Are the Sacrifice of the Eucharist and the Sacrifice of Jesus one and the same?
The Catholic Catechism states,
“The Mass is at the same time, and inseparably, the sacrificial memorial in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated and the sacred banquet of communion with the Lord’s body and blood” (para. 1382).
It also says that
“The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice...” (para. 1367).
This means that Christ’s sacrifice is still continuing today. But the Bible teaches the opposite:
“It is fitting that we should have such a high priest [Jesus]: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, higher than the heavens. He has no need, as did the high priests, to offer sacrifice day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did that once for all when he offered himself ” (Hebrews 7:26, 27).
These verses tell us that Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice once for all and that there is no need to offer sacrifice day after day. The Bible also says,
“For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven itself, that he might now appear before God on our behalf. Not that he might offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters each year into the sanctuary with blood that is not his own; if that were so, he would have had to suffer repeatedly from the foundation of the world. But now once for all he has appeared at the end of the ages to take away sin by his sacrifice. Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, so also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him” (Hebrews 9:24–28).
The Catholic Catechism teaches that the Eucharist is not being offered repeatedly because it says the sacrifice of the Eucharist and the sacrifice of Jesus are “one single sacrifice.” But this teaching ignores the fact that the Bible tells us Christ was “offered once to take away the sins of many.” This offering occurred in the past (it was “offered”); Jesus’ sacrifice is over. The Bible further states,
“By this ‘will,’ we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest stands daily at his ministry, offering frequently those same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But this one [Jesus] offered one sacrifice for sins, and took his seat forever at the right hand of God; now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool. For by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated” (Hebrews 10:10–14).
Again the Bible tells us that one offering was offered and that “the offering of the body of Jesus” was offered once! Jesus no longer needs to be offered for our sins, yet the Catholic Church continues offering Him daily as a sacrifice for sin. If you are still uncertain that the sacrifice of Christ is already finished and is not continuing today, read what Jesus said in the following passage from the Bible as He died on the cross and His sacrifice ended:
“ ‘It is finished.’ And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit” (John 19:30).
The Catholic view of the continuation of the sacrifice of Christ is clearly different from the Biblical view of the completion of the sacrifice by Christ, even in the Catholic Bible, where Jesus said, “It is finished.”
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