The Priest in the Mass: Sacrificer and Sacrificed

[Frieda]

Dear all,

In anthropological literature I have come across a passing remark stating the following:

the priest who celebrates the catholic Mass is both the sacrificer and the sacrificed (namely Christ)

Might someone here be able to explain (preferably with scriptural reference), how the priest represents/is the sacrificer? And in what way does he represent the sacrificed?

Thank you very much in advance.

 

[JerryZ]

He is saying the same words used by our Lord Jesus Christ at the Last Supper. By which Jesus turns the wine into HIS blood and the bread into HIS flesh.
This is why when the priest consecrates the offering (bread and wine) his is doing this “In Persona Christi”.
Now we all who participate in the Mass do offer ourselves as a Sacrifice to GOD. But in an unbloody manner.

Peace!

 

[Todd_Easton]

In his 5/18/2020 Your Bible Questions podcast, Catholic Answers apologist Jimmy Akin touches on this topic when he addresses the question, “Is there biblical evidence for the teaching that the priest is in persona Christi?” beginning at time mark 29:00, here.

 

[Frieda]

Thank you both this is truly helpful and I did listen also to the Jimmy Akin podcast. Fascinating! The concept “in persona Christi” was new to me and I do understand now in what sense the priest is the sacrificed in the mass.

But, in what sense, is he also the sacrificer?

 

[Julius_Caesar]

But, in what sense, is he also the sacrificer?

The priest is in persona Christi, meaning that Jesus acts through the priest. The Mass is the re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice, in which Christ sacrificed Himself on Calvary.

 

[JerryZ]

When we are at Mass we are transported to that hour and place where and when Jesus said those words and made present HIS flesh and blood thereby fulfilling HIS words in John 8.
Yes the Apostles at the Last Supper actually ate and drank our Savior flesh and blood as HE promised.
The priest by acting “In Persona Christi” is transporting us to that time and is presenting Jesus’s sacrifice to GOD the Father but in an unbloody manner. Jesus is now present in HIS glorified state.
This is why we believe that Jesus IS truly present in the Eucharist, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
The sacrificer is the function of the “High Priest” in the OT. Jesus is now Our High Priest. Except that HIM did not offer animal sacrifices which could not forgive sin. HE offered Himself, the only sacrifice that could redeem the human race.

Peace!

 

[Todd_Easton]

The distinction between Christ and a Christian in general is a little blurry because, when a believer is baptized and becomes a Christian, the Spirit of Christ (the Holy Spirit) comes to dwell in her soul. This is why Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), why he said to those he sent on mission, “He who hears you hears me” (Luke 10:16), and why, when Saul was persecuting Christians, Jesus said to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me.” (Acts 9:4) This is also why Paul spoke of Christians as being members of the (mystical) body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12) and of “this mystery, which is Christ in you.” (Colossians 1:27) When a Christian acts in accord with that indwelling Spirit, her actions are as much the actions of Christ as they are her actions; Christ is the author of such actions and the Christian is merely the willing instrument through whom they are accomplished or as Paul said, “… it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20) This identification of Christ with a Christian who is acting in accord with the indwelling Spirit is especially true of Catholic priests when they administer in persona Christi the sacraments established by Christ, such as the sacrament of reconciliation, concerning which Paul said, "… if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:10 KJV)

 

[Maximian]

Frieda,

I notice you are a Protestant.

The meaning of the Eucharist is one of the chief dividers between Catholics and Protestants.

You clearly were not familiar with our understanding of the Mass when you posted. It is something which we Catholics live and breathe. We thirst for the Mass when deprived of it, and no amount of group prayer is a substitute.

If you go into the meaning of the Mass as Sacrifice you will find whole chunks of the New Testament become significant, most famously John Chapter 6.