#33. The Offering of the Sacrifice of the Mass. Understanding the Mass and Its Parts.

Now the Light of the Resurrection Illumines the Sacrifice of the Cross

After the Consecration of the Bread and Wine and their transformation into the Risen Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, and after the Memorial Acclamation and Memorial Prayer (proclaiming the Paschal Mystery that Christ has died and risen), next comes the Offering of the Sacrifice of the Mass. This is referred to also the Oblation (from the Latin for "offering a sacrifice").

Recall that at the Consecration Christ is Really Present in his Crucified and Risen Body and Blood, that is, in his entire self. Present also is his Death and Resurrection which is proclaimed after the Consecration. We can say Christ himself is the Oblation: he offered his entire self, body and blood, soul and divinity on the Cross and was wholly raised from the dead in his Resurrection.

In the Mass as we offer what God has given us: the whole Christ, we as members of his Body the Church are also offered to God.

 

The Sacrifice of the Mass is united to the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross and his Resurrection. Or we may say, as the Catechism does: "The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice" (#1367)

The Priest acting in the person of Christ the Head of his Church is consecrated to make the One Sacrifice of Christ present on the Altar by the word of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. (See Catechism #1375 HERE) But the People of God are also present as the Body of Christ the Church. They also offer the Sacrifice of Christ in offering themselves as a "spiritual sacrifice." (See Romans 12:1-2 HERE)

What this means is that the Priest makes present by the Holy Spirit the sacramental Sacrifice of the Eucharist (under the appearance of the Consecrated Bread and Wine). This sacramental Sacrifice is one with the Sacrifice of Christ. Thus the Priest can offer up this sacramental Sacrifice in the form of the Eucharist.   The People of God are a Royal Priesthood in virtue of their Baptism through and with the Priest  also offer their gifts and lives as part of this One sacrifice of Christ.

So the Catechism states:

"The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of the Church. The Church which is the Body of Christ participates in the offering of her Head. With him, she herself is offered whole and entire....In the Eucharist the sacrifice of Christ becomes also the sacrifice of the members of his Body. The lives of the faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer, and work, are united with those of Christ and with his total offering, and so acquire a new value. Christ's sacrifice present on the altar makes it possible for all generations of Christians to be united with his offering." (#1368)

Is this not beautiful and awesome in its implications for each and all of us? We become part of Chrsit’s One Sacrifice made in love for us. We become part of his love, his self-giving, sacrificial love given for all times. He died once only on the Cross; but his sacrificial love is eternal.

 

This also why before the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer, as is permitted, I make a brief exhortation for all present to remember and give thanks to God for all God’s gifts to us. And to offer those gifts and ourselves to be joined to the One Sacrifice of Christ in his Dying and Rising."

 

Again the Catechism states:

"Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvelously called and prepared so that even richer fruits of the Spirit may be produced in them. For all their works, prayers, and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit - indeed even the hardships of life if patiently born - all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. In the celebration of the Eucharist these may most fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of the Lord. And so, worshipping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world itself to God, everywhere offering worship by the holiness of their lives." (Catechism #901)

 

At the Mass, and especially at the Oblation Prayer, we are to offer everything we have and are and experience to be transformed and made part of this Sacrifice of Christ, an expression of love and self-giving in the Holy Spirit. Whatever we do that is not worthy of this Sacrifice, that is sinful and therefore unloving, must be repented and forgiven or healed. This takes most us a life-time. The Eucharist reminds us, Sunday by Sunday, the "standard" by which we are called to live: Christ Jesus who gave himself for us on the Cross in sacrifial love and in his Resurrection we see that this kind of love never ends.

 

Finally, we do not offer something apart from the Sacrifice of Christ as if we could somehow win favor or merit salvation on our own. No; Christ is the One who offers an acceptable sacrifice to God because he can offer himself totally in God’s love. Our offerings are because of this first love and perfect Sacrifice to which we are united in Baptism and which we express in worship in the Eucharist. Thus the Sacrifice of Christ is the fountain from which we draw the "living water" of the life of Christ and are able to make sacrifices and show love as a result.

Here, then, are examples of these Oblation Prayers in the Four Eucharistic Prayers I-IV in the Roman Rite:

Eucharitic Prayer II
 

"Therefore, as we celebrate

the memorial of his Death and Resurrection,

we offer you, Lord,

the Bread of life and the Chalice of salvation..."

Eucharitic Prayer III

"Therefore, O Lord...

we offer you in thanksgiving

this holy and living sacrifice."

Eucharitic Prayer IV

"Therefore, O Lord...

we offer you his Body and Blood,

the sacrifice acceptable to you

which brings salvation to the whole world."

Eucharitic Prayer I

"Therefore, O Lord...

we, your servants and your holy people,

offer to your glorious majesty

from the gifts that you have given us,

this pure victim,

this holy victim,

this spotless victim,

the holy Bread of eternal life

and the Chalice of everlasting salvation."

