We are under the new covenant.
I know this.
Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice so no others would be necessary.
Where did He say no sacrifices are to be offered? Where did I say it was another sacrifice? It is the very same sacrifice Jesus made.
The sacrifice that takes place at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the sacrifice of Jesus.
Do we really want to live by the old testament?
Who said anything about living by the Old Testament? However the Old Testament is the inspired word of God and much of it is retained in the New Covenant, the obvious example been the Ten Commandments. As such you cannot simply ignore the Old Testament because you don't like it.
Also the scripture I posted was a prophecy inspired by the Holy Spirit predicting the spread of Christianity among the Gentiles, it was not speaking of the old covenant it was prophecising the coming ofthe new. Lets read it again:
For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts. Malachias 1:11 KJV
The Body and Blood of Christ is the pure offering which was predicted to be offered in "every place". The Catholic Church offers this sacrifice all over the world fulfilling the "every place" prediction. When God would be known and worshipped by the Gentiles, again it has been the Catholic Church that has made known God's name among the Gentiles.
Actually, continuing sacrifices after Jesus made the ultimate one, is an insult to Jesus.
How can it be an insult to obey Him? As I said it is His sacrifice which takes place.
Many do not realize it, but Christ Himself offered the first Mass at the Last Supper when He offered (sacrificed) Himself to His Father in an unbloody manner, that is, under the form of bread and wine, in anticipation of His bloody sacrifice on the cross to be offered on the following day.
In the Mass, Christ continues to make that offering of Himself to His Father, by the hands of the priest.
"And while they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke: and gave to his disciples, and said: "Take and eat. This is my body." And taking the chalice, he gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying: "All of you drink of this. For this is my blood of the new covenant, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins", Mt 26:26-28.
Christ ordered His Church to perpetuate that sacrificial rite for the continued sanctification of His followers, saying, "Do this in remembrance of me," Luke 22:19.
The Catholic Church complies with His order in the Mass. The Mass is a re-enactment of Our Lord's one sacrifice of Calvary. It is that same sacrifice, not another, Heb 10:12.
We, are in time, and to us it would seem that this one sacrifice was consummated 2000 years ago. GOD, however is outside of time and space.
Everything is now in GOD's eyes, and so we are taken back to that one sacrifice as if it were happening now at each and every Mass.
The Catholic Church teaches that the sacrifice on the Cross was a complete and perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of GOD, offered once.
St. Paul bears witness that the sacrificial rite which Christ instituted at the Last Supper is to be perpetuated, and that it is not only important for man's sanctification, but is the principal factor in man's final redemption.
In 1Cor 11:23-26, St. Paul told how, at the Last Supper, Our Lord said: "For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes."
During the Breaking of the Bread, we say twice, "Lamb of GOD, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us," and a third time, "Lamb of GOD, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace."
Thus at every Mass the faithful have a new opportunity to worship God with this one perfect sacrifice and to absorb more of Christ's saving and sanctifying grace of Calvary. This grace is infinite, and the faithful should continuously grow in it. The Mass is offered again and again, because of our imperfect capacity to receive.
Finally, the holy sacrifice of the Mass fulfills the Old Testament 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'. (Mal 1:11). The Sacrifice of the Mass is offered every day throughout the world, and in every Mass the only truly clean oblation is offered, that is, Christ Himself; thus the Mass is the perfect fulfillment of this prophecy.
Prefigurements of the sacrifice of the Mass:
Gen 14:18,22:9-14, Ex 16:4,13-36, Num 11:6-9, Deut 8:3-16, Josh 5:12,
Neh 9:15-20, Wis 16:20, Psa 78:24,105:40, Isa 55:10, Dan 12:11, Mal 1:11, John Chapt 6, Heb 9:4, Rev 2:17
The Mass:
Mt 26:26-28, Lk 22:19, Acts 2:42,20:7, 1Cor 10:16,11:17-34,
Heb Chapt 7-10, 1Pet 2:5, Rev 8:1-5
His Sacrifice was once for all:
Heb 9:22-28,10:10-14
What do the Church Fathers have to say about the Mass?
