When you think of the Last Supper and Cross, do you think “thanksgiving”?
The early Church did, because from St. Paul onwards, the sacrificial meal instituted by Jesus has been called Eucharist (Thanksgiving).
Sacrifice was essential in the ancient Jewish religion, and several types were offered. If you think of an animal offering burning on an altar, this holocaust offering was far from the only or even most common. Wheat and grapes were offered as bread and wine every week in the holy place, the offering on Yom Kippur was a goat released into the wilderness, and the one most named in the Psalms is the sacrifice of thanksgiving. This was an animal offering with specific parts burned as an offering to God and other parts consumed as a communal meal.
This is important for us because these sacrifices are part of God’s revelation that helped the early Church understand Jesus. While the old sacrifices each held their own meaning, all were fulfilled by the Last Supper and Cross. Jesus’ offering was complete and withheld nothing of himself; he was the atonement for sins and the reconciliation of mankind to God; he offered himself freely and showed God’s goodness and providence; and Jesus makes his sacrifice present throughout space and time in an unbloody sacrificial meal.
The Eucharist is our participation in Jesus’ thanksgiving to the Father. It creates an unbreakable bond between God and his people by changing us into the very Body of Christ that is offered for us. It is an occasion of joy and celebration because God himself provides a sacrifice that does what no other can – it unites us to him and shares his divine life with us.
-Fr. Nate
Cuando piensa en La Última Cena y La Cruz, ¿piensa en ‘acción de gracias’?
La Iglesia sí, porque desde San Pablo, llamó al rito sacrificial de Jesús la Eucaristía (acción de gracias). El sacrificio era esencial en judaismo antiguo, y existían diversas formas. Aquellos nos importan porque son partes de la revelación de Dios que ayudó a la Iglesia a comprender a Jesús. La Última Cena y La Cruz cumplieron todos sacrificios de la alianza antigua.
Jesús no retuvo nada en su ofrenda, se ofreció a sí mismo libremente, expió los pecados y reconcilió a la humanidad con Dios, y hizo presente su sacrificio en espacio y tiempo a través de una cena sacrificial.
La Eucaristía es nuestra participación en la acción de gracias de Jesús, crea una alianza inquebrontable, y nos transforma en su cuerpo.