A Note on the use of the word "Victim." The original meaning of the Latin word "victim" referred to a living being sacrificed to the gods (or later the One God). Thus a victim in this religious sense referred also to the oblation or the sacrifice itself. Christ, then, is this kind of "victim" in his sacrificial offering of himself.

Since the victim of such a sacrifice suffers death, it is easy to see how the word "victim" came to mean also a person who suffers at the hands of another, unwillingly and oppressed. Jesus was also a victim in this sense, though his act of offering himself was a free one, but the violence shown him was unjust and unwelcome (see HERE)

Next Week: The Prayer for Unity in the Eucharistic prayer.

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#5 The Introductory Rites: Understanding the Mass and Its Parts

 

As we continue to consider the Mass and Its Parts, recall the principle that "if we understand why we do something, we will know how to do it." How are we to worship the Triune God in the Sunday Mass?

So far we examined the actual gathering of parishioners on Sunday to make visible the Catholic Church in a particular place, i.e. usually a sacred place like the parish church. There we–the–Church, Bishop or Priest and the People, celebrate the Sunday Mass. The Eucharist makes the Church and the Church Makes the Eucharist.

 

 

When we arrive at the church on Sunday, we hopefully arrive early enough to prepare ourselves in silent prayer. At the given hour the Sunday Mass begins with what are called Introductory Rites. The Rites include the following:

Entrance Song and Procession

 

The Sign of the Cross

Greeting

The Penitential Rite

the Gloria (except in Advent and Lent)

The Opening Prayer (called the Collect)

These elements of the Mass were added and developed over a long time. It is said that the earliest celebrations of the Mass lacked most of these Introductory Rites. For example, the Good Friday Mass begins with the entrance of the Ministers and Priests and the Opening Prayer is prayed and the Liturgy of the Word begins.

Obviously, more was required over time to begin the Mass. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), which regulates the proper celebration of the Mass, tells us why we do these Introductory Rites:

"The rites that precede the Liturgy of the Word...have the character of a beginning, an introduction, and a preparation.

"Their purpose is to ensure that the faithful, who come together as one, establish communion and dispose themselves properly to listen to the Word of God and to celebrate the Eucharist worthily." (GIRM #46)

The Introductory rites gather us officially; as the GIRM says we "come together" to "establish communion" both with God and with one another. This Communion establishes us as a Community, "the Community of Disciples."

 

 

What this language about Communion and Community alerts us to is that our coming to Mass is not a private act. It also is not all about "me and God." The Mass is bringing us together to worship and participate together as Church in the One Sacrifice of Christ. Thus we are going to do things together, as one People: sing together, pray together, listen together, offer together, give thanks together, receive together, and be sent out in mission together.

Of course each of us must be personally committed to Christ and personally participate in the Mass, but in our society where individualism is rampant, our error is usually to "to do our own thing" and not appreciate the importance of the Church and community in our worship and lives.

Thus the General Introduction of the Roman Missal states:

"For the celebration of the Eucharist is the action of the whole Church, and in it each one should carry out solely but totally that which pertains to him [or her], in virtue of the place of each within the People of God....For this people is the People of God, purchased by Christ's Blood, gathered together by the Lord, nourished by his word, the people called to present to God the prayers of the entire human family, a people that gives thanks in Christ for the mystery of salvation by offering his Sacrifice, a people, finally, that is brought together in unity by Communion in the Body and Blood of Christ. This people, though holy in its origin, nevertheless grows constantly in holiness by conscious, active, and fruitful participation in the mystery of the Eucharist." (#5; emphasis added)

Next Week: The Introductory Rites continued.

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A Catholic Understanding of Salvation

 

For those of us who grew up in the South, we are accustomed to the question "Are you saved?" The question further asks "Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?"  That second question is a good enough beginning regarding salvation in Christ Jesus. Jesus does want to save us and have a personal relationship with each of us.

 

We can say that having a personal relationship with Christ is salvation. (See John 17:3 HERE) ) We must understand, however, that  a "personal relationship" with Christ Jesus includes the Mystical Body of Christ the Church.

 

The Scriptures teach us that the Church is the corporate Body of Christ. St. Paul writing to a specific church says:  "Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it." (1 Corinthians 12:27) To the Church in Colossae he says about Christ: "He is the head of the body, the church." (Colossians 1:18). The early Church spoke about the "whole Christ," meaning Christ the Head and his Body the Church. The Catechism mentions this teaching several times; for example,  "Christ and his Church thus together make up the 'whole Christ' (Christus totus). The Church is one with Christ." (Catechism# 795) (See also in this blog, May 22, 2014: "The Risen Body of Christ and  the Church" HERE)

 

In the teaching of the Catholic Church, one cannot have Christ without his Body the Church. Yes, we are to have a personal relationship with Christ, but Catholics (and really all Christians) are called to a personal relationship with the whole Christ, with Christ and his Church. Thus, "all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body." (Catechism#846); and

 

