The Eucharistic Sacrifice of Jesus

By Christopher Anandappa

In this book argues one area that needs serious reform is in our understanding of the Eucharist. Failure to do so has led to the drop in number of Catholics attending Sunday mass on a regular basis. In fact recent statistics reveal worldwide only 15-20% of Catholics attend Sunday Mass. In Europe it is much less. Vat. II was an effort on the part

• Language: English
• Publisher: AMZ Marketing Hub
• Release date: Jun 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9781916617650

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am dedicating this book to my late grandfather, Mr. Christopher Laity Ramanaden, and the late Reverend Patrick Fitzgerald, SSS, who have guided me in my preparation for Religious Life as my vocation. Through them, I discovered in a special way what it means to live a life dedicated to the Eucharist, putting into effect the supreme example of Christ's Sacrifice of his life for the good of others.

I would like to express my thanks first of all to three professors who were very much responsible for helping me think and reflect on the meaning of the Eucharist as stated in the pages of this book: Doing my Maters in Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago, Reverend Tom Reynolds, S.S, at the Institute of Pastoral Studies, introduced me to a deep study of the historical Jesus. The

The vast literature he set before me helped me tremendously in my research. Reverend Kevin Shea, CSsR, led us in a seminar on the Beginnings of the Church and the Eucharist at Retreats International at the University of Notre Dame. His insights were so enlightening that he confirmed many of my findings on the Eucharist in the early church. Canon John Fenton at the University of Oxford placed the seal, so to speak, on this final research on the historical Jesus and the meaning of his death. This work being a partial fulfillment of my Doctor of Ministry Degree, I am particularly grateful to the staff and faculty of the Graduate Theological Foundation and Foundation House Oxford, Uk, who have guided me in my study. I also owe a depth of thanks to Mrs. Margie Benge, a former executive and administrative secretary for Exxon, who edited most of my work in the act of sheer charity

Being one of my parishioners at Our Lady of Sorrows, Jacksonville, Texas. Though I am responsible for all that follows, a book of this sort is original and much is a result of reflective enraptured listening to many scholars and reflective reading of books by scholars on the subject. All the above people have shown me that the Eucharist is something very special and that it is not just a cult but a celebration of ‘self-giving,’ as Jesus said, This is my Body given up for you. DO this as a memorial of me. (Lk 22:19)

FOREWORD

As regular readers of the Universe Catholic Weekly will be aware, Christopher Anandappa has argued for some time now that it will be a catastrophe if the Catholic Church is not reformed. The temporary closure of churches due to Covid 19 last year should actually be seen as a wake-up call for the very future of the Church.  More and more churches would be closed for good in the not-too-distant future – not because of outside forces like the pandemic, but because of an unwillingness to reform. Many agree with his comments. 

In this book, he argues that one area that needs serious reform is in our understanding of the Eucharist.  Failure to do so has led to a drop in the number of Catholics attending Sunday Mass on a regular basis.  In fact, recent statistics reveal worldwide, only 15-20% of Catholics attend Sunday

Mass. In Europe, it is much less.

Vat. II was an effort on the part of the Church to look with a critical eye at the church and try to rediscover the roots in which the whole church thing is grounded. Did the council succeed in this task? Probably not. Certainly not entirely. What it did succeed in doing was offering some important perspectives and giving directives for its future renewal.

With regard to the Eucharist, for older Catholics, the teaching on the Eucharist, which we have inherited, is a result of the Council of Trent. Unfortunately so. This is not to dispute what Trent taught or to imply that it was incorrect. It is to make the point that Trent made no effort to give us a complete and adequate understanding of the Eucharist. It consciously limited itself to affirming those aspects of our Eucharistic tradition that were being denied by the Protestants.

Since Vatican II, we now approach the Scriptures from a more historical-critical perspective and treat

They as valuable sources in their own right. Christopher Anandappa makes this point amply clear in his first two chapters by reminding us that the Bible is not primarily a history book. It gives us a religious or theological appreciation of what has happened in what we now call salvation history. Thus, it is possible for us to go beyond the biblical text to try to recapture the historical background of our Eucharistic tradition.

This recapturing is necessary if we are to appreciate the great wealth and richness embodied in the Eucharist. The diversity which was obtained in the early Church, for example, is a testimony not only to the development of Eucharistic thought but to the ability of the Eucharistic action itself to embody everything to make it the source and summit of Christian life in every age and place.

Hence we need to give renewed attention not only to Jesus’ message but to his style of life and the manner in which he went among us, proclaiming the

The imminence of God’s reign. His meals, especially, are parables in the action of the kingdom to come. Their inclusivity and their eloquent expressions of the mercy and compassion of God were, at the same time, celebrations of the self-giving of Christ. Jesus’ entire life was one of total fidelity to the Father

One of, if not the central theme of this book is that now is the time for us to return to our foundation roots which are the life and teaching of the Historical Jesus and the early Christians. This is the only way through which we could have a meaningful understanding of the Eucharist and let it be truly the source and summit of the life of the church.

Thus for the early Church, argues Christopher, he asserts the Lord’s self-giving action that was being memorialized (Do this in remembrance of me.") We are not challenged simply to repeat his words or institute a ritual action, but we are asked to do as he did and to offer our lives that others may live. Truly for many of us, Jesus is the only one doing the

Giving and the rest of the community are wrapped up in selfish isolation, with hands and tongues out only to receive rather than to give. By doing so, we have stripped the Eucharist of all real meaning and reduced it to an impoverished meal.

So to bring people back to church, the Eucharist needs to be renewed and restructured, giving meaning to the life and teaching of the historical Jesus, enlightening Catholics to be the light of our fallen world.

Christopher Anandappa told me that his purpose in writing this booklet was to make sense of how the notion of sacrifice as applied to the Eucharist can be meaningful to all Christians today, be they Catholic or Protestant. He warns us against adopting a pagan or even an Old Testament understanding. Jesus’ sacrifice, whether on the cross or in its sacramental reenactment, in a sense reinvents the meaning of the word. We can understand the sacrifice of Christ only by appreciating everything in the New Testament

Tells us of the life and death of Jesus.

Michael Winterbottom

Managing Editorial Director

Universe Catholic Weekly

Introduction

None of us decided to be born into this world. If so, Why do I exist? and How shall I live the life I have? These are the questions that religions(1) try to answer. In their attempts to say how a person ought to live or what is right to do, all organized religions place many different obligations on their followers. More strikingly, since these religions began at various times and in various geographical and cultural locations, none of