Sacrifice of the Mass

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Sacrifice of the Mass

A protestant friend of mine has questioned the “Sacrifice” we offer at each mass. Jesus offered one sacrifice for the remission of all sins. No other sacrifcie is needed evermore.

I viewed the “Tract” on this subject and there is only one scriptural reference and that is Malichi 1:11. There is just quotes from the early church fathers but not much on the Bible, so how do I defend the Catholic position on this using only the Bible? I need some straight biblical references that are not vague with some good supporting arguements. And please don’t quote the early church fathers. With this person in question, he is only going to acknowledge the Bible.

TIA
 
The answer is in Jesus’ own words when he says, “Do this in memory of me.” The Mass is a memorial re-presenting of Christ’s sacrifice.

You see, when the priest consecrates the species (bread and wine) he is not creating a fresh sacrifice. What he is doing is bringing to us present at Mass the one sacrifice of Christ and re-presenting it to the Father.

It is impossible, by the mere saying of words, to re-sacrifice Christ. Who is nailing him to a cross or thrusting a spear in his side, etc. at a Catholic Mass? No one.

So, we most certainly are not re-sacrificing Christ, being that that is impossible except through committing the sin of denying Christ himself. We are making present Christ’s one sacrifice not creating any new one.
 
Another way to look at is that the Jews had to sacrifice a pure Lamb. Since Jesus is the Lamb of God, he was sacrificed to save our sins. The Mass commemorates this.
 
JoeyWarren said:
Sacrifice of the Mass

A protestant friend of mine has questioned the “Sacrifice” we offer at each mass. Jesus offered one sacrifice for the remission of all sins. No other sacrifcie is needed evermore.

I viewed the “Tract” on this subject and there is only one scriptural reference and that is Malichi 1:11. There is just quotes from the early church fathers but not much on the Bible, so how do I defend the Catholic position on this using only the Bible? I need some straight biblical references that are not vague with some good supporting arguements. And please don’t quote the early church fathers. With this person in question, he is only going to acknowledge the Bible.

TIA
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Most believers of the Sola Scriptura theory, your friend for example, deeply distrust, hate and revile the Catholic Church and most don’t even see it as being Christian in character. Dealing with their attitudes is a very difficult thing to do, because for them, the Bible is the literal word of God, inerrant in every respect, unchanged throughout history.

The Catholic Church does not now and has never accepted the Bible as the SOLE source of revelation and inspiration and does not believe in the theory of Sola Scriptura. Any attempt to adequitely explain Catholic Doctrine and beliefs using the Bible only, will not be effective.

Sola Scriptura is a particularly Protestant innovation which was developed mainly to combat the authority of the Pope and certain doctinres of the Church that the early reformers, Luther, Huss Wycliff etc, didn’t particularly care for.

I have found the best way to talk to these people is to turn their own arguments against them. This requires that you do your homework. They generally have the following objections:

The Mass, Christ is re-constituted into a pre-crucifixicion physical body and re-sacrificed over and over, this proving that His sacrifice at Calvary was inadequite.

Marian devotion, Catholics must acknowledge Mary as the Co-Reedeemer and can ONLY get to Jesus through her. They particularly dislike devotions such as the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel(called an abomination) and the Rosary. They say that in order for Mary to hear all of the .prayers offered to her she must be a God.

Purgatory, the Churches invention to make money off of indulgences. It also denies the sacrifice of Christ as being sufficient for mans salvation. To wit: if saved why do you need any punishment at all?. They generally quote Paul who apparently said at some point ," absent from the body, present with the Lord", to back that up… Indulgences are generally loosely lumped into this category.

Apostolic succession and Papal infallibility are attacked as totally without merit and biblical justification.

There is a Protestant apologist named Dave Hunt, who really gets into these things. He has had debates with various noted Catholic Clergy, theologians and laity over the years, usually coming out on the losing end. I don’t know if he is still active but his ministry is named the Berean Call. If you can read some of his stuff and listen to the debates, it may give you some ideas as to how to speak effectively with your friend.

