Josiah Concept Ministries

I finished my article on Catholic Mass and it is posted here. Enjoy!

I received the rough draft of my Catholic Mass article back from the webmaster of Got Questions Ministries. He was curious to know where I got the idea that the Eucharist wasn’t a re-sacrifice. He said that he talked to several Catholics and they all agreed that it was just that. So he wanted me to clarify the article.

Well, my source for that was none other than Father Mitch Pacwa. A brief summary of Fr. Pacwa’s credentials from Alpha & Omega Minsitries:

Fr. Pacwa has served on the faculties of Tennessee State University, Loyola University and the August University of Dallas, having taught such courses as Introduction to the Bible, Introduction to the Old Testament, Introduction to the New Testament, Hebrew I, II, III, IV and Masters Level Courses in The Psalms, The Writings of Saint Paul and The Johannine Writings. Fr. Pacwa also has abilites in 12 languages, including the Ancient Languages of Latin, Koine Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Ugaritic. He currently serves as Contributing Editor of “THIS ROCK” Magazine and the “TOUCHSTONE” Journal, in addition to hosting hi5 own regularly-aired television program on the Eternal Word Television Network. He is a!so [sic] seen often on “MOTHER ANGELICA LIVE.”

This isn’t someone that I thought I needed to verify. He is quoted here stating this of the Catholic understanding of the Eucharist:

Fr. Pacwa continues by stating that in John 1:29; John the Baptizer states: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” The mass is a remembrance, and the sacrifice is Jesus who delivered us from death to life.

But that just isn’t true. According to paragraph 1366 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies its fruit.” The CCC goes on in paragraph 1367:

The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: “The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different.” “And since in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner. . . this sacrifice is truly propitiatory.”

God is timeless and has no need to again “make present” a sacrifice whose work is finished.

I have taken the article down for now in order to incorporate this new information, as well as add some additional information that I would like to have included before. It should hopefully be up by Friday.

Here is the study of Catholic Mass I did for Got Questions Ministires in its original form. From time to time, as I get time, I will update and expand it to include more information. An edited version will soon appear on their page. As always, enjoy!

There are literally dozens of news stories being posted to Google from the BBC News, San Jose Mercury News, Telegraph.co.uk, and the Seattle Post Intelligencer (those last just today; there are more articles posted from October 10-11 as well!) on the Pope allowing for the celebration of the Tridentine Rite Mass without permission from the local ordinary.

I just said a bunch of words that people may not understand. So let’s back up and find out what these things are. First, the easy one: Ordinary. That is, the Bishop of the diocese in which a person lives. Normally, to celebrate a Rite (that is, style of Mass or worship service) other than the Rite under which you normally reside, the priest would need the permission of the ordinary. The Pope may soon circumvent this restriction and allow the Tridentine Rite to be celebrated unless the ordinary forbids it in writing, at the discretion of the parrish priest.

What is the Tridentine Rite? It is a fancy name for the Mass said in Latin. There are certain other conventions which are foreign to most younger Catholics, such as the celebrant kneeling facing the altar instead of the congregation. This, according to Roman Catholic tradition, is the way the Mass has been said for over 400 years prior to the Vatican II Council and it is the way that many Catholic conservatives would like the Mass to continue to be said.

I’m not Catholic, but I do attend Catholic Mass from time to time (since my family is Catholic). I, for one, would like to be able to understand what I’m hearing. Personally, I can’t worship in spirit and in truth, as Jesus commands, if I don’t know what is being said. I don’t like answering a celebrant who, for all I know, just told me to commit myself to the Dark Lord Voldemort and swear to be a Death Eater for All Time.

Okay, that’s sarcasm. But really, I can’t understand why anyone would be in favor of this. But, I will–ever the dutiful apologist–follow this story closely and report on it. This should prove to be very interesting.