How can we offer Jesus to the Father?

[BenFischer]

This was asked to me, but I couldn’t think of a good answer. In prayers like the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, or the Chaplet of St. Gertrude, we say that we offer the Body and Blood of Jesus to the Father for the forgiveness of sins, but what right do we have to do that, as lay people? By what authority do we have to make such an offering? I know this goes way way back, but is there something in the Church Fathers or NT about that?

thanks

 

[LilyM]

We as laity, as the Church, ARE the Body of Christ - of course we can OFFER the Body of Christ to the Father if we are that Body!

Not to mention that we RECEIVE the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ every time we receive Holy Communion. Surely having received this precious gift from Christ, we in our turn can offer it to the Father?

 

[jasev]

We as laity, as the Church, ARE the Body of Christ - of course we can OFFER the Body of Christ to the Father if we are that Body!

Not to mention that we RECEIVE the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ every time we receive Holy Communion. Surely having received this precious gift from Christ, we in our turn can offer it to the Father?

That prayer doesn’t just have you say you are offering the body, meaning yourselves, it says, “Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.”

Do you guys understand yourselves to be Jesus’ “Soul and Divinity” as well?

 

[LilyM]

That prayer doesn’t just have you say you are offering the body, meaning yourselves, it says, “Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.”

Do you guys understand yourselves to be Jesus’ “Soul and Divinity” as well?

No. We DO understand, however, that we receive Jesus’ soul and divinity in Holy Communion along with His body and blood.

Receiving these gifts ourselves, as I said before (did you not read it?), we of course can offer them in our turn to the Father.

 

[jasev]

No. We DO understand, however, that we receive Jesus’ soul and divinity in Holy Communion along with His body and blood.

Receiving these gifts ourselves, as I said before (did you not read it?), we of course can offer them in our turn to the Father.

I’m probably just misunderstanding. Yes, I understand you receive these gifts. I don’t understand what is meant by them being offered “in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.”

When you asked, “Surely having received this precious gift from Christ, we in our turn can offer it to the Father?” Do you mean by offering yourself, having just received the Eucharist, you are making atonement for your sins and for those of the whole world?

I don’t claim to fully understand yet the Catholic view on Mass being a sacrifice, but from what I think I do understand Catholics believe the Mass itself is a sacrifice providing atonement… not that they having received the Eucharist become the atoning sacrifice.

 

[JimG]

You are correct that Catholics believe that the Mass is the sacrifice offered to the Father by the Son in atonement for the sins of humanity. And we by participating in the one sacrifice, participate in the offering.

It is often said by Catholics that the Mass is a re-presentation of the sacrifice of Calvary. That is correct. But a re-presentation is a making present again. There is but one sacrifice, that of Calvary, and it is the same one sacrifice which is offered in the Mass. By extending the one sacrifice throughout time and space by this means, we are indeed enabled to offer Jesus to the Father, and to add our own small sacrifices to his all encompassing offering.

 

[LilyM]

You are correct that Catholics believe that the Mass is the sacrifice offered to the Father by the Son in atonement for the sins of humanity. And we by participating in the one sacrifice, participate in the offering.

It is often said by Catholics that the Mass is a re-presentation of the sacrifice of Calvary. That is correct. But a re-presentation is a making present again. There is but one sacrifice, that of Calvary, and it is the same one sacrifice which is offered in the Mass. By extending the one sacrifice throughout time and space by this means, we are indeed enabled to offer Jesus to the Father, and to add our own small sacrifices to his all encompassing offering.

And the Mass, and the Eucharistic sacrifice - is actually something that WE, the laity, offer to the Father along with the priest, and along with Christ in whose place the priest stands. That’s part of what scripture means when it says that ALL the faithful are members of the ‘royal priesthood’.

There’s a prayer of the Mass where the priest says this explicitly - ‘Pray, my brothers and sisters, that OUR sacrifice may be made acceptable to God …’

 

[ryanoneil]

The main point of what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up. Now every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus the necessity for this one also to have something to offer. (Heb 8:1-3)

Jesus is a minister in the sanctuary offering up (present tense) His eternal sacrifice to the Father which is perfected in heaven.

Now he has obtained so much more excellent a ministry as he is mediator of a better covenant, enacted on better promises. (Heb 8:6)

The covenant Jesus mediates (present tense) is the covenant of His body and blood which He offers in the same manner as the bread and wine offered by Melchizedek.

Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you. (Luke 22:19-20)

This sacrifice is the Mal. 1:11 pure offering made present in every place from the rising of the sun to its setting in the Eucharist.

Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified by these rites, but the heavenly things themselves by better sacrifices than these. (Heb 9:23)

Through him (then) let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. (Heb 13:15)

The phrase “sacrifice of praise” refers to the “toda” animal sacrifices that had to be consumed. The Eucharist is the “toda” sacrifice of the New Covenant. The Eucharist also fulfills Jer. 33:18 that His kingdom will consist of a sacrificial priesthood forever, and fulfills Zech. 9:15 that the sons of Zion shall drink blood like wine and be saved.