At the foot of the cross

 

Picture: The Grotto Portland

On Good Friday I wrote about how, only on that day, the Mass is not celebrated. Then, I wrote:

The Church contemplates the historical, once‑for‑all sacrifice, rather than its sacramental re‑presentation in the Mass. Because we are in mourning, the altars are stripped, statues veiled, and the sanctuary lamp – signifying the Real Presence – has already been extinguished since the Blessed Sacrament is typically removed to another place on Holy Thursday evening following the Mass of the Last Supper. It is a day for silence, stillness, and reverence before the mystery of death. The joy of the Resurrection is near, but not yet.

This naturally raises an important question: what, then, is the point of the Mass on the other 364 (or 365) days of the year, and especially on each Sunday? The answer is that the Mass exists to sacramentally make present the one, all‑sufficient sacrifice of Calvary (Hebrews 10:10-14), and to proclaim anew Christ’s death, resurrection, and final coming. It is not a repetition of the sacrifice, but a real participation in it. Through what is technically called the anamnesis, the power and grace of that unique historical event are made present to us here and now. The sacrifice itself is finished—“It is accomplished” (John 19:30)—and yet it is perpetuated in the Eucharist because, as Saint Paul teaches, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).

In this sense, every time we participate in the Mass, we stand spiritually at the foot of the Cross—alongside Mary, the other women, and John, the beloved disciple (John 19:25-27)—uniting ourselves to Christ’s self‑offering. It took extraordinary courage for the mother of Jesus to remain there. Her Son was the object of scorn and condemnation, a figure of shame foretold by the prophet Isaiah, yet she and a small group of disciples were willing to expose themselves to danger by refusing to turn away.

For us today, Christ is sacramentally present, and all the graces flowing from his once‑for‑all sacrifice are made available to us. This essential truth is clearly affirmed in the Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) Agreed Statement on Eucharistic Doctrine (1971) which states:

Christ's redeeming death and resurrection took place once and for all in history. Christ's death on the cross, the culmination of his whole life of obedience, was the one, perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the world. There can be no repetition of or addition to what was then accomplished once for all by Christ. Any attempt to express a nexus between the sacrifice of Christ and the eucharist must not obscure this fundamental fact of the Christian faith.

Yet God has given the eucharist to his Church as a means through which the atoning work of Christ on the cross is proclaimed and made effective in the life of the Church. The notion of memorial as understood in the Passover celebration at the time of Christ - i.e. the making effective in the present of an event in the past - has opened the way to a clearer understanding of the relationship between Christ's sacrifice and the eucharist.

It is for this reason that, in the heart of the Eucharistic Prayer, we can truly say, even quietly to ourselves: 

Through him, and with him, and in him, O God Almighty Father,  in the unity of the Holy Spirit all glory and honour is yours for ever and ever.

The Eucharist is the new Passover meal of the Lamb, in which past events are not merely remembered but are sacramentally re‑presented here and now. In this mystery, time itself is drawn into God’s saving action. As the Council of Trent expressed it with precision:

...in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the mass, that same Christ is contained and immolated in an unbloody manner, who once offered Himself in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross (Session XXII, 1562).