Speaking
with some Christians outside of the Catholic Church, you may never know that
the Catholic understanding of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross is one of
comprehensive scope and infinite depth. Upon hearing that we call the Mass a
“Sacrifice,” some squirm and cringe at the sound, because they perceive wrongly
that Catholics somehow do not believe Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was
“once-for-all,” and that we nullify Christ’s words from the cross itself, “It is
finished” (John 19:30). In fact, though, Catholics would go above and beyond
the incomplete understanding of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice that teaches
the sacrifice is limited to history. Catholics believe his sacrifice to be an eternal,
never-expendable source.
Practically, when I write that the
sacrifice of the cross is never-expendable, I mean that it can be offered over
and over again, without ever being diminished or depleted. Here I specifically
point to the Mass itself, which is the continually repeated act of obedience of
the Church to Christ’s own command. Catholics look at the Deposit of Faith,
handed down through the centuries, and see that Christ’s sacrifice began at the
Last Supper, when he said, “This is my body… This is my blood… Do this in
remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). The Eucharistic celebration,
called the Mass, is our form of worship, following out the command to
“remember” the Lord’s death and resurrection for our redemption and freedom.
Perhaps it is not so obvious to the
English speaker’s ears, but “do this in remembrance” was to the apostles
clearly a call to offer sacrifice. A “memorial sacrifice” was often commanded
by the Lord to the people of Israel. In fact, Passover itself, which was the
foreshadowing of Christ’s own Passover, was a memorial sacrifice; it was a
memorial of the event in which God won for the people of Israel their freedom
from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12:14,17). As the Catechism points out, a
memorial sacrifice is not an empty act of intellectual memory; it is, rather,
something that recalls and, to some degree, makes present now that which had historically
happened. So, the Israelites sacrificed and then ate entirely a lamb for
Passover every year. Other items were used to make present the event of the
Exodus out of Egypt and God’s magnificent power to save (CCC, 1363). The same
is true for the Mass: Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice is made truly present in
the act of remembrance, even Christ himself fully-present, and the sacrificial
value is made truly available again and again.
What is the purpose of doing it
again and again, though, if Christ did it once-for-all in the first century?
The simple answer is, first, that Christ commanded it. Secondly, the continual
and repeated offering makes present to us in the here and now that “Lamb of
God, who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). Yes, Christ offered
himself up two thousand years ago, but that same sacrifice is not limited to
time and space: we can receive it in its fullness now, in our own time. Every
time someone is baptized with water and Spirit, the saving merit of the Cross
is made present for that soul in that moment. The same is true for the
Eucharist in the Mass, except that the entire sacrifice itself is made present
and available to us, for the reception of grace and the forgiveness of sins.
The event of the Cross is brought to the present moment at each Mass.
In fact, the Council of Trent in
the year 1562, following the mass exodus of millions of Catholics to
Protestantism, reaffirmed that the sacrifice of the Mass “is truly
propitiatory.” What the Council meant by this statement is that the Sacrifice
of the Mass has the same exact merit and value of Christ’s original sacrifice
made in the first century. The reason is simply because it is one and the same
sacrifice with that on the cross, being re-presented (CCC, 1366). Why would we
want to neglect such a great gift, to offer up the greatest sacrifice of all
time to God for the salvation of the world? After all, after the priestly
office and authority handed on to the apostles, we the Church are all called to
a holy and royal priesthood to offer sacrifices (1 Peter 2:9).
In God’s infinite mercy and wisdom,
he has made it so that we, too, with Mary can stand at the foot of the cross
and offer up the Son to the Father in thanksgiving, praise, and petition for
forgiveness and grace, to grow in holiness and sanctification. This is the
infinite plenitude of the Cross, that “from his fullness, we all have received
grace upon grace” (John 1:16 NRSVCE). Every Mass brings a renewed grace of
salvation, equal to the same and once-for-all sacrifice on the Cross. And
through this Sacrifice, we are able to present ourselves as a “living
sacrifice” by partaking and participating in the one Sacrifice, present in the
Eucharist (Romans 12:1).
The boundless scope of Christ’s
sacrifice, then, encompasses not only the eternal aspect (i.e., not limited to
history) of Christ’s saving act, but also that his sacrifice is an inexhaustible
source of grace in which we can participate. All of our prayers, works, joys
and sufferings are able to be united to the sacrifice of the Cross, and the
Mass. Only through the Cross of Christ can we offer any personal sacrifices up
to God (CCC, 2031, 618). As the Church is Christ’s body, we are able to
participate in his sacrifice to the Father. All of our good works and our
sufferings are granted merit as a gift simply because they are united to the
one and same Lord to whom we belong, as his body (CCC, 1368, 2008). Therein lies
the infinite value of Christ’s sacrifice: the one Sacrifice redeems and
restores every single faithful believer to justice and makes us able and valid
participants in the priesthood of Christ, and especially through the Mass, we
can access the fruits of that sacrifice an infinite number of times. Nothing
can diminish it. Nothing can expend it.
For from
the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in
every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is
great among the nations, says the Lord of
hosts.
--
Malachi 1:11 NRSVCE
The cup
of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The
bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are
many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel; are not those who eat the
sacrifices partners in the altar?
--1
Corinthians 10:16-18 NRSVCE
