Conferences on the Virtues
By Fr. Bruno Cocuzzi, ocd
Number 75
The Various kinds of Sacrifice…
Last time we
ended the conference with the definition of Sacrifice and the
explanation of the chief parts of the definition. Now we can continue by mentioning the various kinds (or
species) of Sacrifice. Let me
translate for you the brief paragraph in my textbook that enumerates them:
Every
sacrifice is essentially and primarily worshipful because it is offered in
honor of God for the purpose of bearing witness to Him as the first principle
by Whom we were created and upon Whom we are totally dependent: as the One from Whom all that exists comes
to us for our good. It is from Him
that we have all that we now have, and from Whom we will receive all that we
need or lawfully want in the future.
We
also know that by separating ourselves from God by mortal sin we bring upon
ourselves eternal death (damnation).
Even the acknowledgement of this fact can be accomplished by sacrifice.
Thus,
by reason of its end (or purpose), sacrifice can be (1) worshipful, i.e., an
act of worship (2) Eucharistic, i.e., an act of thanksgiving for benefits
received (3) impetratory, i.e., an act of petition which obtains future
benefits, and (4) propitiatory, i.e., an act which obtains the forgiveness of
our sins and makes reparation for them.
In the Old
Testament, the counterparts of these also took different [external] forms.
The holocaust (whole burnt
offering was the highest form of worship).
The
Sin offering was the sacrifice that sought the forgiveness of, and made
reparation for, sins.
The
Peace offering was the sacrifice that both said thanks for favors received, and
was a petition for future favors.
As you all
know, the most eminent of all sacrifices is the Sacrifice of the New Law.
We said in an
earlier conference that there is a General Law of Nature, which impels
humankind to offer sacrifice. But the
specific time, the manner and the matter for sacrifice was always of human
institution.
For the Jews of
the Old Law, it was the Lord Himself who decreed what those should be. We have touched lightly and in part upon
that above. For those of us living
under the New Law, there is only one Sacrifice. That is, the Sacrificial Death of Christ
on the Cross, and its true, though symbolic renewal in Holy Mass.
This sacrifice
differs in several ways from the sacrifices of the Old Testament:
1.
by reason of its dignity.
a. in
view of the Person offering, Who is the Incarnate Son of God the Father.
b. In
view of what is offered, which is His Body and Blood.
Its dignity, therefore, is infinitely
greater than all other sacrifices.
2. By
reason of its purpose, which comprises all four ends of
sacrifice, as mentioned above in this conference.
3. By
reason of its efficacy, its effectiveness does not depend upon the
worthiness of the priest who offers it, as did, in part, the sacrifices of the
Old Testament. Rather, it has intrinsic
value flowing from its infinite dignity, and always, infallibly fulfills
the four ends of sacrifice. In
particular, it infallibly brings down graces of redemption upon present
humankind.
4. By
reason of its perfection and permanence. It does not prefigure, announce and prepare for any other
sacrifice. It will be replaced by no other
sacrifice. Rather, it is the sacrifice
that is prefigured, announced and prepared for by all others. Now that we have it, it replaces and renders
obsolete and ineffective all other [ritual] sacrifices, past present and
future.
More
about the One and Only Sacrifice of the New Law…
As indicated
above, it exists in two forms. One is
the bloody sacrifice on the Cross. The
other is the unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass.
Simply and
substantially there is just the One Sacrifice. That is because the One Victim is offered principally by
the One High Priest, and its One, utterly complete Efficacy
requires no other.
By reason of
the diversity of form, manner and time in which the One Victim is
offered, it is multiple.
You are
probably wondering how it can be said that the Sacrifice of the Body and Blood
of Jesus in the bloody Sacrifice of the Cross was offered by Himself, the One
High Priest of the New Law. It was not
Jesus who, on the cross, physically and materially immolated the One Victim,
Himself, as the Priests of the Old Law used to immolate the animal victims of
their sacrifices.
Nevertheless,
it was Jesus, the Great High Priest, who voluntarily surrendered Himself
(His Life) into the hands of those who tortured Him and put Him to death on
the Cross, something that He could have avoided, had He wanted to. Also, He did so for the express purpose of
offering perfect Worship to God His Father on behalf of all of us, His
human brothers and sisters, and again, on our behalf, for the additional
purpose of making complete and total satisfaction and reparation for all our
sins, both for the Original Sin and for each and every collective and personal
sin to the end of time.
But because we
are free creatures, the graces and merits of the Sacrifice of the New Law are
not going to be forced upon us against our wills. We are obliged to invoke them, and we do so by participating to
the extent we can in Jesus’ One bloody Sacrifice on Calvary.
Thus it is that
Jesus willed to give us His bloody sacrifice on Calvary in the form of the
unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass. By
means of our participating at Mass, which is the Sacramental renewal of Jesus’
Sacrifice on the Cross, we can fulfill adequately our obligation to give due
and efficacious Worship to God, and to fulfill adequately all the other
obligations we lie under, namely, to thank God, to obtain the forgiveness of
our sins, and effectively to petition all the graces we need to live according
to His Will. It is especially by the
latter, living according to His Will, that we keep our souls alive in God.
Therefore:
1. On
the Cross, Jesus was the sole offerer of Himself. In the Mass, the celebrant offers Him together
with Jesus and in His Name. As an
ordained hierarchical priest, the celebrant causes Jesus to be sacramentally
present as Head, Bridegroom and Presider of the Congregation.
But
the faithful in attendance also offer Jesus in sacrifice in virtue of the
ordinary priesthood conferred on them by Baptism. As members of Jesus, they sacramentally cause the entire Church
to be present at the Mass. She is
truly, though sacramentally, present in the faithful attending Mass as Jesus’
Bride and Body, united to Him as Bridegroom and Head.
