212 THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

YOUCAT Lesson 212

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

212  What names are there for Jesus’ meal with us, and what do they mean?

The different names indicate the unfathomable richness of this mystery: the Holy Sacrifice, Holy Mass, the Sacrifice of the Mass—the Lord’s Supper—the Breaking of Bread—the Eucharistic assembly—the memorial of the Lord’s Passion, death, and Resurrection—the Holy and Divine Liturgy, the Sacred Mysteries—Holy Communion.  [1328-1332]

Painting: …..The risen Christ is recognized by the two disciples with whom He had been speaking to earlier as the three were walking together on the road to Emmaus. …..212

And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.  With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight.  Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?”  --Luke 24:30-32

HOLY SACRIFICE, HOLY MASS, THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS: The one sacrifice of Christ, which completes and surpasses all sacrifices, is made present in the celebration of the Eucharist.  The Church and the faithful, through their self-offering, unite themselves with Christ’s sacrifice.  The word Mass comes from the Latin dismissal, “Ite missa est”, which means “Go now, you are sent.”

THE LORD’S SUPPER: Every celebration of the Eucharist is still the one supper that Christ celebrated with his disciples and, at the same time, the anticipation of the banquet that the Lord will celebrate with the redeemed at the end of time.  We men do not make the worship service; the Lord is the one who calls us to worship God and is mysteriously present in the liturgy.

THE BREAKING OF BREAD:  “The breaking of bread” was an old Jewish ritual at meals, which Jesus employed at the Last Supper to express his gift of self “for us” (see Romans 8:32).  In the “breaking of  bread” the disciples recognized him again after the Resurrection.  The early Church called their liturgical feasts “the breaking of bread”.

EUCHARISTIC ASSEMBLY:  The celebration of the Lord’s Supper is also an assembly of “thanksgiving”, in which the Church finds her visible expression.

MEMORIAL OF THE LORD’S PASSION, DEATH,  AND RESURRECTION:  In the celebration of the Eucharist, the congregation does not celebrate itself; rather it discovers and celebrates again and again the presence of Christ’s saving passage through suffering and death to life.

HOLY AND DIVINE LITURGY, SACRED MYSTERIES:  In the celebration of the Eucharist, the Church in heaven and on earth unite in one feast.  Because the Eucharistic Gifts in which Christ is present are the holiest thing in the world, we also speak about the Most Blessed Sacrament.

HOLY COMMUNION:  Because we unite ourselves with Christ at Holy Mass, and through him are united with one another, we speak about Holy Communion (communio = fellowship).

WHAT IS THIS SACRAMENT CALLED?

…….1328   The inexhaustible richness of this sacrament is expressed in the different names we give it. Each name evokes certain aspects of it. It is called:

Eucharist, because it is an action of thanksgiving to God. The Greek words eucharistein(compare Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24)¹⁴¹   and eulogein(compare Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22)¹⁴²   recall the Jewish blessings that proclaim - especially during a meal - God's works: creation, redemption, and sanctification. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

…….1329   The Lord's Supper, because of its connection with the supper which the Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his Passion and because it anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem.(compare 1 Corinthians 11:20; Revation 19:9)¹⁴³ --CCC

The Breaking of Bread, because Jesus used this rite, part of a Jewish meal, when as master of the table he blessed and distributed the bread,(compare Matthew 14:19; Mat 15:36; Mark 8:6, 19)¹⁴⁴   above all at the Last Supper.(compare Matthew 26:26; 1 Corinthians 11:24)¹⁴⁵    It is by this action that his disciples will recognize him after his Resurrection,(compare Luke 24:13-35)¹⁴⁶   and it is this expression that the first Christians will use to designate their Eucharistic assemblies;(compare  Acts of the Apostles 2:42, 46; Acts 20:7,11)¹⁴⁷   by doing so they signified that all who eat the one broken bread, Christ, enter into communion with him and form but one body in him.(compare 1 Corinthians 10:16-17)¹⁴⁸

The Eucharistic assembly (synaxis), because the Eucharist is celebrated amid the assembly of the faithful, the visible expression of the Church.(compare 1 Corinthians 11:17-34)¹⁴⁹ CCC

…….1330    The memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection.

The Holy Sacrifice, because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Savior and includes the Church's offering. The terms holy sacrifice of the Mass, "sacrifice of praise," spiritual sacrifice, pure and holy sacrifice are also used,(Hebrews 13:15; compare 1 Peter 25; Psalm 116:13, 17; Malachi 1:11)¹⁵⁰   since it completes and surpasses all the sacrifices of the Old Covenant.

The Holy and Divine Liturgy, because the Church's whole liturgy finds its center and most intense expression in the celebration of this sacrament; in the same sense we also call its celebration the Sacred Mysteries. We speak of the Most Blessed Sacrament because it is the Sacrament of sacraments. The Eucharistic species reserved in the tabernacle are designated by this same name.

…….1331   Holy Communion, because by this sacrament we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body.(compare 1 Corinthians 10:16-17)¹⁵¹    We also call it: the holy things (ta hagia; sancta)(Apostolic Constitutions 8,13,12:Patrologia Graeca 1,1108; Didache 9,5; 10:6:Sources Chrẻtiennes 248,176-178)¹⁵²   - the first meaning of the phrase "communion of saints" in the Apostles' Creed - the bread of angels, bread from heaven, medicine of immortality,(St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Eph. 20,2:Sorces Chrẻtiennes 10,76)¹⁵³  viaticum. . . .CCC

…….1332   Holy Mass (Missa), because the liturgy in which the mystery of salvation is accomplished concludes with the sending forth (missio) of the faithful, so that they may fulfill God's will in their daily lives. --CCC