Eucharist as Sacrifice (cont.)
The sacrifices of the Covenant of Sinai were a major advance over the pagan sacrifices, but they never seemed to be sufficient. The Jewish people repeated them over and over. But they were God’s way of preparing us for the unique and definitive sacrifice, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.
That unique sacrifice took place when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross on the first Good Friday. Jesus freely embraced this horrible death. Just as the blood of the Passover lambs made it possible for the Israelites to escape the angel of death and the slavery of Egypt, so Jesus’ Paschal
sacrifices set the entire human race free from the slavery of sin and sin’s punishment, death.
In addition to taking away the sin of the world, Jesus’s death on the cross also established a New Covenant between God and humanity, a covenant sealed with Christ’s blood.
This sacrifice of Christ differs from even the best sacrifices offered by human beings in several key ways. First, it is God the Father who takes the initiative in this sacrifice, by sending His Son into the world. Second, the Priest and Victim, the Offerer and the Offering of this sacrifice are the same Person, Jesus Christ the Son of God. Third, because it was the work of God, this sacrifice was able to be a sacrifice for all the sins of all women and men.
As a result of Christ’s sacrifice, any further sacrifices are superfluous. However, because through the incarnation the Son of God has united Himself to every human being, we can, in some mysterious way, participate in Jesus Christ’s once and for all sacrifice. And the chief way to participate in the unique sacrifice of Christ is through our participation in the Eucharist.
(to be continued)
Msgr. Lockard
Quote for Thought -
Death is a formidable foe until we learn to make it a friend. Death is to be feared if we don’t learn to welcome it. Death is the ultimate absurdity if we don’t see it as a fulfillment. Death haunts us when viewed as a journey into
nothingness, rather than a pilgrimage to a place where true happiness is to be found.
The human mind cannot understand death. We face it with fear and uncertainty, revulsion even, or we turn away from the thought for it is too hard to bear.
But faith gives answers when reason fails. The strong instinct to live, points to immortality. Faith admits us into death’s secrets. Death is not the end of the road but a gateway to a better place. It is in this place that our noblest aspirations will be realized. It is here that we will understand how our experiences
of goodness, love, beauty and joy are realities which exist perfectly in God.
It is in Heaven that we shall rest in Him and our hearts will be restless until they rest in God.
- Cardinal Basil Hume