to be offered with appropriate prayers to God. By the miraculous action of the Trinity, this Flesh and Blood from the same and single Victim are infinitely multiplied, miraculously supplying the offerings for every altar throughout the world and throughout all time. (This is why the Sacrifice of the Mass proclaims the death of the Lord Jesus, until He comes.)

continued . . .

 

[John_Hiner]

continuation . . .

Hence, the Mass is a true sacrifice, because it is the priestly action of offering the Flesh and Blood of the Pure Victim on the Altar. It is the perpetuation of the Sacrifice of Calvary, because it is the Flesh and Blood from the death of the Victim of Calvary that is offered to the Lord God. It is a “re-presentation” of the Sacrifice, because it is a re-presentation to God, again and again through time, of the Perfect Offering. It is not a re-enactment, but an actual and organic continuation of the same sacrificial Liturgy.

This is important to us, because another facet of the Temple sacrifice was the identification of the worshiper with the victim that he offered. This was done by the formal touching of the head of the victim, so that it would “take on” the sins of the worshiper and thereby reconcile him with God. By perpetuating the Sacrifice of the Perfect Victim, Christ has given us the opportunity to identify ourselves with Him and thereby be reconciled by the One Sacrifice pleasing to God.

The Temple sacrifice under the Old Law was an imitation of the Liturgy in Heaven. The Mass, however, because it is the offering on our Altars of the actual Flesh and Blood of the One Acceptable Offering, is an actual participation in the Heavenly Liturgy. It is the very same Liturgy as is eternally presented by our Eternal High Priest before the Throne of Majesty in the Heavenly Tabernacle, as the Letter to the Hebrews also says.

None of this is to deny that the Mass looks back to the events of the Last Supper and Calvary nor to deny that it looks forward to the end of time and the Second Coming. However, I think that it is important to appreciate that the Mass is a present and real sacrifice and a meaningful continuation of the sanctifying, propitiating, and praising sacrifice of Jesus. It is the continuation of Jesus’ work in the Kingdom as it grows among us on earth, and as it is in Heaven.

This present vitality of the Mass is made manifest by a consideration of the issue regarding “the fruit of the vine” which you also mentioned. You quote: “I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18). In conjunction with this, consider John 19: “There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.” John 19:29-30 (NAB)

Together, these passages mark the “day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” That day was Good Friday. The Apostles – except for Judas – were still alive. “Amen I say to you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.” Matthew 24:34 (Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition.). It continues to grow.

Again this is not to deny the Second Coming, but to emphasize the current active presence of the Lord and of the Kingdom among us.

Pax Christi tecum.

John Hiner

 

[RNRobert]

I’m surprised neither of you mentioned Malachi 1:11-

For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, my name is great among the nations; And everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name, and a pure offering; For great is my name among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.

Many of seen this as a foreshadowing of the Mass and Eucharist.

 

[Mannyfit75]

For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, my name is great among the nations; And everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name, and a pure offering; For great is my name among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.

This sounds similiar to our Eucharistic Prayer. The priest says this;

Father, you are holy indeed, and all creation rightly gives you praise. All life, all holiness comes from you through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, by the working of the Holy Spirit. From age to age you gather a people to yourself, so that from east to west a perfect offering may be made to the glory of your name.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts. We ask you to make them holy by the power of your Spirit, that they may become the body and blood of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose command we celebrate this eucharist

 

[Randy_Carson]

I’m surprised that none of our non-Catholic guests have been reacting to the sacrificial nature of the mass in light of Hebrews.

Thoughts anyone?

 

[Mannyfit75]

I’m surprised that none of our non-Catholic guests have been reacting to the sacrificial nature of the mass in light of Hebrews.

Thoughts anyone?

They may not have enough information about it. Usually people who don’t understand or had little knowledge of this subject tend to not part take in the discussion.

