The Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass
Objection: “The Mass is a blasphemous medieval superstition. There
is no continual sacrifice for sin, Christ having died ‘once for all’!”
What then is the Mass? Is it a holy sacrifice or is the Eucharist meant to be
simply a memorial meal as claimed by Protestants?
The Catholic teaching on the Mass is often either grossly misunderstood or
misrepresented by Protestants. It is, therefore, essential to outline first
exactly what the Catholic Church actually teaches. Vatican II succinctly
outlined the Church’s teaching on the Mass as follows:
“At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior
instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his body and blood. He did this
in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the
centuries until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved
spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a
sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal
banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace,
and a pledge of future glory is given to us.”¹
In the on-going controversy between Catholics and Protestants over the
Mass, debate initially centers around the meaning of Christ’s words “This
is my body” used during the Last Supper:
“Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it
and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you. Do this
in remembrance of me. And he did the same with the cup after supper,
saying, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my
blood” (St. Luke 22:19).
1
Sacrosanctum Concilium, 1963, # 47.
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