Good Luck 👍
 
The Mazss is the continuous re-enacting of the One Sacrifice - a renewal of Calvary. The priest in persona Christi makes Christ present for us in the Eucharist so that we may do as Christ told us in John’s Gospel Chapter 6:48-70 — eat His Body and drink His Blood so that we can have Life in us and not die.
 
The Catholic Church teaches that the One Sacrifice of Jesus at Calvary is made present in an unbloody manner at each Mass.

Christ is not re-sacrificed, the Mass re-presents the one sacrifice of Calvary.

Because God exists in an eternal present each time the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered, it happens at one and the same time as Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary. In a mystical way, it has those present at the Mass also present at the Sacrifice of Calvary. It takes us to the foot of the Cross so to speak.

It also has present at every Mass, the Communion of the Saints who are in Heaven as well as the angels and archangels.
 
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JoeyWarren:
feed me some more please! 🙂
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Here’s an article that might explain it better: The Eucharist Makes Present Jesus’ One Eternal Sacrifice; it’s Not Just a Symbolic Memorial. There’s a bit more if you scroll down to read the next article. 🙂
 
JoeyWarren said:
Sacrifice of the Mass

A protestant friend of mine has questioned the “Sacrifice” we offer at each mass. Jesus offered one sacrifice for the remission of all sins. No other sacrifcie is needed evermore.
Click to expand...

That is correct. Jesus offered one sacrifice for the remission of all sin. The Mass is that one sacrifice, made present in all times and places. Only a few were present at the foot of the cross; but actually, we all are present there, because our participation in the Mass puts us there. One sacrifice. You are there.

Recall the incident when Jesus appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, after the resurrection. They did not recognize him along the way, even as he explained the scriptures to them. Yet, they did recognize him in the breaking of the bread. That’s how he is now recognized.
 
We are subject to time.

God is not subject to time.

Everything is “present” to God.

Jesus died 2000 years ago.

What we are seeing happen on our altars is what happened 2000 years ago and the fruits of it applied today.

When someone in the state of grace dies Jesus presents to the Father his sacrifice on Calvary.

That is the same that happens on the altar that we see at each and every Mass.

It is like we had a window back to Calvary and were actually present there - and the fruits of that are re-seen - represented - renewed again on our altars.

Just thoughts of mine.

Ken
 
The sacrifice at the Mass is the fulfillment of the sacrifice the priests did in the OT. Jesus as the perfect high priest has perfected that. Since he cannot by physically here today, priests are used as Christ’s proxy (I forget the word used for this).

The role and importance of the sacrifice to God was VERY important to God in the OT, and still is - because God is unchanging. We have nothing to sacrifice to God that is not already His, so the sacrifice of Christ memorialized at Mass, by the perfect High Priest - Christ.

Refuting this refutes much of what God said in the OT, which is impossible as God does not change.
 
A good place to look for Biblical references for Holy Communion is John 6.
It should be recalled that the Gospel of John was the last of the Gospels to be written.
That means that the Catholic Community had already been having Mass celebrated for many years before this Gospel was written.
Keeping that in mind, you can offer your Non-Catholic friends these verses:
John 6:32-36
“Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
I use the King James version since a lot of Fundamentalist somehow see it as more authoritive.
I see the Sacrifice of the Mass as being bound with the Transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus. When He is brought to us in that form, His sacrifice on the cross is also made present.
 
I don’t think anyone has mentioned Revelations 5:

Revelation 5:6
Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits Or the sevenfold Spirit] of God sent out into all the earth.

The slain lamb in revelations is the crucified Jesus. This shows us that though the crucification only happend once, it is made present for all time. Jesus was crucified once and for all(ways). The perfect sacrifice lasts for eternity. This is what we do at the Mass. We participate in the perfect sacrifice as it is re-presented for us and to the Father.
 
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