 

[Nita]

One of the OT events that has been a favorite “type” for me of Our Lord’s sacrifice and it’s ongoing presentation in the Mass occurs in Exodus:

*17:8 Then came Am’alek and fought with Israel at Reph’idim. 17:9 And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out, fight with Am’alek; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.” 17:10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Am’alek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 17:11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Am’alek prevailed. 17:12 But Moses’ hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat upon it, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 17:13 And Joshua mowed down Am’alek and his people with the edge of the sword. 17:14 And the LORD said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Am’alek from under heaven.” 17:15 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD is my banner, 17:16 saying, “A hand upon the banner of the LORD! The LORD will have war with Am’alek from generation to generation.” *

Jesus climbed the hill of Calvary and extended His arms on the cross, meriting the grace for us to conquer evil. This sacrifice continues to be offered thru the ministry of the priest (typified by Aaron). Also in the Mass we can unite our good deeds to be offered with Jesus’ sacrifice ( Hur means “white linen” = righteous deeds in Rev. 19:8). The power (grace) to conquer evil will continue to be made present from “generation to generation” - as long as Jesus’ sacrifice continues to be offered on the altar at Mass.

Nita

 

[Nita]

John Hiner,

Thank you for your post. It is such a clear and beautiful explanation of the sacrificial nature of the Mass. Hope you don’t mind if I copy it so I can pass it on to others.

Nita

 

[Truthstalker]

I’m surprised that none of our non-Catholic guests have been reacting to the sacrificial nature of the mass in light of Hebrews.

Thoughts anyone?

Sounds like an invitation for Protestant comments.

God is simple, without parts or division or segmentation, although three Persons. With God existence, action, will, plan, purpose and essence are all the same thing. You cannot say God does one thing at one time and another thing at another time, so that there is any difference in God. He is immutable; He is unchanging. He is always the same.

The Son of God, God Himself, offered Himself up to the Father at Calvary. God offering Himself up means that He always offers Himself up: the work that was completed is an eternal work, an eternal offering up of Himself. Part of the eternal relationship between the Father and the Son is the offering that the Son is always making, always has made, and always will make for us. It is completed, it is finished, yet because of its nature it is aeternal (proceeding in time from Calvary onward) but also eternal (proceeding in both directions in time from Calvary onward) because of the nature of God.

Christ our Passover has been sacrified for us. Therefore let us keep the feast. We always, whether we are present at the Eucharist or away, benefit from Christ’s action at Calvary. We are brought nearer at the Eucharist, and we can reject God, but His work is ever present, as Christ is the One in whom we live and breathe and have our being. We are never away from Him. Ever. Unless we cut ourselves off.

The action of God in our lives is always with us. Not to diminish the Eucharist, not at all. But we can always come into His presence, and not just in church, because He is everywhere. But at the Eucharist we remember, we take time to remember, what He did, what He does, and what He will do, and He is the One Who breaks through and opens the curtain of the Holy of Holies a little bit, so that we might taste glory.

 

[Nita]

Sounds like an invitation for Protestant comments.

God is simple, without parts or division or segmentation, although three Persons. With God existence, action, will, plan, purpose and essence are all the same thing. You cannot say God does one thing at one time and another thing at another time, so that there is any difference in God. He is immutable; He is unchanging. He is always the same.

The Son of God, God Himself, offered Himself up to the Father at Calvary. God offering Himself up means that He always offers Himself up: the work that was completed is an eternal work, an eternal offering up of Himself. Part of the eternal relationship between the Father and the Son is the offering that the Son is always making, always has made, and always will make for us. It is completed, it is finished, yet because of its nature it is aeternal (proceeding in time from Calvary onward) but also eternal (proceeding in both directions in time from Calvary onward) because of the nature of God.

Christ our Passover has been sacrified for us. Therefore let us keep the feast. We always, whether we are present at the Eucharist or away, benefit from Christ’s action at Calvary. We are brought nearer at the Eucharist, and we can reject God, but His work is ever present, as Christ is the One in whom we live and breathe and have our being. We are never away from Him. Ever. Unless we cut ourselves off.

The action of God in our lives is always with us. Not to diminish the Eucharist, not at all. But we can always come into His presence, and not just in church, because He is everywhere. But at the Eucharist we remember, we take time to remember, what He did, what He does, and what He will do, and He is the One Who breaks through and opens the curtain of the Holy of Holies a little bit, so that we might taste glory.

