Catholic apologist Trent Horn tackles a listener’s question about the Eucharist and its connection to Jesus’ sacrifice. Is the Eucharist on Earth irrelevant since Jesus offers himself in Heaven? Trent dives into the concept of Christ as the eternal “Paschal Lamb” and how the Eucharist allows us to partake in his sacrifice, even though it happened in the past. Learn how the Eucharist applies Christ’s sacrifice to our lives and the importance of priests in this sacred act.
Transcript:
Hey, Cy, hey Trent, I appreciate you taking my call and thank you for all the work that you do. Oh, thank you, Mark. So my question was, we know from the book of Hebrews that Jesus has entered the heavenly sanctuary to offer sacrifice to the Father, the same sacrifice of Calvary and the same sacrifice represented at Mass.
So it seems like the Eucharist on earth is impossible if Jesus is not actually doing this in heaven. But why is it necessary or fitting for him to continue offering himself to begin with?
Well, it’s fitting because he will always be the Passover lamb. He will not always be crucified, of course. That happened once. He will not always be the subject of a bloody sacrifice that was completed in the past when he died to atone for the sins of the world. But Christ still remains our Paschal lamb through him that we receive eternal life by receiving him, just as the Israelites in the Old Testament received the Passover lamb after the lamb was slaughtered so that death would pass over their homes. They consumed the lamb. The same is true for those who believe in the new Paschal lamb and Jesus Christ. And Catholics understand that with the Eucharist. And so it’s important to see that Christ’s body is still offered in an unbloody way under the form of bread and wine and that it’s offered in a way for us to be able to partake. That’s why priests are the only ones who can offer this. They stand in the person of Christ. And I know many people will say, “Well, it’s just, I thought it was just one sacrifice.” Right. There’s one bloody sacrifice on the cross that is then represented to the Father that Christ has always lived to make intercession for us. But how does Christ intercede for us? Well, he presents himself to the Father. And what does he present to the Father? The sacrifice that he made on behalf of us for the sins of not just us, as 1 John 2 2 says, but for the sins of the entire world. And so in doing this, priests allow us to always be able to partake of this sacrifice. We’re able to partake of Christ who is the new Paschal lamb so that death will pass over us. And this is important because while there is one sacrifice that happened in the past, its effects have to be applied to us now. And we see this in the letter to the Hebrews, for example. In Hebrews chapter 10, verse 26, it says, “If we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgment.” So thank you so much for calling in. I hope that’s helpful. I definitely encourage anyone else that have questions about the Mass or the Eucharist. Go and check out a lot of the resources we have at Catholic.com.
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