Once again from the Catechism of Trent authorized by Saint Pope Pius V
"The additional words for you and for many, are taken, some from Matthew, some from Luke, but were joined together by the Catholic Church under the guidance of the Spirit of God. They serve to declare the fruit and advantage of His Passion. For if we look to its value, we must confess that the Redeemer shed His blood for the salvation of all; but if we look to the fruit which mankind have received from it, we shall easily find that it pertains not unto all, but **to many **of the human race. "
St. Maria
I understand what the Catechism of Trent did. I was making a point regarding the Synoptic Gospels.
I can even tell you why the authors of the Catechism Trent reach this compromise. But the why is not the issue.
The issue is very simple. First, the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine which was created to work on and teach the Catechism of Trent had difficulty with the exegetical and eschatological contents of the scriptures.
Whilel Biblical eschatology emphasized that Christ has died for all, biblical exegesis made reference to “many” in Matt and Mk and to “you” in Lk, and John’s Gospel which is eschatalogical doesn’t even mention it.
The question arose, which way to go, through the exegetical or the eschatalogical route. It was decided to use the words of the scriptures by combining the words from the three synoptic gospels (MT, Mk, and Lk) for the words of consecration, but to use John’s eschatology for the Eucharistic prayer.
The reason for this agreement was to display the unity of the gospels in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. That was the idea of a final gospel reading at the end of the mass, to show the unity between the sacrament and the word or better said, to show that the sacrament if framed by the Word of God.
It was also their intention to show that the Salvation of Jesus was for all, but that not all would be open to receive it. In reality, many would benefit from the universal gift of redemption, not because redemption was for some and not others, but because of human choice.
The reason why Lk uses “for you” instead of “for many” had to do with Lucan theology. Luke was writing for the Greeks. He wanted to ensure the Greeks that Christ’s ministry was for them as well as for the Jews. Remember, Luke was not a Jew. “The many” could be misconstrued that Christ’s saving act and the Eucharist was for the Jews. At the time of Luke’s writing there was a conflict in the Church as to whether or not the Gentiles were included in Christ’s redemptive work. Even though Paul and the Apostles had settled it, the laity was still uncomfortable with their resolution.
Non Jewish Christians still felt they were second class members of the Church. Luke wants to emphasize that they were in fact in the mind of Christ. Luke received this teaching from Paul who preached that Christ has come to save all people and that there were no longer Jews and Gentiles, but only sons and daughters of the same Father.
The Catechism of Trent reflected the thinking of the mind of the theologians who pulled all of this together. They couldn’t put every argument into the catechism. What you have cited above is a summary statement of many years of dialogue between biblical exegites and systematic theologians.
JR
they should seriously listen to the SSPX.