The Sacrifice in the Mass

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Catholic books all say that there is a sacrifice in the Mass, but none explain when, how and how long the sacrifice is on the altar. Catholics have a right to know all about the Mass and sacrifice. However, many say that they have never heard an explanation of the Mass and sacrifice from the pulpit in their entire lives.
The USCCB website says:
“Christ’s saving action, his passion, death and resurrection, are once again enacted and offered to the Father by Christ himself. … This action by Christ … becomes present again for us, here and now, in this time and place, so that we can join in Christ’s perfect offering and can ourselves participate in his perfect worship.”
The pastor of a large parish nearby says that there is no sacrifice in the Mass, that the whole Mass is a sacrifice. Another priest says that the sacrifice is the destruction of Christ’s Body when the priest chews it.
Questions:
1) When does the sacrifice come onto the altar? Is there a word or symbol that causes the sacrifice to come?
2) What happens during Christ’s sacrifice? Do the events of his passion (crowning with thorns, carrying the cross, nailing to the cross), death and resurrection all happen at the same time on the altar? Or do they happen consecutively?
3) How long is the sacrifice on the altar - for a second or for many minutes? At what moment during the Mass does the sacrifice cease to be present?
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Sincerely,
Henry Wasielewski
 
we travel to the foot of the cross and crucified Jesus at every Mass. The crucified Jesus is in every Eucharist at every Mass
 
Basically the mass consist of two parts: the liturgy of the word and the liturgy of the Eucharist. These were in between the Introduction Rite in the beginning of the mass and the Communion and Concluding Rite at the end of the mass.

The sacrifice is in the liturgy of the Eucharist, which Includes the offering (of the sacrifice) and the consecration, in which the offering become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Lamb that was sacrificed during the mass.

It would not be complete without saying that sacrifice is the heart of a worship. Since the beginning of time when people came before God to worship they would always bring something as offering for the sacrifice. This sacrifice is offered to God on the altar, where it is killed and blood separated from the body.

The mass is the summit of worship of which there must be an altar. Today, in every Catholic church, there must be an altar where the sacrifice is offered in the worship during the mass.

God bless.
 
Father Henry:

I have spent the last few minutes hunting through the CCC to see if I could find anything that might help to answer your interesting question. The three paragraphs that come closest are these:

1182. The altar of the New Covenant is the Lord’s Cross,59 from which the sacraments of the Paschal mystery flow. On the altar, which is the center of the church, the sacrifice of the Cross is made present under sacramental signs. the altar is also the table of the Lord, to which the People of God are invited.60 In certain Eastern liturgies, the altar is also the symbol of the tomb (Christ truly died and is truly risen).

1545. The redemptive sacrifice of Christ is unique, accomplished once for all; yet it is made present in the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Church. the same is true of the one priesthood of Christ; it is made present through the ministerial priesthood without diminishing the uniqueness of Christ’s priesthood: “Only Christ is the true priest, the others being only his ministers.”19

1566. “It is in the Eucharistic cult or in the Eucharistic assembly of the faithful (synaxis) that they exercise in a supreme degree their sacred office; there, acting in the person of Christ and proclaiming his mystery, they unite the votive offerings of the faithful to the sacrifice of Christ their head, and in the sacrifice of the Mass they make present again and apply, until the coming of the Lord, the unique sacrifice of the New Testament, that namely of Christ offering himself once for all a spotless victim to the Father.”49 From this unique sacrifice their whole priestly ministry draws its strength.50

As you can see, Father, the CCC provides no explicit, detailed answer to your question. Kindly allow me, then, to ask you, in your priestly capacity: Why do you think this is? Why does the Church (apparently) refrain from giving a clear, straightforward answer to your question?

Thank you, Father.
 
Christ gives of himself to us at the Eucharist. That is a sacrifice.

Because of that, we become more like him. We are then a new creation.

Everytime we receive he creates himself in us. This is the kingdom of Heaven coming to Earth (Our Father Prayer).

God reveals the mystery to us over time.
 
If you haven’t already, take some time to familiarize yourself with Scott Hahn’s The Fourth Cup. A presentation he did a few years ago is readily available via a Google search in text or audio formats. This 45-60 minutes will serve you well in understanding the issue, I believe.
 
I would add to my previous post:

We are then called to give of ourselves (our new selves) to others. This is the cross.
 
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hwasie said:
The pastor of a large parish nearby says that there is no sacrifice in the Mass, that the whole Mass is a sacrifice.
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That’s one way of looking at it.
Another priest says that the sacrifice is the destruction of Christ’s Body when the priest chews it.
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Ouch. I hope you’re just misquoting him, because this sounds way off…!
Questions:
  1. When does the sacrifice come onto the altar? Is there a word or symbol that causes the sacrifice to come?
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There’s no single precise moment at which we can say “this word causes it to become Eucharist” or “this action causes it”. However, we can say, with confidence, that by the time the Eucharistic Prayer has concluded, the Eucharist is present.
  1. What happens during Christ’s sacrifice? Do the events of his passion (crowning with thorns, carrying the cross, nailing to the cross), death and resurrection all happen at the same time on the altar? Or do they happen consecutively?
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Neither – the events of Christ’s passion/death/resurrection are not re-occurring in the Mass or at the altar. Rather, what does happen is that the sacrifice that Christ makes to the Father is re-presented to the Father in the unbloody sacrifice offered at Mass.
  1. How long is the sacrifice on the altar - for a second or for many minutes?
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Odd question. Are you asking a question about the Eucharist itself, or about the action of the Liturgy?
At what moment during the Mass does the sacrifice cease to be present?
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Again – ‘sacrifice’ or ‘Eucharist’?

