What prompted my return to this particular corner of my blogosphere (I have another blog which you might know about, Sunday Scripture Study for Catholics), is the upcoming Solemnity of Corpus Christi (the Body and Blood of Christ) which celebrates the truth that Jesus Christ is truly present upon the Catholic (and Orthodox) altars of the world under the appearance of ordinary bread and wine. I was looking for a blog entry I thought I had done a few years ago in response to young niece of mine who had a question about sacrifice in general and the necessity of Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross in particular. I didn't find it in my blog, so I decided to post it now.
Uncle Vince here!
[Your aunt] forwarded me some questions you had about some things that occurred to
you at a recent retreat. These are really good questions, because (a) it shows
you are thinking about important things and (b) because the particular questions
you asked are important for understanding religion in general and our Catholic
Faith in particular. I think I have some answers for you. You’ll need your or
your Mom’s Bible for this so I’ll wait here while you run and get it.
Hmm
hmm hmmm hmm…
Are
you back? Good!
Let’s
take the question about sacrifice first: why sacrifice?
The
basic definition of a sacrifice is something you give up out of love. People
give up many things for the benefit of those they love: parents sacrifice their
time and money for their children, soldiers and firefighters may sacrifice
their lives for others. This kind of sacrifice is an act of love.
Sometimes
a sacrifice is made to make up for something wrong that they have done. Suppose
a girl breaks a window with a baseball. The girl is caught and confesses, but
the person whose window it is forgives her. However, it is only fair (or just)
that the girl work (time) or find some way to help pay (with money) for the
window. This kind of sacrifice is known as reparation, or paying what is owed.
But
what does that have to do with sacrificing and God?
People
seem to have an inborn sense that they should worship and sacrifice to God. If
you look in the beginning of your Bible in Genesis chapter 4, verses 1 through
7, you will see the story of Cain and Abel. These were the very first people
after Adam and Eve and they are already making sacrifices to God. In ancient
times, people usually sacrificed animals because, since they didn’t use money
yet, animals like cows and sheep represented wealth, plus the shedding of blood
represented life and death.
Also,
if you look toward the end of your Bible in Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans in Chapter 1 verses 18 to 23 (also see Wisdom 13:1-9 in the middle of the Old
Testament), Saint Paul tells us that all people everywhere are searching for
God, but since many of them did not know the God of the Bible, they began to
try to worship God the best they could. However, this led to a lot of false
religions in the world that, even though they may have had some good about
them, led them into wrong ideas about God. Some of these false religions went
horribly wrong like the parts of Aztec and other civilizations that had human
sacrifice and other terrible practices.
The
Christian idea about sacrifice came out of sacrifices of the Old Testament
which was the beginning of God’s revealing himself to his people. The Catholic
Church teaches us that Jesus Christ came to end all these sacrifices which were
only kind of image or preparation for his one, true sacrifice. But why did God choose to sacrifice
His only son if He loved Him so much? This is the most important question of all.
Ever since the time of Adam and Eve (the parents and
representatives of mankind) and the Original Sin (see Genesis, chapter 3)
mankind has been separated from God, not only because of our first parent’s sin
but because of all the sins committed by every person who ever lived on the
earth. God created us to live with him in heaven forever but since none of us
ourselves could possibly make reparation for all this sin that separates us
from God (since God is infinitely Holy), God in his great mercy and love found
a way.
God loved us so much that that is precisely why He chose his own
Son to sacrifice himself on our behalf. Since Jesus was fully man (so he could
represent us) and fully God (so that he offer such an infinite sacrifice) he
was the only one who could do it. That is why we call him our Savior. All that
is left for us to do is to place our faith in him and his sacrifice, be
baptized, and follow his teachings everyday. That is why we call him Lord. “For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not
perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
When we go to Mass every Sunday, it is this very same sacrifice of
Jesus (not a new one, but the same one) that is being re-presented on the altar
under the appearance of bread and wine and which we have the privilege of
participating in offering our worship and our daily lives. Just think: we are
participating in the greatest sacrifice there ever was!
Sorry this answer is so long, but it is a good and important
question and I wanted to give you the best answer I could. Please keep asking
those good questions—and I will try to be less long winded!
Love,
Uncle Vince
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