Priests pull Christ out of Heaven?

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Several anti-Catholic websites, in order to prove the claim that Catholics think the priest re-sacrifices Christ at every Mass, they use a quote from a 1938 Catholic book called The Faith of Millions, written by Fr. John Anthony O’Brien. (This book has a nihil obstat and imprimatur.) The quote is,

When the priest pronounces the tremendous words of consecration, he reaches up into the heavens, brings Christ down from His throne, and places Him upon our altar to be offered up again as the Victim for the sins of man. It is a power greater than that of monarchs and emperors: it is greater than that of saints and angels, greater than that of Seraphim and Cherubim. Indeed it is greater even than the power of the Virgin Mary. While the Blessed Virgin was the human agency by which Christ became incarnate a single time, 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.

Has anyone read the book in question, to make sure Rev. O’Brien actually said this? If he did, what is one supposed to make of this quote? I thought it went against Church teaching to say that the priest re- sacrifices Christ. Also, I didn’t think God has to obey humans. Was he just speaking figuratively?
 
namax91 said:
Several anti-Catholic websites, in order to prove the claim that Catholics think the priest re-sacrifices Christ at every Mass, they use a quote from a 1938 Catholic book called The Faith of Millions, written by Fr. John Anthony O’Brien. (This book has a nihil obstat and imprimatur.) The quote is,

When the priest pronounces the tremendous words of consecration, he reaches up into the heavens, brings Christ down from His throne, and places Him upon our altar to be offered up again as the Victim for the sins of man. It is a power greater than that of monarchs and emperors: it is greater than that of saints and angels, greater than that of Seraphim and Cherubim. Indeed it is greater even than the power of the Virgin Mary. While the Blessed Virgin was the human agency by which Christ became incarnate a single time, 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.

Has anyone read the book in question, to make sure Rev. O’Brien actually said this? If he did, what is one supposed to make of this quote? I thought it went against Church teaching to say that the priest re- sacrifices Christ. Also, I didn’t think God has to obey humans. Was he just speaking figuratively?
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He was instructed by Christ to do so with: “Do this in memory of me.” So the priest is the obedient servant of God when he “pronounces the tremendous words of consecration”.

Eucharist Prayer I:To you, therefore, most merciful Father, we make humble prayer and petition through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord:

He joins his hands and says

that you accept

He makes the Sign of the Cross once over the bread and chalice together, saying:

and bless + these gifts, these offerings, these holy and unblemished sacrifices,

Eucharistic Prayer II:*Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall,
*
***He joins his hands and makes the Sign of the Cross once over the bread and the chalice together, saying:

**so that they may become for us the Body and + Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

*Eucharistic Prayer III: Therefore, O Lord, we humbly implore you: by the same Spirit graciously make holy these gifts we have brought to you for consecration,

He joins his hands and makes the Sign of the Cross once over the bread and chalice together, saying:

that they may become the Body and + Blood of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ,

*Eucharistic Prayer IV:
*Therefore, O Lord, we pray: may this same Holy Spirit graciously sanctify these offerings,

He joins his hands and makes the Sign of the Cross once over the bread and chalice together, saying:

that they may become the Body and + Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ
 
namax91 said:
When the priest pronounces the tremendous words of consecration, he reaches up into the heavens, brings Christ down from His throne, and places Him upon our altar to be offered up again as the Victim for the sins of man.
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It is, of course, not to be taken literally as if the priest uses a rope and lassos Jesus against his will. As Vico shows, it is “humble prayer and petition”.
 
If Christ could move through walls and pass locked doors, why can’t He be in multiple places at once? Like someone said, the priest is not literally reaching his hands up into Heaven and pulling Jesus down by the foot. Rather, Christ Himself has given the priesthood the power to call Him from Heaven onto the altar. Hence, during the Mass, Jesus is both in Heaven and on Earth.
 
It is kind of a hard concept to put into words…

Theologically speaking, the sacrifice of the Mass is the same sacrifice as calvalry, not a different one.
Since, temporally, Masses are said over and over again, I guess it’s correct to say that Jesus is sacrificed “again”, but in reality it is the same sacrifice;
Jesus does not experience the pain and suffering and death more than once, but the same sacrifice occurs again…

Ouch, my head!

