Romans 12:1

[thyrodandstaff]

thyrodandstaff

Romans 12:1 I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.

From the Ignatius RSV-CE notes it seems to “make a living sacrifice” you have to be free from venial sin and give alms at the mass.

So if you saw something evil on TV then you would have to go to confession or go to mass once to be forgiven before you could go to mass again and make a living sacrifice?

What does it mean to make a living sacrifice versus not making one at mass?

 

[themonk86]

From the Ignatius RSV-CE notes it seems to “make a living sacrifice” you have to be free from venial sin and give alms at the mass.

This is what the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament say about this verse, “living sacrifice: Sacrificing the body means putting to death the deeds of the flesh (8:13) so that our members can become instruments of righteousness (6:13). Virtues associated with the body are probably in view (chastity, temperance, etc.).” So I don’t think is saying you have to be free from venial sin, but that we can exercise virtues and using our body’s as instruments of righteousness, which may also include performing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

So if you saw something evil on TV then you would have to go to confession or go to mass once to be forgiven before you could go to mass again and make a living sacrifice?

Well I think that depends if the sin you committed while seeing something evil on tv was mortal or venial, or not even a sin at all (like if you accidentally turned it to a channel which was showing the evil and once you noticed it you turned the channel). Again, from what I understand when Paul says “present your bodies as a living sacrifice” he’s referring to excercising the virtues and using our body’s as instruments of righteousness.

What does it mean to make a living sacrifice versus not making one at mass

Again, I understand Paul to mean when he says “present your bodies as a living sacrifice” he’s referring to excercising the virtues and using our body’s as instruments of righteousness.

Hope this helps and God Bless!

 

[Crumpy]

thyrodandstaff

Romans 12:1 I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.

From the Ignatius RSV-CE notes it seems to “make a living sacrifice” you have to be free from venial sin and give alms at the mass.

So if you saw something evil on TV then you would have to go to confession or go to mass once to be forgiven before you could go to mass again and make a living sacrifice?

What does it mean to make a living sacrifice versus not making one at mass?

Being a living sacrifice is the moral equivalent of what Jesus says in the gospels about taking up our crosses daily and following him.

So, what does that mean? Yes, it means filtering out all the temptations of the flesh, not giving in to sin – ever. Putting up with our own inclinations to sin, even our desire to sin itself, is a “cross” that we have to bear. We are dirty, awful sinners, and we have to use our free will and God’s grace (all of scripture) to separate ourselves from the evil.

Scott Hahn’s book on Letter and Spirit (I had it for a couple years but didn’t read it until last weekend) gives an overwhelmingly good exposition of what Mass is and what we do at Mass.

Mass is the primary activity of the Church, which is the new and expanded family that Jesus created to supercede the Jewish family structure. When we receive the Eucharist, what we are doing is renewing the new covenant, and thereby, our commitment to God and we are living in the “kingdom” of God. (I’m mixing up Hahn’s book with Benedict XVI’s first volume of Jesus of Nazareth.)

The Kingdom of God means living in and with Jesus Christ. it means we have separated ourselves from the sinfulness of the world – all of which involves turning away from God.

Jesus is the center of history, the fulfillment of the Old Testament, he is the new Torah, etc. Benedict’s book is marvelous to read. Benedict demonstrates how Jesus claims to be God, how he speaks with authority.

Hahn explains how in the covenant, we offer ourselves up to God as he offers himself to us. That is the “living sacrifice.” God empties himself to come down to our level, the human level, in Jesus Christ; we put our “old selves” behind us to offer ourselves upward to God.

 

[fred_conty]

St. Paul also said that we make up in our body the sufferings that are lacking to Jesus Christ.
The question is, what possible sufferings could be lacking in the sufferings of Jesus?

It means that we are linked together in his mystical body and that we offer our sufferings as his body, formed as his body on earth, to be offered to the Father in union with his sufferings on the cross for the salvation of the world.

Mass is the act of this happening where all over the world we, his church, join his sacrifice at the altar with offering ourselves with him to the Father. The sufferings we encounter are those of carring out the will of the Father just as Jesus did. Our nails are faith, hope, charity, and the cross on our backs being the sermon on the mount. As he so loved the world, so we join our love with his.

Just a thought.

 

[stevekehl]

Being a living sacrifice means to live for Christ every day. Not just not sinning, but being a witness for Christ in word and deed. Are you compassionate, do you act on that compassion, do you forgive others, are you patient and gentle, do you give God the glory or seek glory for yourself, do you think of others needs before your own? Living your life as a sacrifice means showing God’s love for the world through you. If you try to run to confession every time you sin you will probably never get two blocks from the church.

 

[thyrodandstaff]

This is what the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament say about this verse, “living sacrifice: Sacrificing the body means putting to death the deeds of the flesh (8:13) so that our members can become instruments of righteousness (6:13). Virtues associated with the body are probably in view (chastity, temperance, etc.).” So I don’t think is saying you have to be free from venial sin, but that we can exercise virtues and using our body’s as instruments of righteousness, which may also include performing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

But the next part says, “The body is made a sacrifice when the eye looks at nothing evil, the tongue says nothing filthy, and the hand does nothing lawless…”. Upon reflection I would say it is to be free of possible mortal or venial sin. Sorry, I was a little bit hasty in my initial write up.

I guess my question was what is the difference between offering a living sacrifice and needing to be forgiven at mass. I was thinking in terms of some kind of laws of reward in grace. Upon reflection I think I should just trust that God always gives us the reward we deserve for what we bring to him. But I really find this commentary from the Ignatius to be instructive and I thank you for your (name removed by moderator)ut.