Any attempt to explain the Mass must make it clear that it is not a new or different sacrifice from that of Calvary, but is the same sacrifice. The Council of Trent, in its Decree on the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, explains that the sacrifice of the Mass is essentially the same as that of Calvary because it contains the same priest and the same victim. The mode of offering alone is different:
“In this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered Himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner…For the victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests who then offered Himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different.”
The sacrifice of the cross and its sacramental renewal in the Mass are one and the same, differing only in the manner of offering. The reason why the sacrifice of the Cross is renewed in the Mass is so that Christ’s faithful may be able to unite themselves to it. We join with Christ in offering Him and ourselves together with Him to the Father. In this way we personally and communally say yes to what Christ has done for us. We express our complete dependence on Christ’s offering and offer ourselves to God in union with Him. When we do this, we receive a participation in the graces which Christ won for us through His once-for-all perfect sacrifice.
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
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