Critics of the Church will always find something to grab onto and distort for their purposes, so I am not prepared to say that this priest made a mistake with his book…give a priest the benefit of the doubt before an anti-Catholic website.

Peace
 
There are some Protestant apologists like James White who are known for drawing on the flowery writings of St. Louis de Montefort on the BVM when it comes to theological debates to make his case against Catholic’s devotion to Mary. The problem is that these writers, such as O-Brien and de Montefort, are not making biblical or theological expositions of the faith. Such exacting formulas are for theology textbooks or catechisms. When people write in the language of love, they tend to exaggerate ideas to inspire devotion - not to instruct those who are unaware of the doctrines being praised.

We see this in human behavior. When men tell their wives that they worship them, or that they love their wives more than anything else on earth, you could hold their feet to the fire and say, “Now, now. Don’t you mean that you simply HONOR your wives, and that you TRULY love God more than your wives?” Yes, that’s theologically precise. But the husband, in making these statements, is not seeking to satisfy theologians on religious doctrine. He’s simply waxing eloquent about his bride.

When the priest prays the prayers of the Church, Christ, who is true to His word, makes Himself present on the Altar. It is a humble privilege: the gift of evoking the Eternal. St. Francis of Assisi illustrated this amazing honor when he said,“If I saw an Angel and a priest, I would bend my knee first to the priest and then to the Angel.” Why? Because of the work of Christ in that lowly priest. Angels cannot call God down on an Altar. However, a priest, who is participating in the very priesthood of Christ, makes God present for us. It is not something that he possesses by his hard work or inherent virtues: it is a gift of grace. it is ALL the work of Christ.

The implication of the writer is that Catholic (and Orthodox) priests command God as if they were greater than the Creator of the Universe. That is simply absurd and cannot be found in any theological text of any apostolic religion. The Protestant group doing the quoting is taking a devotional text and trying to make it sound like it is theological. It’s not. And that’s not the intent of the Fr. Obrien.
 
Stephen_says said:
It is kind of a hard concept to put into words…

Theologically speaking, the sacrifice of the Mass is the same sacrifice as calvalry, not a different one.
Since, temporally, Masses are said over and over again, I guess it’s correct to say that Jesus is sacrificed “again”, but in reality it is the same sacrifice;
Jesus does not experience the pain and suffering and death more than once, but the same sacrifice occurs again…

Ouch, my head!
Peace
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Stephen, that is the BEST explanation I have ever heard!! I understand it now!! Thank you! Just thought you’d like to know that your hurting head got thru my thick one!!

I’m going to print that out and put it with my study material. 👍
 
In English, the words memory, remembrance and *commemoration *have general been used in connection with the Eucharist. However, the Greek term is anamnesis, which does not have the same connotation of a past historical event, but means that the past event is made present simultaneously in all times and generations, without regard to chronological time.
 
namax91 said:
Several anti-Catholic websites, in order to prove the claim that Catholics think the priest re-sacrifices Christ at every Mass, they use a quote from a 1938 Catholic book called The Faith of Millions, written by Fr. John Anthony O’Brien. (This book has a nihil obstat and imprimatur.) The quote is,

When the priest pronounces the tremendous words of consecration, he reaches up into the heavens, brings Christ down from His throne, and places Him upon our altar to be offered up again as the Victim for the sins of man. It is a power greater than that of monarchs and emperors: it is greater than that of saints and angels, greater than that of Seraphim and Cherubim. Indeed it is greater even than the power of the Virgin Mary. While the Blessed Virgin was the human agency by which Christ became incarnate a single time, 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.

Has anyone read the book in question, to make sure Rev. O’Brien actually said this? If he did, what is one supposed to make of this quote? I thought it went against Church teaching to say that the priest re- sacrifices Christ. Also, I didn’t think God has to obey humans. Was he just speaking figuratively?
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http://media.chick.com/tractimages67491/0074/0074_11.gif
chick.com/reading/tracts/0074/0074_01.asp
 
Jack Chick is a very poor historian. Anyone can write anything, but just because a story is accompanied by drawings doesn’t give it instant credibility.
 
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