“Be pleased to look upon these offerings with a serene and kindly countenance, and to accept them, as once you were pleased to accept the gifts of your servant Abel the just, the sacrifice of Abraham, our father in faith, and the offering of your high priest Melchizedek.”
These words are contained inside of the Roman Canon also known as the first Eucharistic Prayer. They are reflective of the concept of offering sacrifice freely and for the right motive. Abel offered a sacrifice which was found acceptable to God while his brother, Cain, offered sacrifice for the wrong motive and thus it was not found acceptable. Abraham was tested in offering his son, Isaac, and was found obedient to God. Finally, we have Melchizedek who takes on the role of high priest who would offer sacrifice inside of the temple as a foreshadowing of the priesthood that we know to this day.
The concept of sacrifice must remain central to our understanding of faith especially when it comes to what is taking place when we have the opportunity to assist at the Mass. In our Epistle it may sound like sacrifice is no longer important, but that is not the case. Before Christ sacrifice was necessary because there was no other way to atone for one’s sinfulness. Thankfully, through the coming of the Messiah and His death and Resurrection we have been set free. He offers upon the cross the perfect sacrifice and thus it would be incorrect to state that the Mass is a
re-crucifixion of Christ because something was lacking. Rather, to assist at the Mass is to be present with Christ at Calvary. Christ is only crucified once and what He offers is perfect and nothing is lacking.
We live in the midst of a world which wants nothing to do with sacrifice. We want things to come easily, we want what we want and we want it as quickly as possible, we hate to undergo any hardship because it is so easy to banish the cross from our presence. If we banish the cross we also banish the resurrection.
In our Gospel we encounter this woman who makes sacrifice. Through this sacrifice she takes hold of the cross of our Blessed Lord. She takes from the little that she has and gives everything unto the Lord. She is unlike the scribes who desire to be seen for from their appearance and deeds in order that they become the talk of the town. Rather, this is a humble woman who is willing to give entirely of herself. Surely it was not easy for her to give so much and yet her trust was placed firmly in the Lord.
