Sacrifice of Christ

T he story of sin is the backdrop for the tremendous gift that Christ has given us in the Eucharist. A deeper understanding of our own sinfulness is necessary to grasp how greatly we are in need of the Source of all life. Through original sin we inherited a darkened mind, a weakened will, and a vacillating heart. Without the grace of God given to us in Baptism strengthened by Confirmation and nourished by the Holy Eucharist, this selfishness dominates us. God responded to evil and sin by Love. Christ, by his death on the cross, proved that Love. To perpetuate that loving forgiveness, Christ has given us the means to atone for our sins. He unites us to himself in the reception of Holy Com­munion so we can offer true worship to the Father.

Worship in the Old Testament begins already in the third chapter of Genesis with the sacrifice of Cain and Abel. Throughout Scripture there are many other evidences of mankind’s desire to offer worship to the one true God. When God instructed Moses to ask Pharaoh permission to leave Egypt, He tells him to say: “Let us go a three days journey in the desert, that we may offer sacrifice to the Lord, our God.” Historically, that desire to offer sacrifice is still present in the hearts of faithful Christians. Today, as we embrace the topic of The Mystery of the Holy Eucharist in the Life of the Church, we have been blessed to have the gift of the Holy Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross renewed daily on our altars.To perpetuate that loving forgiveness, Christ has given us the means to atone for our sins. Our union with Christ in Holy Communion enables us to offer true worship to the Father.

At the Last Supper, Jesus, by his words and actions, makes explicit that his impending death is a sacrifice. He does it knowingly and willingly. But most amazingly, he anticipates his Passion in the institution of the Eucharist and indicates the forms under which his self-offering would be sacramentally present to us until the end of time. It is important to understand that the Eucharist is a Sacrifice. All that Jesus did for the salvation of humanity is present at the celebration of the Eucharist including His Sacrificial death and resurrection. His blood shed for us is the eternal sign of his love. The Eucharist is not just another sacrifice but a re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary. It is the way we are drawn into his sacrifice which becomes the sacrifice of the Church.

The fundamental pattern of the Eucharist is found in the Jewish celebration of the Passover — both meal and sacrifice. This celebration is a remembrance of the Exodus — when the blood of the sacrificial lamb marked the doorposts of their houses and the lamb was eaten. At the Last Supper Jesus reveals Himself as the Pascal Lamb whose sacrifice brings liberation from the slavery to sin. His blood now marks out a new people belonging to God. Our daily Eucharist brings to fulfillment what was announced in figure in the Passover. Finally, this great Sacrament is a participation in the work offered in Heaven in and through Jesus Christ by the angels and saints. The marriage feast of the Lamb is celebrated in the joy of the Communion of Saints.

Sin, Worship/Sacrifice and Love sum up this section of the document. The extent to which God has proven His LOVE, along with the SACRIFICE Christ has offered to the Father contrasted to our SIN, should help all of us to grow in understanding and appreciation for the gift of the Holy Eucharist, the jewel of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Let us embrace this very special moment in the Church as we seek to intensify our loving devotion to Christ in his Real Presence in the Most Blessed Sacrament.