Sacrifice...
Continuous and Perpetual,
is demanded by Holy Scripture.

Who abides by the edicts of Holy Scripture, and who does not?

"(1) After these things, God tempted Abraham, and said to him: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am. (2) He said to him: Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of vision; and there thou shalt offer him for an holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will shew thee. (3) So Abraham rising up in the night, saddled his ass, and took with him two young men, and Isaac his son: and when he had cut wood for the holocaust, he went his way to the place which God had commanded him. (4) And on the third day, lifting up his eyes, he saw the place afar off. (5) And he said to his young men: Stay you here with the ass; I and the boy will go with speed as far as yonder, and after we have worshipped, will return to you. (6) And he took the wood for the holocaust, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he himself carried in his hands fire and a sword. And as they two went on together, (7) Isaac said to his father: My father. And he answered: What wilt thou, son? Behold, saith he, fire and wood: where is the victim for the holocaust? (8) And Abraham said: God will provide himself a victim for an holocaust, my son. So they went on together. (9) And they came to the place which God had shewn him, where he built an altar, and laid the wood in order upon it; and when he had bound Isaac his son, he laid him on the altar upon the pile of wood. (10) And he put forth his hand, and took the sword, to sacrifice his son. (11) And behold, an angel of the Lord from heaven called to him, saying: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am. (12) And he said to him: Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither do thou any thing to him: now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake. (13) Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw behind his back a ram, amongst the briers, sticking fast by the horns, which he took and offered for a holocaust instead of his son."
Genesis 22:1-13
 
This story is so embedded with typology and is so rich in symbolism, all of which point directly to New Testament realities.
Elucidation:
( 1) In Genesis 17:5 GOD had changed the name of Abram to Abraham, and in so doing gave him primacy as the 'Father of a Multitude of Nations'. This act prefigured the name change of Simon to Peter by Jesus Christ in Matthew 16:18, and in doing so He gave him primacy over the other Apostles.
( 2) Isaac is Abraham's only begotten son. GOD has only one begotten Son also, Jesus Christ.
( 2) Abraham is to sacrifice his only son. GOD will sacrifice His only Son.
( 2) The sacrifice of Isaac was to be on a mountain. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was on a mountain.
( 3) Two men accompanied Isaac and Abraham. Jesus Christ was crucified between two men.
( 4) The 'third day' brings to mind the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day.
( 6) Isaac carried the wood for his sacrifice on his back. Christ carried the wood of the cross on His back.
( 7) Isaac called to his father. Jesus Christ called to His Father.
( 8) GOD did provide a victim in the New Testament as well, His only begotten Son.
( 9) Isaac was bound so he could not move. Christ was affixed to the cross by nails so He could not move.
(10) This is the first verse in Holy Scripture where the word sacrifice is used, and it is befitting the theme of this story.
The full meaning of sacrifice will be graphically revealed in the New Testament realities.
(12) GOD saved Abraham's only begotten son, but He did not save His own only begotten Son.
(13) A Ram was stuck by the head amongst the briers. 
Christ was impressed on the head with a crown of thorns from a brier bush. 
(13) A Ram was sacrificed in place of Isaac. The Lamb of GOD (John 1:29) was sacrificed with no one to take His place.

From the bloody animal sacrifices of the old covenant...

"Now this is what you shall offer upon the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually. One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer in the evening;
Exodus 29:38-39

"Besides the morning holocaust which you shall always offer. So shall you do every day of the seven days for the food of the fire, and for a most sweet odour to the Lord, which shall rise from the holocaust, and from the libations of each.
Numbers 28:23-24

"And he shall offer every day for a holocaust to the Lord, a lamb of the same year without blemish: he shall offer it always in the morning. And he shall offer the sacrifice for it morning by morning, the sixth part of an ephi: and the third part of a hin of oil to be mingled with the fine flour: a sacrifice to the Lord by ordinance continual and everlasting. He shall offer the lamb, and the sacrifice, and the oil morning by morning: an everlasting holocaust."
Ezekiel 46:13-15

