Is the Mass Literally a Sacrifice?

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I think there is a good reason for this. One of the most poignant things I learned about the Mass and the Eucharist came when I learned about how the Jews practiced the Passover meal.

There are other posts about this that explain it more completely than I can, but here is the gist of connecting the Last Supper with the cross: the Last Supper was not finished until Christ died upon the cross.

The key to understanding this is in the practice of the Passover meal. The meal consisted of four instances of communal drinking from a cup that was passed. In reading accounts of the Last Supper, the cup that Jesus offered with “This is my blood” is the third cup. After that, He says that he shall not drink of the fruit of the vine with them again, and so the fourth cup is never shared, signifying that the Passover meal (participation in the Passover sacrifice) is not finished.

The next part we know–Gethsemane, trial, crucifixion. Then, Jesus, recognizing the time has come, asks for wine from the soldiers. After drinking, He states “It is finished”. That partaking of wine was Jesus offering up the last cup and completing the Passover meal that ushered in the new meal and *new *covenant.

So there really is no distinction between what happened at the Last Supper and what happened on the cross; Christ’s death on the cross was the culmination of what He started the night before, completing the new sacrifice and replacing the old covenant forged in the blood of the Passover lamb with the new Covenant forged in His Holy Blood.

Our participation in Mass is partaking of the totality of that paschal mystery

Hope this helps!

Peace,
javelin
 
I’m going to make 2 suggestions:
  1. Get a copy of Scott Hahn’s book, “The Lamb’s Supper”. It is an excellent explanation of the Mass and very enlightening.
  2. Visit this website: www.members.aol.com/socratesmg. If that’s not correct, just type in the keyword “Socrates” and you’ll find it. Take the “Believers Test”. It is an account of an answer to a debate between “Socrates” and a Protestant minister on the Real Presence. “Socrates” goes through scripture (John 6) line by line and explains it all! It’s one of the best explanations on the Bread of Life Discourse I’ve ever seen. It’s wonderful! It’s also a good site for other stuff, too.
The book I mentioned is well worth buying, though.
 
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javelin:
So there really is no distinction between what happened at the Last Supper and what happened on the cross; Christ’s death on the cross was the culmination of what He started the night before, completing the new sacrifice and replacing the old covenant forged in the blood of the Passover lamb with the new Covenant forged in His Holy Blood.
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Just to augment this excellent explanation 👍 , the Church presents the liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil as part of one feast – the Triduum – not three separate feasts.

Blessings,

Gerry
 
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Juxtaposer:
Could you give me Biblical evidence for this claim?

Quote:
Originally Posted by metal1633
The Lord commanded a Perpetual Sacrifice for Sin.
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In Mal 1:6-14 God rebukes the Jews for offering unperfect animals for sacrifice. He then says in verse 11 - “My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord Almighty”

Here God commands that a pure offering be brought to him, in every place, from the rising to the setting of the sun. What is the only truly pure offering that has been sacrificed to God? Jesus, of course.

So how can Jesus be offered this way if he only died once for our sins? Paul explains in Hebrews 9:26:

“For Christ has entered, not into a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the Holy Place yearly with blood not his own; for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. “

Jesus is compared to the OT High Priest who has to offer sacrifice on yearly basis in the Sanctuary made by men. Jesus only needed to be sacrificed once because His sacrifice was done in heaven. Paul explains that if Jesus’ sacrifice was not done in heaven, then He would have to be sacrificed repeatedly not just from the year He was crucified, but from the foundation or creation of the world.

Similarly, Revelation 13:8 refers to Jesus as the “Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world”, not just from the time when his crucifixion took place.

What these verses mean is that although Jesus was sacrificed once, that sacrifice was done in heaven so it is eternally present – from the foundation of the world, to the end of the world and to eternity. The Mass is a sacrifice but Jesus is not re-sacrificed, nor is the sacrifice only a re-enactment or a symbolic one. We participate in the re-presentation (a making present again) of Jesus’ one and only sacrifice at Calvary.
 
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Juxtaposer:
Could you give me Biblical evidence for this claim?

