Mar 5 Thu
What do we offer in the Mass?
In the Offertory, the priest asked the Lord to accept the bread and wine as a token of the gift of our persons. Now, the Consecration has taken place, and the bread and wine are no longer there (only the looks remain); they have been changed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. This Christ we offer to God.
The Roman Canon formulates the oblation or offering with words that echo the biblical sacrifices:
“[Father,] Look with favor on these offerings and accept them as once you accepted the gifts of your servant Abel, the sacrifice of Abraham, our father in faith, and the bread and wine offered by your priest Melchizedek.
Abel offered the first born of his flock and God looked with favor on Abel and his offering. His brother Cain could not stand his attitude and thus slew him, like Jesus put to death on the Cross by his brothers out of hatred.
God was also well pleased with the sacrifice offered by Melchizedek. The Church has always recognized in this sacrifice a figure of Christ’s sacrifice.
We ask God to look favorably on this holy sacrifice, the purest of all victims, and one of much greater value.
“Take your son,” God told Abraham, “your only child Isaac, and offer him as a burnt offering.” Abraham and his son Isaac set out together. Isaac spoke to Abraham, “Father, here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “My son, God himself will provide the lamb.”
When they arrived at the place, Abraham put Isaac on the altar on top of the wood. Abraham took his knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord stopped him, “Abraham, do not harm the boy. God knows you have not refused your son, your only son.” Then looking up, Abraham saw a ram caught by its horns in a bush. He took it and offered it in place of his son.
Another day, a different son, the Son of God, will offer himself on the cross, and He will not be spared.
A note of doubt comes when we focus on the human side of our personal offering which is added to Christ’s and is incorporated into it. The Victim offered is infinitely holy, but what about the hands that offer it? We will be more or less pleasing to God, depending on whether we are saints or mediocrities. It is by our correspondence to his grace through personal struggle that we humbly attract God’s merciful gaze. We ask him to give us his grace to foster in ourselves those dispositions that He wants to find in each of us.
The efficacy of Christ’s sacrifice on our own souls depends on our dispositions and perseverance. In this prayer, God’s adoration on earth is united to that in heaven. It is a reminder that what we celebrate here in signs will find its fulfillment in heaven, our true homeland. We ask God to receive our sacrifice so that our participation through Communion may be fruitful.