Why Do We Offer the Mass?

"For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts." (Malachias 1:11)

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the one and same sacrifice as the Sacrifice of the Cross.

IN THE OLD COVENANT

Bloody sacrifices of the Old Covenant (that is, the Old Testament) were offered to keep before the mind of man the remembrance of his dependence upon Divine Providence; of his sinfulness, in consequence of which he was deserving of death; and of the promise of a Redeemer, Who by the shedding of His blood was to atone for sin. These sacrifices of old (of oxen and goats) pointed in advance to the death of Our Lord, and from the Sacrifice of Calvary they derived all their merit. The blood of sinless animals could atone for sin in as far as the sacrificing of these animals was ordained by God, represented the intentions of the human heart, and symbolized the Precious Blood of the promised Redeemer. The prophetic rites and sacrifices of the Old Law were fulfilled by Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross.

IN THE NEW COVENANT

Simply put, we deserve to die for our sins - but Our Lord has taken our place once and for all on Calvary. This redeeming sacrifice was offered once: "Christ was offered once to exhaust the sins of many." (Heb. 9:28) This redeeming sacrifice was not, is not, and can not be repeated. The offering of sacrifice is the best and most excellent manner of honoring God. If Christianity had no sacrifice, the Christian religion would be imperfect, for sacrifice is the only adequate, visible expression of that supreme adoration due to God. Christianity, without sacrifice, would be inferior to in its worship to the patriarchal religion. The perfection of the Christian religion demands sacrifice.

THE MASS IS A TRUE SACRIFICE

"The Mass, according to Catholic doctrine, is a commemoration of the Sacrifice of the Cross, for as often as we celebrate it, 'we show the death of the Lord until He come.' (1 Corinthians 11:26). At the same time, it is not a bare commemoration of that other Sacrifice, since it is also itself a true sacrifice in the strict sense of the term. It is a true sacrifice because it has all the essentials of a true sacrifice: its Priest, Jesus Christ, using the ministry of an earthly representative; its Victim, Jesus Christ, truly present under the appearances of bread and wine; its sacrificial offering, the mystic rite of Consecration. And it commemorates the Sacrifice of the Cross because while the Priest is the Priest of Calvary, its Victim the Victim of Calvary and its mode of offering a mystic representation of the blood-shedding of Calvary, the end also for which is is offered is to carry on the work of Calvary, by pleading for the application of the merits consummated on the Cross to the souls of men." (Cardinal Vaughan, Vindication of the Bull on Anglican Orders, 1898)

Our Lord's crucifixion on Calvary is transferred out of time and space to the altar during Mass.

THE FOUR ENDS OF THE MASS

1. Adoration – The first reason one should go to prayer is to give God the honor which is due to Him as the Supreme and Perfect Being for everything outside of God was created for this end. The giving of this honor belongs to adoration.

2. Thanksgiving – Next, one should express thanksgiving for all things which God has granted. God has created and maintains in existence, from moment to moment, each individual and all of the goods which each possesses. This gives rise to a seemingly infinite debt which each creature owes to God – a debt which is repaid by acts of thanksgiving.

3. Propitiation (Atonement) – Sin is an offense against God, which the sinner appeases by acts of penance (expiation) which flow from internal sorrow (contrition).

4. Supplication (Petition) – In the last place, one can petition God for necessities and desires, both spiritual and material.

When one goes to prayer, this hierarchy of the ends of prayer should be kept in mind and the time given to each should be proportional to where that type of prayer falls in the hierarchy. It would be improper, therefore, for one to spend the majority of one’s time asking God for things (petition) while only spending a small amount of time, if any, adoring God for His perfections.

As the Mass is a prayer – indeed the greatest of prayers – these four ends can be applied to the Mass as well, as Pius XII indicated in his encyclical on the liturgy, Mediator Dei. It is recommended, then, that before the start of Mass, one prepare by going over the four ends of prayer and indicating the various reasons one is praying and participating in this particular Mass.