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Dear Father Angelo,

my name is Luciano.

Some days ago an elderly priest, and friar, stated that the passion of Jesus Christ is not repeated in the Mass, since His sacrifice happened once and it is forever valid; so, it shall never be repeated like the priests did every year in Jerusalem by sacrificing animals and sprinkling with their blood over the people to clear their sins.

The priest said that, in the Mass, Jesus (represented by the celebrating priest) invokes the Holy Spirit at the consecration of the wine and bread so that the transubstantiation occurs.

What he said appears to me logical and coherent with our faith, but I would like to know if I did not correctly understand, as elsewhere I heard by priests that every Mass renews the Passion of Our Lord, since the Mass is not memory but memorial; also, would you please explain to me the difference between the two terms, considering what the elderly priest said?

Please, kindly explain to me also:

– the difference between sacraments and sacramentals,

– whether there is Jesus in Body and Blood or only inert Eucharistic species in the Tabernacle after the Mass.

Good Sunday and thank you

Luciano

The Priest’s answer

Dear Luciano,

1. the priest, and friar, was right in saying that the passion is not renewed in the Mass because Jesus accomplished it once and for all.

St. Peter so stated: “For Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the spirit” (1Pt 3:18). 
The Letter to the Hebrews repeatedly states as well: “he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption” (Eb 9:12);
“Not that he might offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters each year into the sanctuary with blood that is not his own” (Eb 9:25);  
“By this ‘will,’ we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Eb 10:10). 
That is because Jesus “through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God” (Eb 9:14).

2. St. Thomas says that, in the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Jesus is made present. The verb he uses is repraesentat: “makes present”.

 ‘This sacrament is called a “Sacrifice” inasmuch as it represents the Passion of Christ’ (hoc sacramentum dicitur sacrificium, inquantum repraesentat ipsam passionem Christi; Summa Theologiae, III, 73, 4, ad 3).
It ‘makes present’ and not ‘represents’ as the translation was unfortunate in this case.

It is made present to apply its fruits to the people present to obey, through signs, what Jesus said: “Do this in memory of me”.

3. Saying ‘renew’ gives the impression that Christ’s sacrifice must be done again, almost as if it were necessary to repeat Christ’s sacrifice.

About the difference between memory and memorial, read the answer published time ago by clicking on the search engine of our site the following words: ‘L’Eucaristia non è soltanto memoria, ma memoriale‘ [trn: presently available in Italian only].

4. The verb ‘to renew’ is found in the Catechism of St. Pius X. At question (606) “What is the consecration?”, it answered: The consecration is the renewal, by means of the priest, of the miracle wrought by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, of changing bread and wine into His adorable Body and Blood by saying: “This is My Body: This is My Blood.” (t.n. The Blessed Eucharist, The Nature of This Sacrament — The Real Presence, Q11)

5. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says more precisely that “At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again” (CCC 1323). The official text in Latin, does not read “perpetuaret” but “reddit actuale”: in English, “it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Savior” (CCC1330).

6. Then you ask which is the difference between sacraments and sacramentals.

“The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us” (CCC 1131). There are seven of them and they are immutable in their number and substance because they are of divine institution.

Instead, “Sacramentals are sacred signs instituted by the Church. They prepare men to receive the fruit of the sacraments and sanctify different circumstances of life” (CCC 1677).

7. In concrete terms, sacramentals are all those rites and ceremonies that are performed during the celebration of the sacraments, such as for a Baptism: the sign of the cross, the blessed candle, the white robe, the various anointings, the exorcism… and for the Eucharist, the offering of bread, wine, the washing of the hands, the incensing, and the sprinkling with holy water…

8. Blessed objects are also sacramentals, such as holy water, the various blessings given by the Church to both people and objects.

9. Furthermore, while the sacraments achieve their effectiveness in an absolute and certain manner if there is no obstacle, because the principal celebrant is Christ (in theological jargon it is said that they achieve their effect ex opere operato), the sacramentals instead achieve their effectiveness ex opere operantis, meaning through the work of the operator, that is the Church.

And therefore, they depend on the prayer of the Church, on the fervor and holiness of those who administer them and of those who receive them.

10. Finally, you ask if in the Tabernacle there is Jesus in Body and Blood or only the inert Eucharistic species.

Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts” (CCC 1377).

For this reason, “The Catholic Church has always offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist the cult of adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts with the utmost care, exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession” (CCC 1378).

That means Jesus Christ, Who is present in the tabernacle under the Eucharistic species, continues His work of intercession and sanctification of souls. His presence is not inert.

I bless you, wishing you may enjoy this work by the Lord while standing in adoration afore Jesus in the sacrament.

Father Angelo