The following is an abridged version of the liturgy of the Mass. The full rite may be seen in The Vatican II Sunday Missal (Boston: Daughters of Saint Paul, 1974, pp 583-627). But this will suffice to show the error that has entered in.
The following was an actual anniversary mass of the death of one Joseph Lorente as officiated by Father Mario Sanchez. When it was time for the communion the Father elevated the bread above the altar and began the liturgy:
Blessed are you Lord God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made. It will become for us the bread of life.
Nowhere in the NT are we ever told to offer anything in sacrifice except ourselves as living and holy sacrifices which is our acceptable form of worship.
Pouring a small amount of water into a gold Goblet called a chalice (already containing wine)Father Sanchez quietly prayed
By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share the divinity of Christ, who humbled Himself to share in our humanity.
Similarly no NT account ever talks of adding water to the cup hence diluting what is there. We are never told we will share in the divinity of Christ during this act either. Weve only just begun and already there are additions to the scriptural picture no true Christian can be comfortable with.
Elevating the Chalice, Father Sanchez continues:
Blessed are you Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this wine to offer, fruit of the vine and work of human hands it will become our spiritual drink.
Again the word offer nowhere mentioned in the NT descriptions of any communion service the Christians participated in. any offering to God in this form is to be made by the High Priest of our Souls Christ Jesus. But over and over we see we. There is no we in the work of Christ.
Father Sanchez then addresses the congregation:
Pray, brethren, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God the Almighty father
To this the people respond:
May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of His Name, for our good, and the good of all His church
Again we see our sacrifice and the response at your hands. There was only one sacrifice and it was not at the supper it was at Calvary. Jesus made it and could only Himself make it and only make it in the tabernacle not made with hands and it was done ONCE FOR ALL and not as a continual offering or sacrifice as we see here.
We then see the continuation from Father Sanchez:
Bless and approve our offering, make it acceptable to you, an offering in Spirit and in truth. Let it become for us the body and blood of Jesus Christ, your son, our Lord.
Again our offering and the request to make it acceptable. Jesus already offered once for all and it was accepted once for all. Nowhere are we commanded to request that it become anything. And it is worship that was to be performed in Spirit and in truth as Jesus said and not offerings and sacrifices.
Father Sanchez then begins a reenactment of the last supper albeit with his own words or those of Rome added
The Day before he suffered, He took bread into His sacred hands and looking up to heaven, to You, His Almighty Father, He gave You Thanks and praise. He broke the bread and gave it to his disciples and said: take this all of you and eat it; this is my body which will be given up for you
As an expression of the belief that at this time the bread is transformed into real flesh the Father lowers the wafer and bows before it in adoration.
Reaching for the Chalice he raises it above the altar and continues his narration:
When the supper was ended, he took the cup. Again he gave thanks and praise, gave the cup to his disciples and said: take this all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for all men so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me.
Again he bows in silent worship
No where can I find those words or descriptions as depicted by the good father. Yes we are told Jesus gave thanks but not praise. And while his covenant is everlasting Jesus did not say this either. And the blood shed was for many and not all as he states.
I know to Katholics this seems nit picky, but quotes or narrative are to be accurate especially when concerning the words of the Lord.
The RCC teaches that Christ instituted the mass at the last supper (1323) and when he said this is my body and this is my blood He changed them (621) and the bread became his body and the cup his blood (1339). They likewise erroneously teach that Christ offered them as a sacrifice to the Father (610-611). They also falsely teach that when Jesus said do this in remembrance of me he instituted the sacrament of ordination and commissioned them alone to officiate over the mass (611, 1337). That they were to celebrate it frequently and even daily if possible and that offering mass and forgiving sins were the two principle functions of their priesthood (1461, 1566)
Of course there is no NT evidence for what they claim. Any sacrifice of Jesus had to be offered outside the gate and not the upper room. It was according to Prophecy (Gods own words) to be on a tree and not at a dinner table and unless we want to assume the apostles ordained hundreds of priests on the day of Pentecost. When the pilgrims returned to their own cities who presided over the Eucharist especially in light of the amount of Christians we have (over 8000) just the first week from over a dozen different countries and hundreds of provinces.
The Second Vatican Council, Sacred Liturgy, On Holy Communion and the worship of the Eucharistic mystery Outside of Mass #6 says
in the sacrament of the Eucharist, Christ is present in a manner all together unique, God and Man, whole and entire, substantially and continuously
Interesting! So Jesus is present as He was never before in all of creative history? Wholly and entirely? This would make it impossible for Him to be at the right hand of God as Ephesians states quit clearly if entirely present in a wafer. Or at the supper where he could not be present entirely in the loaf and sitting before the apostles. The word entirely then has to take on a whole new meaning. It also means that each and every crumb of bread and each and every drop of wine contained the Christ (1374, 1377). Who disposed properly of the remnants after the supper? Surely it was not just left there and Jesus never said make sure it is all consumed either.
The RCC teaches that the visible appearance does not change but that it is a Supernatural Phenomenon (thats a miracle folks) and is the mystery of the Eucharist (1381). They also assert that the fact that a change takes place must be accepted on faith and how it changes we must not curiously inquire (Council of Trent). But every miracle Jesus performed, and make no mistake a supernatural phenomenon is a miracle was always witnessed by the senses and never asked to be accepted merely on faith without question.
This continual presence in every morsel and in every church shows a type of omni presence never seen in scripture concerning the Christ and certainly never while in human form. For flesh and blood (and this is what is being spoken of here) can never be omni present. Also add to this that Jesus is said to be bodily present at the right hand of God and not in every worldly present wafer (Hebrews 1:3, Ephesians 1)
Katholics will claim that a figurative interpretation render the loaf and cup meaningless and makes no sense. But the children of God see this in the same light as Jesus saying he was the bread of life (Jn 6:4
Brother John
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16)