"To reunite all his children, scattered and led astray by sin, the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into his Son's Church. The Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation. The Church is 'the world reconciled.'" (Catechism#845)

 

 Examining the Catechism of the Catholic Church about Catholic teaching on salvation  reveals a key Scripture verse that guides the discussion about being saved; it is John 11:52: "Jesus was to die for the [Jewish] nation–and not only for this nation, but to gather together the scattered children of God." Thus Jesus is "the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep," (Jn. 10:11); but "the wolf" [the devil and the forces of evil] comes "to snatch and scatter them." (Jn. 10:12)

 

We could sum up, then, how the Church defines salvation: "Sin scatters, but Jesus gathers." This is salvation: to be gathered by Christ into his "gathering," into his flock, into his family, into his Body, that is, into his Church. He does not save us just as individuals united to him alone, but as a people united to one another in him. "We are God’s People, the sheep of his flock." (Psalm 100)

 

"For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws man [humankind] to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all people, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this...God sent his Son as Redeemer and Savior." (CCC#1)

 

God draws us, that is "tugs at us" with an almost irresistible, yet always gentle and respectful attraction to seek, know, and love him. God is calling each of us by name, but also God calls us together, as the Catechism says. God wants us to gather us together, because we are "scattered and divided by sin."

 

In Eucharistic Prayer III of the Mass, we pray: Father, "you never cease to gather a people to yourself, so that from the rising od the sun to its setting a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name."

 

The place where the perfect offering is made, i.e., the Sacrifice of the Mass, is especially celebrated at the Sunday Mass. The first act of the Mass is the gathering of God’s People together. This gathering is a witness to how God saves us. This is why we must come together on Sunday (the obligation we have to attend Sunday Mass every Sunday); we cannot be God’s People by being too solitary.

 

There is a time for solitude; but Sunday is the Day that we gather as God’s People and remember that we belong to one another.

 

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The Risen Body of Christ and the Church

We believe that "God so loved the world that he gave us his only begotten Son...so that we should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) The Son of God took flesh, became human, while still remaining God, in the Person of Christ Jesus. This Jesus suffered for us out of God’s sacrificial love, died on the Cross and rose from the dead, his humanity now and forever being in a new and glorious state that transcends our physical lives while still retaining our human nature.

 

 

In the Easter Season, I have written about this Risen Body of Christ (See HERE). I also wrote about how it is the Risen Christ that we receive in the Eucharist (See HERE). We do not receive Jesus in the same state in which he existed on the Cross or at any other time that he lived our mortal existence on earth; instead we receive his Risen Body, his risen flesh and blood, i.e. the totality of who Jesus is in his Risen state. This reception of the Risen Christ in the Eucharist nourishes our relationship with the Risen Christ.

 

This relationship with the Risen Christ is a relationship with Christ and all who are united to him in Baptism, i.e.  the Church. Since his Resurrection, Jesus does not exist separate from his People, the Church. He has, of course, his own body formed in the womb of the Virgin Mary and now Risen, but he has also united us to himself in a real and unbreakable union.

 

This truth is referred to as the Mystical Body of Christ, i.e., we are the Body of Christ and he is the Head of this Body, the Church. This "mystery" exists in what we call a sacramental manner. Sacraments in general take visible things and/or relationships and by the Holy Spirit communicate through them the life of the invisible Risen Christ to us. It is in this way that the Church may be spoken of as a "sacrament."

 

"As sacrament, the Church is Christ's instrument. ‘She is taken up by him also as the instrument for the salvation of all,’ ‘the universal sacrament of salvation,’ by which Christ is ‘at once manifesting and actualizing the mystery of God's love for men.’The Church ‘is the visible plan of God's love for humanity,’ because God desires ‘that the whole human race may become one People of God, form one Body of Christ, and be built up into one temple of the Holy Spirit.’" (Catechism#776)

 

Altar Mural St. Timothy in Mesa, Arizona

 

So it is important for us to realize that when the Church is called the Body of Christ, we speak of a real union between those who belong to Christ and Christ himself, but we do not lose our individuality or free-will as a result of this union. This is why another image is also used to describe the Church as the Bride of Christ. In marriage, a man and woman "become one," i.e., united together in a single communion of covenant love, but they still remain who they are, a man and a woman. So with Christ and his Bride the Church.

 

What is relevant to our consideration here is that we are united in the Church to the Risen Christ. "The Church is the Body of Christ. Through the Spirit and his action in the sacraments, above all the Eucharist, Christ, who once was dead and is now risen, establishes the community of believers as his own Body." (Catechism#805)

 

This is another way of saying that the Church is called and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live the Risen life of Christ now, in the manner it is possible in our mortal lives now. It is a life, above, all of the life-changing and saving sacrificial love of Christ that never ends.

 

Moreover, Christ gives us his Risen life, his risen self, body and blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharist. The Eucharist renews and strengthens our union in the Body of Christ, the Church, with the risen Christ and with one another. Thus we have this diagram to sum up what I have been describing here:

 

 

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