2. Thus,
on the Cross, Jesus alone was offered in Sacrifice. In the Mass, the Church is offered as well, in virtue of being
united to the Victim, Who is its Head.
3. On
the Cross Jesus was offered as an individual member of the human Race, that is,
in His proper Human Nature, as a man capable of suffering and dying. In the Mass He (His actual Body and Blood)
is offered under the appearance of bread and wine. There He is offered in His glorified human nature which can
neither die nor suffer any more. On the
Cross there was a real death. In the
Mass, the death is symbolic.
4. As
stated above, the Sacrifice of the Cross totally and perfectly achieved all its
purposes once and for all time. In the
Sacrifice of the Mass, its merits and its effects are applied to the Church and
its members as needed at every moment of time and for all generations. Thus, the Mass is to perdure until the end
of time.
5. The
Sacrifice of the Cross was directly offered for all human beings who
will ever have existed in time. The
Sacrifice of the Mass can be applied directly only for the members of the
Church. Indirectly, however, through
the Church and its members, its graces are applied to benefit all peoples. (That is why we can say: Outside [better, without] the Church
there is no Salvation).
6. As
stated above, the Sacrifice of the Cross neither signifies nor represents any
other Sacrifice. The Holy Sacrifice of
the Mass does represent and commemorate the One Sacrifice on
Calvary. Again, as we said, the
sacrifices of the Old Testament prefigured the bloody Sacrifice of the Cross.
Having said all
that about the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, how can anyone not earnestly desire
to participate in it every day, if possible?
Apparently, the true nature of the Mass is not sufficiently known and
appreciated by everyone.
Thus it is that
the Church has had to command that the Faithful attend Mass on Sundays
and Holy Days of obligation, and of hearing (participating in) Mass in its
entirety on those days. By the very
nature of our relationship with God through Christ, this obligation binds every
member of the Church who has attained the use of reason.
Of itself, this
is a very serious obligation, and at one time it bound under pain of mortal
sin. The Church cannot reduce this
obligation to a slight one, but it can determine, and it has done so, that the
precept no longer binds under pain of mortal sin [to the best of my
knowledge]. Obviously, though, whoever
without a grave reason excuses himself/herself from attendance at Mass deprives
his/her soul of the graces and helps he/she needs to continue to remain alive
in God. Sooner or later, a person who
consistently omits attendance at Mass would lose the life of grace completely,
which is the same as being in a state of mortal sin.
According to my
textbook, some Catholic moral theologians say also that there is a grave
obligation to receive Jesus in Holy Communion on Sundays and Holy Days of
Obligation (and every time one attends Mass, for that matter) since receiving
Communion pertains to the integrity of the Holy Sacrifice. Of course, Church Law only requires that one
receive Communion once a year (the erstwhile Easter Duty). If someone’s soul is not in the state of
grace, they need to be reconciled and united to God more urgently than any
other of the faithful. Thus they would
be under a more serious obligation to attend Mass and so dispose themselves to
receive the graces to repent of their sins and be restored to Life in God.
What
kind of attendance at Mass is required to satisfy the serious obligation of
Sundays and Holy Days…?
We have to
remember that the laws of the Church apply only to those of its members who
enjoy ordinary good health, and then only under normal circumstances.
Any priest who
hears confessions knows that devout Catholics very often erroneously
accuse themselves of the sin of missing Mass on a Sunday or Holy Day of
Obligation. They would be in error
because it was an illness or extraordinary circumstances that made it physically
impossible for them to attend.
Granted all
that, the following considerations apply:
The
first requirement would be bodily presence. But this has to be qualified.
One could be in Church asleep (the sermon may have induced the slumber).
Thus,
the second requirement is that a person be morally present. This kind of presence is verified when an
observer could rightfully conclude that the person is paying attention to the
celebrant (is aware of what is going on).
The
third requirement would be that a person respond appropriately when required by
the liturgy.
To
satisfy the obligation to attend Mass when required by Church Law a further
requirement must be satisfied: the
person must have the intention of fulfilling the law. However, this need not be actual and
explicitly. It suffices to be virtual
and implicit. The intention is such when,
without more, a person knows that it is a Sunday or Holy day of obligation, and
purposely goes to Church and participates in the Holy Sacrifice.
Here
are some of the circumstances that would exempt a person from the obligation to
attend Mass when required by Church Law.
Travel,
living where there are no Catholic Churches within reasonable distance, having
to be present at the wake of a family member, close relative or very dear friend,
a dispensation granted by one’s lawful superior, any moderately grave
inconvenience or risk of harm of a physical or spiritual nature, a
psychological block (e.g., fear of crowds or of an enclosed space), the
unexpected visit of friends or relatives from a distance, bad weather, one’s
lawful duties (to take care of small children, for example), the demands of
Charity (e.g., to care for family members who are seriously ill, or to help
victims of a natural disaster), etc.
Ordinarily,
a person of good will would instinctively know when he or she is lawfully
excused from attending Mass.
Question
2 – Religious Offerings or Gifts…
These are
objects or articles given freely (i.e., without being obliged to) under the
influence of the virtue of religion, and intended for use in, or in connection
with, divine worship. They would
include not only gifts of altar breads and altar wines, tabernacles, sacred
vessels, vestments, altar linens, candles, etc. but also church furnishings and
decorations.
Essentially,
any voluntary offering made as a means of giving honor and glory to God and of
acknowledging our dependence upon, and debt of gratitude to, Him qualifies as a
Religious Gift or Offering. Thus
donations to alleviate the needs of the poor and those who suffer, to support
Missionary and Pastoral endeavors would be included.
Included as
well, therefore, are the monetary gifts made at the Offertory Collection
at Masses on Sundays and Holy days of Obligation, since it is from these that
the costs of all the above are met.
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