Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: ckp@grebyn.com (Checkpoint Technologies) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Importance of sacrifice Message-ID: Date: 24 Jul 90 08:49:32 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Grebyn Timesharing, Vienna, VA, USA Lines: 87 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu There are two aspects to the aspect of sacrifice in the Holy Mass: 1 - that the host is truely the body and blood of Jesus 2 - that is body and blood of Jesus Christ is offered to God as a sacrifice -- THE SAME SACRIFICE, not a new sacrifice, which Jesus made once for all time Why did Jesus have to die a torturous death on a cross? If God is truely inifinite and omnipotent, He could have saved by mere intention! But instead He chose to have His only Son torturously murded on a cross. Why? Because He was showing us how much He loves us. The word "sacrifice" and the word "charity (love of God)" are very closely related. Whenever we deny ourselves and do something out of loyalty to and love for God, we are making a sacrifice to God. True sacrifice is a concentrated expression of love. Of course, there is such a thing as *false* sacrifice -- of "negative" martyrdom -- where we give up just about anything out of concentrated *selfishness*. This is expressed in the hypocritical and legalistic sacrifices refered to in the OT. People were performing "sacrifices" superficially and in form only to gain power and influence for themselves in the spiritual/social ladder. This is something that we all must be on guard against. And this is what God complined about in the OT. Jesus sacrificed his body and life out of love and obedience to the Father. To understand sacrifice in the Roman Catholic Mass, one must first understand that it is Jesus Christ's same body and blood which are being sacrificed: John 6:51-52: I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread which I give, is my flesh for the life of the world. John 6:54-59: Amen, amen, I say to you: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh, is meat indeed: and my blood, is drink indeed: He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. As the Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, the same shall also live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and died. He that eateth this bread, shall live for ever. John 6:68: ...Will you also go away? [with those who do not accept this teaching] Matthew 26:26: Take ye, and eat: This is my body. Matthew 28:27-28: ...Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood of the new testament which shall be shed for many, for the remission of sins. I Corinthians 11:26-29: For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink this chalice, you shall herald the death of the Lord until he come. Wherefore, whosoever shall shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. So let us be clear: when we are talking about the Holy Mass being a sacrifice, we are talking about the offerning of the self-same body and blood of Jesus Christ to God the Father. This is the identicle self-same *sacrifice* (i.e. love offering) that Jesus Christ made on Calvery. In the Mass, Jesus Christ Himself is making the offering and scrifice. And each of us mortals is joining are own insignificant sacrifices to the ONE ETERNAL sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is a perpetualtion of that one sacrifice through time and history. And we are not doing this at our own fancy, Jesus Christ told us: "Do this in commemeration of me." And when Jesus, himself, tells us to do something, it is best that we do it! Malachi 1:10: For from the rising of the sun even to the gong down, my name is great among Gentiles, and in every place there is a sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation. Malachi was the last prohet before the time of Christ and foretold of the *one* sacrifice that would be made in *every* place. gotta go, chris -- First comes the logo: C H E C K P O I N T T E C H N O L O G I E S / / \\ / / Then, the disclaimer: All expressed opinions are, indeed, opinions. \ / o Now for the witty part: I'm pink, therefore, I'm spam! \/