Also, who’s Melchizedek?
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He was King of Salem (jerusalem) which according to the Book of Hebrews means “King of Peace”. He was a King and Priest who offered up Sacrifice to God on behalf of Abraham. He offered Bread and Wine which in the Law is refered to as a Clean Sacrifice. The book of Hebrews makes him a Type of Christ. and quotes the Psalms saying

Psa 110:4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

The author of Hebrews applies this verse to Christ. Chirst is the Priest of the Order of Melchizedek. This referance shows the superiority of the Christian Priesthood to that of the Old Covennant in that the Levitical Priesthood offered a tithe to Melchizedek in the person of thier Father Abraham. The Clean Scrifice of Melchizedek is the Sacrifice spoken of by Malachi as being offered by the Gentiles.

Mal 1:11 For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts.

This refers to the Church in the current Messianic Age and the the Sacrifice of the Mass.

The Perpetual Sacrfice is that of the Lamb on Passover and also the Goat on the Day of Atonement. They were decreed by God to be Everlasting and Perpetual Oblations. This is clearly not possible for the Levitical Priesthood to accomplish. But the Christian Priesthood is of the Order of Melchizedek. Our High Priest stands Forever before God, an Eternal Sacrifice, a Lamb Slain from the Foundations of the World. We Partake of and Participate in His Eternal Sacrifice during the Divine Liturgy which is a Participation in the Heavenly Liturgy.
 
To give further clarification to Pedro’s Scriptural proof, please consider the following:

“Jesus has entered on our behalf as forerunner, becoming HIGH PRIEST FOREVER.” (Heb 6:20)

“Now every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus THE NECESSITY for this one also TO HAVE SOMETHING TO OFFER.” (Heb 8:3)

God bless,
Greg
 
Thanks, javelin, Dianjo, and Gerry.

javelin’s answer really blew me away. I was always under the impression that Jesus refused the sour wine, so I went back and checked. Three of the gospel writers are ambiguous on the question, but John does tell us he drank, so javelin’s explanation is wonderful. Up to now, I thought “it is finished” only meant His task on earth. Now, I see it can be read ALSO to signify specifically that the new passover is finished (which raised some questions about Gerry’s effort to slip the Triduum into the picture with Easter vigil–OK, I guess the same transcendence of human time allows us to say that Holy Saturday was present in the upper room, indistinguishable from Holy Thursday and Good Friday, but I’m not sure where that’s taking me).

Anyway, javelin’s answer really helped me to transcend the temporal question and see Holy Thursday and Good Friday as one, and one in the Eucharistic celebration. Beautiful! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

DianJo–I took the Believer’s test. But it was mainly reasserting the belief in the Real Presence. I never doubted that. I was willing to take it on Jesus’s words in the upper room. But I didn’t see an explanation on that site of how to connect Passover with the Cross–as javelin showed me. But I’ll check out Scott Hahn’s book, too.

Thanks to all.
 
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asquared:
I find it hard to believe that an Evangelical bible Christian would ask who is Melchizedek.
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As Juxtaposer explained, evangelicals don’t know anything about typology. In fact, they would probably think it was idolatrous or blasphemous to talk about “types of Christ.” Any references to Melchizedek in the New Testament would be considered a reference to some ancient king.

Juxtaposer, the mass is difficult to understand intellectually, but the sacrifice that was given once for all is not a standalone event. We all participate in it through our own suffering. I remember being blown away the first time I heard the explanation that the mass is Christ on Calvary – perpetually. The Holy Spirit filled me and I knew it was true.

I don’t remember the exact course of events that lead me to that moment of truth, but I know that reading Pope John Paul II’s letter on the meaning human suffering, Salvifici Doloris, helped me to understand what Catholics mean by joining their suffering with Christ’s – another concept that’s new to evangelicals.

