Why The Holy Mass Is A Sacrafice and a Sacrament?

Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist during the Last Supper as a sacramental banquet and a sacrificial offering. As a sacrament, the Holy Eucharist is an outward sign in and through which we meet Jesus who shares his life of grace with us. In this Sacrament of the Eucharist, we do meet Jesus the risen Lord who comes to us under signs of bread and wine to nourish and strengthen us for our journey through life. By the words of consecration, Christ is made present again through the “transubstantiation” of the bread and wine into Christ’s Body and Blood. As a sacramental meal, the Eucharist is a foretaste of the eternal banquet of “the Lamb that was slain” (Revelation 5:12). Eucharistic celebration is a sacrifice because in the Holy Mass the same Jesus Christ who offered himself on Calvary now offers himself on the altar. According to the Council of Trent, the Mass is a true and proper sacrifice which is offered to God. The Calvary sacrifice is reenacted on the altar in an unblood way using signs and symbols. By the words, “Do this in commemoration of me” (Luke 22:19; I Corinthians 11:24), Christ made the apostles priests. Moreover, He decreed that they and other priests should offer His Body and Blood. St. Paul told his converts in Corinth, “Every time, then, you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). God Bless!