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| Dear Parishioners: ENCYCLICAL
LETTER OF POPE JOHN PAUL II By virtue of its close relationship to the sacrifice of Golgotha, the eucharist is a sacrifice in the strict sense, and not only in a general way as if it were simply a matter of Christ's offering himself to the faithful as their spiritual food. The gift of his love and obedience to the point of giving his life (cf. Jn 10:17-18) is in the first place a gift to his Father. Certainly it is a gift given for our sake and indeed that of all humanity (cf. Mt. 26:28; Mk. 14:24; Lk.22:20; Jn.10:15), yet it is first and foremost a gift to the Father: "a sacrifice that the Father accepted, giving in return for this total self-giving by his Son, who `became obedient unto death' (Phil.2:8), his own paternal gift, that is to say, the grant of new immortal life in the resurrection." In giving his sacrifice to the church, Christ has also made his own the spiritual sacrifice of the church, which is called to offer herself in union with the sacrifice of Christ. This is the teaching of the Second Vatican Council concerning all the faithful: "Taking part in the eucharistic sacrifice, which is the souce and summit of the whole Christian life, they offer the divine victim to God and offer themselves along with it." Christ's Passover includes not only his passion and death, but also his resurrection. This is recalled by the assembly's acclamation following the consecration, "We proclaim your resurrection." The eucharistic sacrifice makes present not only the mystery of the Savior's passion and death, but also the mystery of the resurrection which crowned his sacrifice. It is as the living and risen One that Christ can become in the eucharist the "bread of life" (Jn.6:35,48), the "living bread" (Jn.6:51). St. Ambrose reminded the newly initiated that the eucharist applies the event of the resurrection to their lives: "Today Christ is yours, yet each day he rises again for you." St. Cyril of Alexandria also makes clear that sharing in the sacred mysteries "is a true confession and a remembrance that the Lord died and returned to life for us and on our behalf." |
