Called To Be a People of Sacrifice

In the missionary discourse, Jesus tells us that a disciple “who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:38) In part, Jesus was speaking literally of the many Christian martyrs who were to follow Jesus to their deaths. But he was also speaking figuratively. The Last Supper helps us to understand just what he meant.

In his words of institution at the Last Supper, as recounted by both St. Luke (Luke 22:19) and St. Paul (1 Corinthians 11:24,25), Jesus tells us to eat and drink in remembrance of him. Jesus is not calling on us to recall his sacrifice, to approach it subjectively, or to think about it in a particular way. Instead, He is calling on us to actively participate in it.

The word used for remembrance in Greek is anamesis. Anamnesis, with its liturgical connotation, has three dimensions:

• It re-presents a past event and makes it real. Hence, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is re-presented at the altar.
• It brings that past event into the present and draws us into it as participants. It is as if we are with Jesus at Calvary.
• It projects that event into the future. With its eschatological connotation, it looks forward to the heavenly banquet (Isaiah 25:6-9).

Why, then, does Jesus call on us to “remember” him in this way? The liturgy helps us to see why. In the first epiclesis, the priest petitions God the Father to send down His Spirit to transform the gifts into the body and blood of our Lord. This offering – the sacrificial death of His Son on the cross – is then re-presented to God the Father in the second epiclesis. However, there is one additional element in the second epiclesis: we join our sacrifice, which is symbolized by the offering that we have brought to the altar, with that of our Lord and offer it as well to the Father. As the third Eucharistic prayer so eloquently expresses it, “May He make of us an eternal offering to you...” In other words, Jesus’ atoning death and resurrection are not only brought into the present and made real, but we as followers of Jesus join our own sacrifice to His to present to the Father. At the Eucharistic table, we present ourselves as a living sacrifice.

So why are we sacrificing ourselves? The Eucharistic prayers provide an answer: we petition God the Father “that we become one body, one spirit, in Christ” (the second Eucharistic prayer) and “be filled with every grace and heavenly blessing” (the first Eucharistic prayer). Our participation in the Eucharistic sacrifice is meant to be transformative, to help us grow in holiness. Because this holiness is a result of self-sacrifice, however, it is not intended to be a private or personal holiness; instead, it is a holiness that comes from our surrender to God. Through the transformative power of the Eucharist made present by God’s grace, “we become Christ-bearers and, as the blessed Peter said, ‘partakers of the divine nature.’” (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Mystagogical Lecture 4,3) In other words, this outpouring of grace, the transformation that results from it, and the growth in holiness that it produces, are all aimed at enabling us to better imitate Christ in the world.

When we do that, we reveal Christ to a world that is desperately in need of a revelation of who God is. But we ourselves also get a better sense of who Christ is: the “Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the ages. He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power.” (Hebrews 1:2-3) In other words, we begin to appreciate our dependence on God, to see our connection to our neighbor, and to understand our connectedness to all of God’s creation. This spirit of self-sacrifice and this sense of connectedness call on us to examine our lifestyles and our patterns of consumption, to be mindful of the impact that we are having on life around us – not only human life, but also plant life and animal life – and to do what is necessary to glorify God and His mighty works and to save our common home.