The Didache, or teaching of the Apostles, 70 A.D. 14:1,
"But on the Lord's Day, after that you have assembled together,
break bread and give thanks, having in addition confessed your sins,
that your sacrifice may be pure."
St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 180 A.D. 4:17:5,
He taught the new sacrifice of the New Covenant, of which Malachi,
one of the twelve prophets, had signified beforehand, "...For from the rising
of the sun to its setting, My name is glorified among the Gentiles, and in
every place incense is offered to My name, and a pure sacrifice;
St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 180 A.D. 4:18:2,
Sacrifice as such has not been reprobated. There were sacrifices
then, sacrifices among the people; and there are sacrifices now, sacrifices
in the Church. Only the kind has been changed; for now the sacrifice is
offered not by slaves but by free men.
St. Cyprian of Carthage, Letter to Cecil, 253 A.D.63:4,
Also in the priest Melchisedech we see the Sacrament of the
Sacrifice of the Lord prefigured, in accord with that to which the Divine Scriptures testify, where it says; "And Melchisedech, the King of Salem, brought out bread and wine, for he was a priest of the most high
GOD (Gen 14:18)."
St. Ambrose of Milan, Commentaries on David's Psalms, 381 A.D. 38:25,
We saw the Prince of Priests coming to us, we saw and heard Him
offering His blood for us. We follow, inasmuch as we are able, being
priests; and we offer the sacrifice on behalf of the people. And even if we
are of but little merit, still, in the sacrifice, we are honorable. For even if
Christ is not now seen as the one who offers the sacrifice, nevertheless it
is He Himself that is offered in sacrifice here on earth when the Body of
Christ is offered. Indeed, to offer Himself He is made visible in us, He
whose word makes holy the sacrifice that is offered.
St. Gregory of Nazianz, Letter to Amphilochius, 383 A.D.171,
Cease not to pray and plead for me when you draw down the Word
by your word, when in an unbloody cutting you cut the Body and Blood
of the Lord, using your voice for a sword.
St. John Chrysostom, The Priesthood, 386 A.D. 3:4:177,
When you see the Lord immolated and lying upon the altar, and
the priest bent over that sacrifice praying, and all the people empurpled by
that precious blood, can you think that you are still among men on earth?
Or are you not lifted up to heaven?
St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistle to the Romans, 391 A.D.8:8,
Reverence, therefore, reverence this table, of which we are all
communicants! Christ, slain for us, the Sacrificial Victim who is placed thereon.
St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the first Epistle to Corinthians, 392 A.D. 24:1:3,
He says, "Do not redden the platform of idols with the slaughter
of dumb beasts, but My altar of sacrifice with My Blood." What is more
awesome than this? What, pray tell, more tenderly loving?
St. Augustine of Hippo, Letter to Boniface, 408 A.D. 98:9,
Just as the Sacrament of the Body of Christ, therefore, is in a certain
way the Body of Christ, and the Sacrament of the Blood of Christ is the
Blood of Christ, so too the Sacrament of faith is faith. To believe, however,
is nothing other than to have faith.
St. Augustine of Hippo, The City of GOD, 420 A.D. 10:20,
Christ is both the priest offering Himself, and Himself the victim.
He willed that the sacramental sign of this should be the daily sacrifice
of the Church..
St. Gregory I, Dialogues, 593 A.D.4:60,
He is now risen from the dead and dies no more, and death will no
more have dominion over Him, for He lives immortally and incorruptibly
in Himself, is immolated for us again in this mystery of the sacred oblation.
For His body is eaten there, His flesh is distributed among the people unto salvation, His blood is poured out, no longer in the hands of the faithless but in the mouth of the faithful. Let us take thought, therefore, of what this sacrifice means for us, which is in constant representation of the suffering of the only begotten Son, for the sake of our forgiveness.
, but testifiers (witnesses) who testify from their own experience to God’s promises and cheer us on in our race to heaven. They are no less than our family in heaven, and Mary is the Mother.