"And it was magnified even to the prince of the strength: and it took away from him the continual sacrifice, and cast down the place of his sanctuary.  And strength was given him against the continual sacrifice, because of sins: and truth shall be cast down on the ground, and he shall do and shall prosper. And I heard one of the saints speaking, and one saint said to another I know not to whom, that was speaking: How long shall be the vision, concerning the continual sacrifice, and the sin of the desolation that is made: and the sanctuary, and the strength be trodden under foot?"
Daniel  8:11-13 

"And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall defile the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the continual sacrifice: and they shall place there the abomination unto desolation."
Daniel 11:31 

"And from the time when the continual sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination unto desolation shall be set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred ninety days."
Daniel 12:11

Elucidation:
In all of the above verses, notice the recurring theme regarding sacrifice:
You shall always offer, offer every day, continual and everlasting, morning by morning, an everlasting holocaust, the continual sacrifice.
Holy Scripture clearly has said that sacrifice is to be offered in continuum every day, and will be everlasting for all time.

Toward the end of the Old Testament, we foresee a great change. The bloody animal sacrifices of the old covenant will give way to a new and unbloody sacrifice.
The "sacrificial ram" of the old covenant will be superseded by the infinitely greater "Sacrificial Lamb" of the new covenant.
It will no longer be a bloody animal sacrifice but a new clean oblation. 

The prophecy:

"For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts."
Malachi 1:11

To avoid any misconceptions and confusion, I must pause here to present a few definitions...

*Sacrifice:
The highest form of worship. An authorized priest offers a victim to GOD in atonement for the sins of mankind.
However, sacrifice in the Old Testament was a holocaust of unblemished animals, which being a finite sacrifice, could not atone for the infinite sins of mankind.
Sacrifice in the New Testament is an infinite sacrifice of atonement for which puny finite man could never have fulfilled. It took the infinite GOD to atone for the infinite offense committed against Him by the disobedience of man.
Jesus the Christ is the sacrificial victim, the infinite sacrifice:
1Corinthians 5:7, Ephesians 5:2, 1Peter 1:19, 1John 2:2, Revelation 13:8

*Oblation:
The act of offering something such as worship or giving thanks to GOD.
It is the offering of the bread and wine for transubstantiation into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ at Mass.

*Holocaust:
Total destruction especially by fire.

*Thanks:
The Greek word for thanks in the New Testament is eucharisteo, from which derived the word Eucharist. 
 
*Transubstantiation:
1. In Philosophy, accidents are properties, or characteristics in the material itself. Its size, shape, color, texture, etc.
2. In the transubstantiation of bread and wine, the substance changes, but the accidents, remain the same.
3. The substance of bread is turned into the substance of HIS body.
The substance of wine is turned into the substance of HIS blood.

*Eucharist:
After transubstantiation the substance of bread and wine have changed into the substance of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, who is really and substantially present under the appearance (accidents) of bread and wine.
It is called Eucharist, or Thanksgiving because at the Last Supper Jesus Christ gave thanks.

Prophecy in the Old Testament is fulfilled with the advent of unbloody and "Clean Oblation" sacrifices offered by the authorized priests of the New Testament: 

"But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant."
Hebrews 9:11-15 

We have already seen from Holy Scripture that Jesus the Christ is the infinite sacrificial victim. Now we have learned from Scripture that He is also the High Priest with the authority of GOD. Therefore He is both the Priest offering sacrifice, and the sacrificial victim. 
We can witness this revelation in superb clarity in the following verses:

"And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying,
"This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood."
Luke 22:19-20

"For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."  In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." 1Corinthians 11:23-26

"Jesus then said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of GOD is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
John 6:32-33

"They said therefore to Him, "Lord, give us always this bread."
John 6:34

So, the authorized Priest, acting in Personna Christi (the person of Christ, 2Corinthians 2:10) says, "This IS My Body" (Matthew 26:26), and in so doing, calls down "The Word" (John 1:1) with his word, and the Holy Spirit transubstantiates the bread and the wine into the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has now come down from heaven to earth, and has humbled Himself, so that He may be seen, and touched, and consumed, under the appearance of simple bread and wine. We consume Him, and He assimilates us. We become uno, union, in communion with one another.
Heaven and earth have been joined.

