http://www.bustedhalo.com an online magazine for spiritual seekers. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:09:23 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 http://www.bustedhalo.com/googling-god/mass-class/five-ways-to-think-about-the-mass/#comment-2642 mike Fri, 01 May 2009 21:42:33 +0000 http://www.bustedhalo.com/beta2008/wp/faith-guides/mass-class/five-ways-to-think-about-the-mass#comment-2642 Jim--thanks for your comments. Obviously you care very much about the Holy Sacrifice of the mass. Above the title states five ways to think about the mass. So these are certainly not the only ways one can think about mass. Especially for beginners, delving into the sacrificial elements of the mass may indeed be confusing, you've done a nice job in explaining this as another way to look at the weekly gathering of community where we come together and read the scriptures and perform the sacrificial ritual. However, to call the aspects above un-Catholic I think is simply unfair and also not accurate as the Catechsim states that (1140) "Liturgical services are not private functions but are celebrations of the Church which is the sacrament of unity namely, the Holy people united and organized under the authority of the Bishops." (CCC 1140) So I don't think anyone was suggesting that the mass is not a sacrifice, but that there are also other ways to describe what's going on that makes sense to individual believers and brings them into a more tangible relationship with that very sacrifice you describe. Jim–thanks for your comments. Obviously you care very much about the Holy Sacrifice of the mass.
Above the title states five ways to think about the mass. So these are certainly not the only ways one can think about mass.
Especially for beginners, delving into the sacrificial elements of the mass may indeed be confusing, you’ve done a nice job in explaining this as another way to look at the weekly gathering of community where we come together and read the scriptures and perform the sacrificial ritual.
However, to call the aspects above un-Catholic I think is simply unfair and also not accurate as the Catechsim states that (1140) “Liturgical services are not private functions but are celebrations of the Church which is the sacrament of unity namely, the Holy people united and organized under the authority of the Bishops.” (CCC 1140)
So I don’t think anyone was suggesting that the mass is not a sacrifice, but that there are also other ways to describe what’s going on that makes sense to individual believers and brings them into a more tangible relationship with that very sacrifice you describe.

]]> http://www.bustedhalo.com/googling-god/mass-class/five-ways-to-think-about-the-mass/#comment-2396 Jim Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:46:35 +0000 http://www.bustedhalo.com/beta2008/wp/faith-guides/mass-class/five-ways-to-think-about-the-mass#comment-2396 I don't know how or where you learned about the Sacrifice of the Mass but your explanation of the Sacrificial nature of the Mass is absolutely absurd. It is a Sacrifice because it is a continuation of Calvary. Jesus is the Victim and the Priest and offers Himself to God again in an unbloody manner. So many Catholics have completely lost sight of that fact. It is through the Sacrifice that we gain God's blessing. In the ancient tradition of sacrificial offering, the priest must eat of the sacrifice after it's destruction (immolation). That is why Jewish priests ate of the lamb after it was slaughtered. Jesus is the new priest and the new lamb, the act of offering sacrifice to God never ended. Fulton Sheen once said that if Mary and John, while at the foot of the cross, closed their eyes, they would be experienceing the same exact thing we experience during every Mass. We do not see Christ's Sacrifice but we nevertheless are present as He offers Himself to the Father once more. We do not go to Mass simply because of Communion and Communion is not the point. The point is the Sacrifice and Communion is a by product of that Sacrifice. We have come dangerously close to Martin Luther's definition of the Mass which is centered around the meal since he rejected the sacrifice. These more "modern" descriptions of the Mass are completely un-Catholic. Let's not forget that Jesus Himself instituted the Mass, not His followers. We do not have the option of redefining it. I don’t know how or where you learned about the Sacrifice of the Mass but your explanation of the Sacrificial nature of the Mass is absolutely absurd.
It is a Sacrifice because it is a continuation of Calvary. Jesus is the Victim and the Priest and offers Himself to God again in an unbloody manner. So many Catholics have completely lost sight of that fact. It is through the Sacrifice that we gain God’s blessing. In the ancient tradition of sacrificial offering, the priest must eat of the sacrifice after it’s destruction (immolation). That is why Jewish priests ate of the lamb after it was slaughtered. Jesus is the new priest and the new lamb, the act of offering sacrifice to God never ended. Fulton Sheen once said that if Mary and John, while at the foot of the cross, closed their eyes, they would be experienceing the same exact thing we experience during every Mass. We do not see Christ’s Sacrifice but we nevertheless are present as He offers Himself to the Father once more. We do not go to Mass simply because of Communion and Communion is not the point. The point is the Sacrifice and Communion is a by product of that Sacrifice. We have come dangerously close to Martin Luther’s definition of the Mass which is centered around the meal since he rejected the sacrifice.
These more “modern” descriptions of the Mass are completely un-Catholic. Let’s not forget that Jesus Himself instituted the Mass, not His followers. We do not have the option of redefining it.

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