Sacrificing Together

QUOTE

Because Christ is perfect love, His love on earth can never become a life of the past. He remains present to all eternity. Then He was alone and bore the sins of men as one whole, alone. But in death, He took us all into His work. Therefore, the gospel is now present with us, and by it we may now enter inside His own sacrifice. (Mtr. Maria of Normandy, 1930 AD)

COMMENTARY

Understanding the priesthood of Christ does not come easy to us in our day. As whole, we do not know what it is to see a bloody sacrifice with our own eyes; we know almost nothing about making atonement, and even less about bringing a gift of offering to a priest. In short, for most of us the whole offering concept is something out of a historic tale. This lack of connection with a priesthood places many who name Christ at a disconnect with our Lord Jesus Christ’s ministry in time and in eternity.

In the face of this disconnect, Mother Maria reminds us that Christ’s love on earth can never become a life of the past. We can never think of His priestly work as merely something that happened once, like all of the other religious sacrifices that have occurred in time. Jesus priesthood was not merely a priesthood in time and space, it was that, but it was also much more than that. His priesthood, and more particularly, His sacrifice and offering was an everlasting, ongoing, and eternal sacrifice; once offered it never stops operating. It is this once and for all sacrifice that we enter into in the Holy Eucharist. Therefore, mother Maria states, the gospel is now present with us, and by it we may now enter inside His own sacrifice. The greatest difference between this sacrifice and all others is that we are not mere donors or watchers, but rather we are participants in that sacrifice with our high priest in order that his sacrifice might be made manifest though us to ourselves and to the world.

You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Pet 2: 5