GOD has sent an abundance of gifts of Himself from heaven for us through His Church on earth for almost 2000 years.

Elucidation:
1. He took bread in His hands.
2. He gave thanks, eucharisteo (Eucharist remember?).
3. He (the High Priest) said, "This is my body".
Thus the bread is no longer bread, but was instantly transubstantiated into the Body of Christ.
4. Astonishingly, when you think about it, Jesus was holding His very own Body in His Hands after He had said those words. Psa 119:109.
"I will take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand." Job 13:14
5. He then said, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood."
Thus the wine is no longer wine in the cup, but is now His precious blood, transubstantiated by His Word.
Notice here that He also announced that this was the dawn of the New Covenant. 
6. Amazingly, as He held the cup and said the words of transubstantiation, He actually held His own blood in the cup.
7. During the wedding feast at Cana, Jesus has changed water into wine (John 2:1-11). Here He had changed wine into His blood.
8. "Do this in remembrance of me", resonates from the Old Testament prefigurements shown earlier as being daily, in continuum, and in perpetualty.
9. The authorized priest acting in the Person of Christ, calls down The Word with his word, and fulfills the command, "Do this in remembrance of me", every day all over the world, and fulfills Malachi 1:11 as well. 
10.  Jesus Christ comes down from heaven under the appearance of bread and wine. Heaven and earth are joined.
11. "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."
1Corinthians 11:26. This verse enjoins us to proclaim the death of the Lord often. How can this verse possibly be reconciled with the following verse?
"For Christ also died for sins once for all..." 1Peter 3:18.
Using this verse, those who do not understand what is really happening during the sacrifice of Our Lord, charge that the Catholic Church is crucifying Christ over and over again at every Mass.
Proclaiming the death of the Lord is a re-presentation of the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ at Calvary. We, are in time, and to us it would seem that this one sacrifice was consummated 2000 years ago. However, since the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is presented to the Father, we must remember that GOD is outside of time and space. This is a truism because GOD created time and space in Genesis 1:1-19. Therefore, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Calvary, and everything else in time is now with GOD. The Holy Mass of the Catholic Church is merely a re-presentation of that one sacrifice. Heaven and earth are joined and we are standing at the foot of the cross and are witnessing the supreme sacrificial event during every Mass. Christ will be on the cross forever.

In the early 16th century there was the Protestant revolt led by Martin Luther joined by a few other dissenters, most of whom believed in the True Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Luther, however, believed that Christ existed along with the bread, and he coined the word consubstantiation in order to distance himself and others from the Catholic transubstantiation.
Do you remember from what we learned earlier, that it takes an authorized priest to perform sacrifice? However, we add now that it takes an authorized Bishop to make an authorized priest, and not a single Bishop joined Luther in his revolt. As the first generation of those in revolt died out, so did any vestige of authorized priests. With no authorized priest there was no valid sacrifice. The heirs of the first generation started distancing themselves and began dismantling what Luther and others had taught. Since they had no authorized priesthood, they declared the Holy Eucharist to be only a symbolic* gesture. However, that line of thinking is diametrically opposed to the teaching of Jesus Christ and the Apostles in Holy Scripture...

*Symbol:
Something that represents something else by association
*Symbolic:
Relating to or expressed by means of symbols.