The Eucharist is present the entire time! It doesn’t ‘stop being Eucharist’ until it no longer has the appearance of bread and wine (which, normally, would happen by virtue of digestion).

The ‘sacrifice’, though? “On the altar”? Not sure what you’re getting at…
 
Wait, a man on CAF who describes himself as a priest doesn’t know how the mass is a Sacrifice?
 
The words from the 3rd Eucharistic Prayer - - - - - - - - -

Therefore, O Lord, as we celebrate the memorial
of the saving Passion of your Son,
his wondrous Resurrection
and Ascension into heaven,
and as we look forward to his second coming,
we offer you in thanksgiving
this holy and living sacrifice.
Look, we pray, upon the oblation of your Church
and, recognizing the sacrificial Victim by whose death
you willed to reconcile us to yourself,
grant that we, who are nourished
by the Body and Blood of your Son
and filled with his Holy Spirit,
may become one body, one spirit in Christ.
May he make of us
an eternal offering to you,
so that we may obtain an inheritance with your elect,
 
  1. Seminary in the 60s and 70s was woefully lacking in many cases. I know of at least one seminary which was closed and that closure was celebrated.
  2. The primary purpose to attend mass is to offer the sacrifice of His Son to the Father - much as the Chaplet of divine Mercy teaches.
  3. Included in that same sacrifice, we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God , which is our act of spiritual worship. (Romans 12)
 
I am the priest who exposed the unjust markups and rotten tactics of nearly every mortuary in the country in two U.S. Senate hearings and on Today, Dateline and nearly every other national news program - and received death threats as a result.
 
The Sacrifice in the Mass

. . After reading my questions about the sacrifice, several posters (who didn’t try to answer any of the questions) seemed to indicate that a real priest would know the answers and wouldn’t be asking such questions. The fact is that I teach liturgy and have directed and spoken at large liturgical events, including speaking and showing slides of creative liturgy to 5,000 Catholic teachers at their National Catholic Education Convention.

. . I asked the seven questions here to see what kind of answers you folks would give about how the cruel sacrifice happens to Jesus in the Mass. The sacrifice in the Mass is an ACTION of Christ in which he RE-PRESENTS, ENACTS,and MAKES PRESENT the ACTUAL EVENTS of his suffering in Jerusalem and Calvary.

. . He wants everyone iin the world to see what he did to save them. Because we couldn’t be at Calvary he brings Calvary to us. You are next to him during these events. In front you Jesus is ACTUALLY whipped, carries his cross, his hands and feet nailed, hangs on the cross, dies and rises from the dead.

. . In front of you is the greatest event in the history of the world. The only difference from what happened at Calvary is that he doesn’t suffer or bleed now because he did that once and paid for all sin and doesn’t need to suffer again. YOU are at Calvary with him. Every Catholic needs to learn about how the sacrifice happens. At Mass you need to pay attention to his sacrifice as it happens.

. . I’ve answered the questions about what happens in his sacrifice on the altar. I invite you to figure out the answers to the other questions about exactly when all of thes events of his sacrifice BEGIN on the altar and at whot moment in the Mass these events of his sacrifice END. Because this sacrifice is Jsus’ greatest gift to us and to everyone who will ever live, every Catholic should know all of the above, Think about it happening during the Mass, and be able to explain it to everyone.

. . Read over and over, or better, memorize the excerpt from the U.S. Bishops’ (USCCB) beautiful explanation of the sacrifice in first paragraphs at the beginning of this topic.
,
. . I write a regular newspaper column named “The Family Today” (“La Familia Hoy” )with colorful photes and pictures about religion, Mass, science, sex predators, family problems and many other topics.You can see 35 of my columns on the Internet. You can se the columns and beautiful graphics by clicking: prensahispanaaz.com . It is written in Spanish but you can click “Translate” on the Chrome browser to read it. I also publish a colorful Mass Explanation Card (8" x 5"). .
 
hwasie said:
I asked the seven questions here to see what kind of answers you folks would give
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There must be something in the water.

Another long-time poster took the same tactic: asking leading questions (as if he were searching for the answers himself) in order to elicit a conversation. I get what you’re doing, but perhaps a little more transparency in your posting (“hey… I know the answers, but I’m curious whether you’ve ever been asked the questions” rather than “some priests say X and Y – what are the answers to these questions?”) might go a long way. This latest post of yours, in which you show us that you’re attempting a teaching moment, is a good approach. 👍
 
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hwasie said:
The fact is that I teach liturgy and have directed and spoken at large liturgical events, including speaking and showing slides of creative liturgy to 5,000 Catholic teachers at their National Catholic Education Convention.
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With all due respect, I don’t know you from Adam, and most priests don’t cruise onto a Catholic website asking basic questions, nor do they show off about “I’m the priest who exposed the such and such scandal” as that would be a lack of humility.

While it is good to have priests participate here, it would be better if you didn’t use the posters here as some kind of experiment where you ask weird questions and then analyze the answers you get. This is not a comfortable way to discuss or evangelize with people. It’s basically putting people on the spot. I’m not going to be all “Thank you Father” about it.
 
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