We consider now the Third Major Part of the Mass: the Communion Rite.
A passage from the Second Vatican Council on liturgy says that "all who are made sons [and daughters] of God by faith and baptism should come together to praise God in the midst of His Church, to take part in the sacrifice, and to eat the Lord’s supper." (SC#10)
The Decline and Rise of Communion in History
To eat the Lord’s supper is of course to partake in Holy Communion in the Mass. This statement also mentions the sacrifice of the Mass (see my entry "Sacrifice of the Mass "HERE). As we shall see, in the early Church, the Sacrifice and the Communion of the Eucharist were complementary and unified. However, due to certain historical reasons (one of them being an over exagerated sense of the unworthiness of the laity to receive Holy Communion), the reception of Communion by the People declined over the centuries and the offering of the Sacrifice of the Mass remained and became more emphasized.
If one were to attend Mass even 100 years ago, one would notice that very few people at Mass were receiving Holy Communion. The Pope around that same time, Pius X (d. 1914) issued a decree that First Communion should be lowered from age 14 or so to age 7, and that Communion should be taken more frequently if one was in a state of grace. Yet more frequent Communion as a practice came slowly.
Such a state of affairs of the past might surprise many Catholics today. The reception of Communion is very frequent today and the understanding of the Mass as the Sacrifice of Christ and his Church is currently less known or emphasized. If you asked most Catholics why they attend Mass on Sunday, they probably would say to receive Holy Communion, but nothing about offering the Sacrifice of the Mass.
The purpose of the Second Vatican Council was in part a retrieval of "the best teaching and practices" of the early Church while still recognizing the development of Church teaching and practice over time. To understand the Church’s practice of Holy Communion it will be helpful to revisit the reality of sacrifice in Jewish, Christian, and pagan circles and appreciate how Sacrifice and Holy Communion go together.
The Modern and Ancient Concept of Sacrifice
Most modern people think of sacrifice mostly in negative terms and usually involving the loss of something, especially involving death; we say that the death of a soldier in the defense of the nation is the "the ultimate sacrifice." This makes sacrifice a rather sad affair and even morbid.
We also see animal sacrifice practiced in the past or even today as repulsive. It seemed to focus only on the death of the animal and nothing more.
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| Animals to be sacrificed from ancient carving |
However, in the ancient world religious sacrifice was seen in a positive way. It was not only an offering to God but it was an occasion for celebration, because most religious sacrifices involved something one could eat (animal meat or agricultural produce) and so the offering usually included a shared meal together: with the gods or God and with fellow worshipers.
An animal sacrifice, if it were part of what is now termed a "Communion-sacrifice," necessarily required the death of the animal and its preparation to be put to the fire on the altar; but that cooked the animal so that it could be eaten. Because the food now belonged to God, the worshipers shared God’s meal among themselves. This was a joyful celebration, then.
In a way, the religious sacrifices of old were like "sacred barbeques." We don’t usually concentrate today on the fact that the meat we are eating at a barbeque had to be butchered. We moderns suppress that. It is fair to say, then, that most (but not all) religious sacrifices in the ancient world were also sacred meals to establish communion with God and one another.
The Jewish Communion Sacrifice
The whole Jewish religious system involved such Communion-sacrifices among other types:
1. First a person (usually with his family) brought a choice lamb or cattle to offer in the Temple.
2. The Jewish priest accepted the offering if it was worthy (you didn’t give God second best). The one offering then killed the animal and dressed it.
3. He then gave it to the priest who was chosen to offer the sacrifice worthily to God on the altar and with fire. The blood of the animal was also offered, and it represented life. It also belonged to God.
4. The choicest part of the animal was left to God and was burned up releasing a sweet-smelling fragrance to God (Cf to Ephesians 5:2 HERE ). Then the priests and the worshipers, the offerer and his family and any others, especially the poor, shared in the meal that was part of the sacrifice.
Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross
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| Rouault the Crucifixion |
Of course the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross was one where he was killed and where he shed his blood. But his sacrifice changed all subsequent ideas of sacrifice in the Church. There was no fire or altar when he was sacrificed, but the Church would see the Cross as his altar. He was buried, not eaten! His Resurrection and Ascension into heaven are also part of his Sacrifice, for as our High Priest, his offering of himself is eternally offered in heaven; not that he is eternally dying on the Cross, but the act of his self-giving love, is taken up in the eternal "now" of God. The Sacrifice of Christ can be celebrated at all times and places. His One Sacrifice fulfills all others. He is also Really Present in the Sacrifice of the Mass where indeed we do eat and drink his Risen Body and Blood.
The Eucharist as Sacrifice
The way that the Church came to celebrate the Eucharist which Christ commanded us to offer, has much the same form as a Communion-sacrifice so prevalent in the religious and pagan cultures of the time:
1. An offering was made by all present at the Eucharist, that of bread and wine. It was placed into the hands of the Priest.
2. The Priest[representing Christ] offered the bread and wine with the People at the Lord’s Table, which would soon be called also the Altar. The bread and wine became the Risen Body and Blood of Christ; what was being done on earth as a sacrifice is united to the sacrifice and worship of the Crucified and Risen Christ in Heaven.
3. And then the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which re-presents (or makes present) the One Sacrifice of the Cross and Resurrection is consumed. Thus all had Communion through Christ with God the Father in the Holy Spirit and with one another as belonging to Christ.
Thus, we see that the One Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross and in the Resurrection redefined many things: it abolished the animal sacrifices, but the Church also retained the pattern of the Communion-sacrifice because it fitted the celebration of the Eucharist as a sacrifice. The Eucharist is a Communion-sacrifice which served as a sacrament of the One Sacrifice of Christ.
I hope you see, now, why in the Eucharist the concept of Sacrifice should not be separated from the concept of Holy Communion. We are sharers in Christ’s Sacrifice of love for us. By celebrating the Sacrifice of the Mass and receiving that Sacrifice in Communion, we should gradually become a People who make sacrifices regularly to show the sacrificial love of Christ. Our sacrifices arise from the Sacrificial love of Christ and witness to his Sacrifice. This is a joy, not a sad thing, and it is for the salvation of the world.
I hope you see, now, why in the Eucharist the concept of Sacrifice should not be separated from the concept of Holy Communion. We are sharers in Christ’s Sacrifice of love for us. By celebrating the Sacrifice of the Mass and receiving that Sacrifice in Communion, we should gradually become a People who make sacrifices regularly to show the sacrificial love of Christ. Our sacrifices arise from the Sacrificial love of Christ and witness to his Sacrifice. This is a joy, not a sad thing, and it is for the salvation of the world.
