We should see the Mass as a repetition of the Last Supper.

Monday, 1/29/18

The stories in today's readings are too complex for me to speak about, so let me get by with something about the Mass.

It seems to me that the sacrifice of the Mass begins with repeating Our Lord's Last Supper, while winding up with his death on the cross.

I mention this, because our Church underplays the importance of Our Lord's Last Supper by referring to the Mass simply as his death on the cross.

The Last Supper was acted out as a sacrifice in itself. It was a three-part sacrifice. Part One, had the Greek name of the Anamnesis, consisted of recalling the favors we have had from God.

The second part of the sacrifice, with the Greek name of the Epiclesis, called on God to  come down to be with us.

The third part, called the Eucharistia, was Greek for "The Pleasing Gift." It called on the host and guests to unite in giving their selves to God as one "Pleasing Gift."

Paul and Luke gave us the best accounts we have of what Jesus did at the Last Supper. Both use the same word, "Eucharistesas" to tell us that it was at the third part of the sacrifice, at the Eucharistia, that Jesus gave himself, asking us to join him as one Pleasing Gift of love and obedience to God.

However, our New Testaments in English, omit the word Eucharistesas from their brief accounts of the Last Supper. They lead us to see Holy Communion exclusively as our spiritual food, rather than as our part in Christ's Pleasing Gift of himself to God.