Hello Truthstalker,

Thanks for your perspective. It isn’t real clear to me just where you differ from the Catholic perspective, but if I had to guess, I’d say you don’t believe in the sacrificial aspect of the Mass - the need to re-present Our Lord’s sacrifice.

Altho God is beyond time, we are not. The offering of the Mass is not for God’s benefit (so to speak), because He needs to be constantly reminded and presented with Our Lord’s sacrifice as we sin. It is for us. We continue to sin “in time”; we experience the need to offer atonement for that sin; we need the grace of forgiveness “in time”; we need the power of grace to combat sin “in time”. It was for the needs of OUR nature that God instituted the Mass and sacraments. In heaven Our Lord’s sacrifice is eternally present - the heavenly liturgy. On earth, thru God’s loving condescension, that heavenly eternal offering is made present “in time” whenever and wherever the Sacrifice of the Mass is offered.

Catechesis in the Catholic Church (in the last 40 years) has fallen short in handing on the sacrificial aspect of the Mass. And Protestants don’t teach it of course. One of the results, I think, is the failure to recognize the seriousness of sin and that sin even requires atonement.
Growing up, I learned it in catechism - but, more importantly, I lived it at Mass. Each Mass began with a recalling of unconfessed sins followed by the Confiteor. Then, the prayers of the Mass made it clear that Jesus was being offered for our sins. I’m not sure how seriously I would take sin if it (Jesus’ death for our sins) was just a matter of intellectual knowledge - that I may or may not even think about when I did sin.

Maybe you can answer that for me Truthstalker. When you sin, do you think of Our Lord’s sacrifice and offer it mentally for that sin? Is this sort of thing ever taught as a practice in Protestant faiths?

Thanks in advance,
Nita

 

[Truthstalker]

Maybe one place where Catholics and I part company is in the concept of a need for the re-presentation of the Sacrifice. For me, “it is finished”: it stands complete in heaven eternally; once it happened it is applied to all time, everywhere, to everyone. We are in continual communion with God, a communion we unfortunately continually and constantly fight against, even in our best moments, but He is always there for us, at least until judgement.

When I sin, I ask God to forgive me, cleanse me, and straighten me out, three things I cannot do on my own but I recognize I need Him to do. I do that on the basis of the promise in 1 John 1:9. I do not offer the Sacrifice of Christ, as He already did that for me. The idea that I could act as priest and offer Christ to God is one that I am not at all comfortable with, but that seems to be what you are saying. Christ offered Himself; I can only stand at the foot of the cross in witness, I can only reap unearned the benefits of what He did for me. From Him to me it is only gift, and I can only be thankful.

Catholic theology concerning the Eucharist is far more developed than I would say most Protestants have taken it - more than most Catholics, I suspect, understand. My own understanding of the Eucharist has heavily Catholic influences, and is closer to the Catholic position than most Protestant beliefs.

 

[Mintaka]

Well, you may or may not know that the word for “remembrance” in “Do this in remembrance of me” is the same word used for Passover. It’s not just a story remembered; it’s a story relived, lived by every Jew that has ever lived since then. When the Jewish person says that “we were brought out of Egypt by God”, he’s supposed to mean not just “historically, the Jewish people were brought out of Egypt”, but “I, along with everyone here, was personally brought out of Egypt by God. Tonight.” The same Passover from thousands of years ago is re-presented every year, so that every Jew participates in that one saving act.

That is the sort of remembrance we do in the Mass.

“For from the rising of the sun to its setting, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice (or ‘incense’, or ‘the smell of burning flesh’, depending on the translation!), and there is offered to my name a clean offering, for my name is great among the Gentiles, says the Lord of hosts.”

In the writings of the early Church (Justin Martyr, for one), you get explanations, over and over again, of how this means that the Mass is to be celebrated everywhere, and that Jesus Christ is the only really clean and perfect offering. (And the only really worthy high priest, for that matter.)

 

[axolotl]

This sounds similiar to our Eucharistic Prayer. The priest says this;

That is where it comes from. And the Vox Clara translation has it closer to the wording of Malachi,