Tricia Frances
 
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bengal_fan:
it is a sacrifice in the sense that it is a participation in the original “once for all” sacrifice. Jesus is not being “re”-sacrificed. it is a fulfillment of the passover meal where a jewish person would “spiritually” take part in the original passover. the mass fulfills this in that we physically take part in the original cross. Jesus becomes physically present in the eucharist and therefore it is a re-presenting of the original sacrifice. it’s as if we have an infinite amount of the flesh kept in a closet and we bring it out every time we celebrate mass and everyone takes part of it. we don’t have to kill the meat again, but it is still the same sacrifice.
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Thanks, Bengal_fan, this is a really neat way of explaining it, especially in relating it to the Jewish Passover. 🙂
Thanks to everyone for their different ways of explaining it. Not that I don’t believe and understand it, but the more ways you can word it, the more likely you’ll be able to hit on some way of conveying the meaning of the sacrifice of the Mass when questioned by non-Catholics.
That’s what so great about these forums, I find!😃
A Te numquam separari permittas - never let me be separated from You
 
There is another sense in which the Mass is literally a sacrifice. Sacrifice literally means “to make sacred.” The bread and wine offered in the mass are quite literally made sacred by the Mass. As the Body and Blood, they are the sacred par excellance. So the bread and wine are also a sacrifice.

But I guess that is not what is being asked here.
 
truecatholic.org/baltp3.htm

Baltimore Catechism (Rev. Ed. 1941)

LESSON 27 – The Sacrifice of the Mass
  1. What is the Mass?
    The Mass is the sacrifice of the New Law in which Christ, through the ministry of the priest, offers Himself to God in an unbloody manner under the appearances of bread and wine.
    For, from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles; and in every place there is sacrifice and there is offered to my name a clean oblation. (Malachi 1:11)
  2. What is a sacrifice?
    A sacrifice is the offering of a victim by a priest to God alone, and the destruction of it in some way to acknowledge that He is the Creator of all things.
  3. Who is the principal priest in every Mass?
    The principal priest in every Mass is Jesus Christ, who offers to His heavenly Father, through the ministry of His ordained priest, His body and blood which were sacrificed on the cross.
    And having taken bread, he gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In like manner he took also the cup after the supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which shall be shed for you.” (Luke 22:19-20)
  4. Why is the Mass the same sacrifice as the sacrifice of the cross?
    The Mass is the same sacrifice as the sacrifice of the cross because in the Mass the victim is the same, and the principal priest is the same, Jesus Christ.
  5. What are the purposes for which the Mass is offered?
    The purposes for which the Mass is offered are: first, to adore God as our Creator and Lord; second, to thank God for His many favors; third, to ask God to bestow His blessings on all men; fourth, to satisfy the justice of God for the sins committed against Him.
  6. Is there any difference between the sacrifice of the cross and the Sacrifice of the Mass?
    The manner in which the sacrifice is offered is different. On the cross Christ physically shed His blood and was physically slain, while in the Mass there is no physical shedding of blood nor physical death, because Christ can die no more; on the cross Christ gained merit and satisfied for us, while in the Mass He applies to us the merits and satisfaction of His death on the cross.
    For we know that Christ, having risen from the dead, dies now no more, death shall no longer have dominion over him. (Romans 6:9)
  7. How should we assist at Mass?
    We should assist at Mass with reverence, attention, and devotion.
  8. What is the best method of assisting at Mass?
    The best method of assisting at Mass is to unite with the priest in offering the Holy Sacrifice, and to receive Holy Communion.
364A. How can we best unite with the priest in offering the Holy Sacrifice?
We can best unite with the priest in offering the Holy Sacrifice by joining in mind and heart with Christ, the principal Priest and Victim, by following the Mass in a missal, and by reciting or chanting the responses.
  1. Who said the first Mass?
    Our Divine Savior said the first Mass, at the Last Supper, the night before He died.
 
dts said:
truecatholic.org/baltp3.htm

Baltimore Catechism (Rev. Ed. 1941)

LESSON 27 – The Sacrifice of the Mass

And everyone here should know that DTS took this “Baltimore Catechism” from a website (“true catholic.org”) that is sponsored by a schismatic group that does not accept John Paul II as the pope (and thus rejects the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as promulgated by John Paul II). This point, rather than the question of what is the Mass, is even more important for a link on Apologetics.
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Thanks, javelin. I couldn’t get the netfiles to run, but the original came through fine, if a bit bloody red in color.

many, many thanks.
 