"So Jesus said to them, (53) "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; (54) he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. (55) For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. (56) He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. (57) As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. (58) This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever."
John 6:53-58

Elucidation:
53. Truly means most assuredly it is true. A word repeated is used for emphasis associated with an important statement that follows. So truly, truly, means what Jesus is about to say is absolute truth, and therefore there is no room for symbolism whatsoever. Then He gave us a stern warning proceeded by the word unless. Unless sends the message that we have a choice to do something or not. He added that we must eat His Body and drink His Blood, or (the choice) we will have no life in us. Of course He meant spiritual life which is needed to attain the Kingdom of Heaven, something for which we all strive. With the double emphasis put into this verse, how could it ever be mis-interpreted as a symbolic gesture?
54. If verse 53 were not enough, Jesus raised the ante in this verse by saying if we do not eat His flesh and drink His blood, we will have no eternal life, and will not rise on the last day (to heaven, that is). Verse 54 is a double emphasis for verse 53, so the pressure is upon those who refuse to believe in the reality and would prefer the symbolism, even though there is not even a hint of symbolism here.
55. He emphasized again in this verse that His words are in truth reality. I ask again, where is the symbolism?
56. Jesus wishes to abide in us and we in him. How can either abide in the other with a mere symbolic gesture?
57. Emphasis yet again that He speaks of reality and not of symbolism.
58. Do you want to live forever? The only way is through Jesus Christ who is truth personified. If you do not believe His words, then you have just called Him a liar (1John 5:10). Anyone who calls Him a liar will definitely not attain eternal life.

"(27) Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. (28) Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. (29) For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself."
1Corinthians 11:27-29

Elucidation:
27. How could anyone who eats His Body and drinks His Blood be guilty of profaning His Body and Blood? Here is one reason:
"But nothing unclean shall enter it, nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life."
Revelation 21:27
God and sin are mutually excludable. Therefore where one is, the other cannot be.
28. This verse is an examination of conscience. As the priest presents the Sacred Host to the tongue, he says, "The Body of Christ". The recipient responds with the word "amen", meaning "So be it", or "Truly truly", a word of absolute consent that he or she is truly receiving the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ.
29. For those who do not believe that truly truly the Holy Eucharist is the Body of Jesus Christ, then they truly truly have brought judgment upon themselves and are guilty as charged in this verse.

These three verses explain why Protestants, Fundamentalists, and other non-Catholics cannot receive the Holy Eucharist. They do not believe what the Word of GOD and the Catholic Church teaches about what it really is, but they instead prefer to call it a mere symbolic gesture. Now will someone please explain to me how a person could eat or drink judgment to himself over a mere powerless symbolic gesture?

Simple isn't it?

A summary of what we have learned according to the words of Holy Scripture:

1. Holy Scripture has shown us that a sacrificial offering to GOD for atonement of sin has been performed by mankind ever since the time of Abraham.
2. Holy Scripture has said that those sacrifices are on a continuous daily basis, and will go on until the end of time.
3. The bloody animal sacrifices of the Old Testament will be superseded by a new sacrifice with a clean oblation.
4. Jesus Christ is both the High Priest and the sacrificial victim of the New Covenant.
5. The New Testament sacrifice of Jesus Christ is an unbloody re-presentation of His bloody crucifixion on Calvary. He is the clean oblation of Malachi 1:11.
6. Bread and wine will be transubstantiated into the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, as He Himself did at the Last Supper. The authorized priest acting "In Personna Christi", calls down the Word with his word. The bread and the wine thus become the Holy Eucharist by the power of the Holy Spirit.
7. Jesus Christ taught that we have to eat His Body and drink His blood or we will have no life within us. He did not say we have to eat symbols of His Body and Blood. A symbol is not a reality, has no power, and cannot impose spiritual life.
8. Those who have refused to believe His words, have called Him a liar.
9. Those who partake of the Holy Eucharist, and do not believe it truly is His Body and Blood, have brought judgment upon themselves.

Does your sect offer sacrifice every day? How about once a month? Twice a month? Yearly?
Does your sect have authorized priests to even offer sacrifice?
Does your sect abide by the commands of Holy Scripture?
Does your sect offer sacrifice at all, seeing that Holy Scripture demands it as the supreme act of worship?
If not, then why are you where you are, and not in the one and only Church which Jesus Christ founded?

©
Written by Bob Stanley, April 27, 2003, Divine Mercy Sunday
Updated May 23, 2003

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