How is the Holy Eucharist a proper Sacrifice?
THE HOLY Eucharist is a proper Sacrifice because by means of it we fulfil effectively the essential elements of Sacrifice, viz.: (a.) liturgical and mystical oblation of ourselves to God through Christ, with adoration, praise, thanksgiving, and prayer: (b.) the propitiatory conditions which must attend our approach to God because of sin, which are fulfilled in the Eucharist by making a memorial of Christ’s “blessed Passion and precious death, His mighty Resurrection and glorious Ascension.”1 2. The objective reality and value of our sacrificial service in the Holy Eucharist arises from the fact that by means of it we offer an acceptable gift to God, a gift with which we ourselves are truly and sacrementally united and identified—the Body and Blood of Christ, raised from death and glorified. The acceptableness of this gift arises from the fact that it is the Body and Blood of One with Whom God is well-pleased2 and has been perfected by suffering and death3, so as to become the suitable