Some great stuff in this thread. Thanks to all.
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Juxtaposer:
Why is it necessary to take part in Christ’s sacrifice? Why must one continue to put Him on the altar and give Him to God for our sins when it’s already been done?
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If you look at Exodus 12, part of the Passover ritual is partaking of the lamb. Our Lord commanded His disciples to repeat His actions of the Last Supper, so that we will all have the opportunity to share in this new Passover feast. With the sacrifice of Calvary, we have the “eternal sacrifice of the new and everlasting covenant,” and we can partake in it through the Eucharist.

It’s interesting to note that unlike the blood sacrifices of Leviticus 17, the blood is not merely offered on the altar. The blood “contains the life of a living body” (Lev 11) and as the “seat of life” it is the “blood that makes atonement.” The Israelites were forbidden to partake of the “life” of the dead animal. Through the Eucharist, we share in the very life of Our Savior, and share unity with His body the Church in eternity (He is the vine and we are the branches).

Of course, if you read John 6, you see that many who had followed Our Lord had difficulty with His words:

“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”

This same flesh and blood, the Passover sacrifice that delivers us from bondage to sin, has been made eternally present for each of us to partake of in the Eucharist, under the appearance of unleavened bread and wine, wherever it is offered until the end of time.

Deo gratias!
 
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javelin:
So there really is no distinction between what happened at the Last Supper and what happened on the cross; Christ’s death on the cross was the culmination of what He started the night before, completing the new sacrifice and replacing the old covenant forged in the blood of the Passover lamb with the new Covenant forged in His Holy Blood.
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zange:
javelin’s answer really blew me away…I guess the same transcendence of human time allows us to say that Holy Saturday was present in the upper room, indistinguishable from Holy Thursday and Good Friday, but I’m not sure where that’s taking me).
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Javelin’s answer really blew me away, too. We celebrate mass on Holy Thursday, but not on Good Friday, or again until the Easter Vigil. I had never thought about how significant that is to Christ’s institution of the Eucharist and how the last supper and the crucifixion are one and the same. Again, that time /space thing – sometimes it’s mind boggling.

Tricia Frances
 
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Juxtaposer:
Is Jesus actually being sacrificed at the Mass, or is His sacrifice being partaken of?
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It is a sacrifice, of a rather special kind - because it is also, and equally, a sacrament.​

He is not being sacrificed - this is impossible, because the NT tells us that he can suffer no more. Nothing is being “done to” Him.

That’s the short answer. ##
 
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zange:
dts said:
truecatholic.org/baltp3.htm
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Baltimore Catechism (Rev. Ed. 1941)

LESSON 27 – The Sacrifice of the Mass

And everyone here should know that DTS took this “Baltimore Catechism” from a website (“true catholic.org”) that is sponsored by a schismatic group that does not accept John Paul II as the pope (and thus rejects the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as promulgated by John Paul II). This point, rather than the question of what is the Mass, is even more important for a link on Apologetics.

Sorry! I didn’t realize I had done that. I was searching for a copy of the Baltimore Catechism the other night through Google and didn’t even go to the home page of “truecatholic.org” to see that it was a schismatic site.

Perhaps someone can recommend a good authoritative site for the Baltimore catechism. Its explanation is a little more compact than the Catechism of the Catholic Church (ie. a different type of teaching tool).
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dts:
Sorry! I didn’t realize I had done that. I was searching for a copy of the Baltimore Catechism the other night through Google and didn’t even go to the home page of “truecatholic.org” to see that it was a schismatic site.

Perhaps someone can recommend a good authoritative site for the Baltimore catechism. Its explanation is a little more compact than the Catechism of the Catholic Church (ie. a different type of teaching tool).
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Try this one:

catholic.net/baltimore_catechism/template_channel.phtml?channel_id=14

Blessings,

Gerry
 
Nothing wrong with the Baltimore Catechism, no matter who uses it or misuses it.

JimG
 
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