The Mass Lesson Four Part 1

History of the Mass

The first three lessons were designed to aid in understanding the various parts of the Mass. This and the next lessons are designed to increase that understanding by increasing our knowledge of the Mass as sacrifice and as the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. In this lesson we will look at the history of the Mass which will help us to recognize and grasp the Mass as sacrifice. As we will see the Mass was instituted by Christ at the Last Supper, but the roots of the Mass go back to the offerings made by Cain and Abel. It is my prayer that through this and the next three lessons the Mass will truly become “the source and summit of the Christian life” for you.
I have used several resources for the development of this lesson, but I have based most of this lesson on two books:

      Worthy is the Lamb by Thomas Nash. Published by Ignatius Press.

     The Mass of the Early Christians by Mike Aquilina. Published by Our Sunday Visitor.

I highly recommend that those interested in a deeper understanding of the history of the Mass obtain and read these two books.

The Sacrifice of the Mass

The Mass as Sacrifice and Eucharist was instituted by Christ at the Last Supper on the night He was betrayed. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states

This He did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until He should come again, and so to entrust to His beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of His death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet ‘in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.’

At the Last Supper when Christ instituted the Eucharist as described in the Gospel of Luke Christ pre-presented and anticipated in mystery and told us to live “in memory” what He also lived out on Calvary.

And when the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you I shall not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."
And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

It is very important that we understand and can explain to others that the Last Supper was not simply a symbolic precursor of Christ’s redemptive suffering on Calvary. Rather the Last Supper and the Sacrifice on Calvary are one divine and mysterious sacrifice that impacts all salvation history. That is why we can still continue to “re-present” and celebrate the Sacrifice at every Mass. If it is not clear now it should be clear at the end of this lesson that Jesus is not re-crucified at every Mass. At each and every Mass Christ’s completed sacrifice on Calvary is re-presented.

Why was Christ’s redemptive suffering and death on Calvary necessary? For the answer to that question we need to go back to the first book of the bible, the book of Genesis. In the passage that follows we will find the reason why Christ became man, was crucified, died, was buried and then raised from the dead. When God created the first man and woman he put them in the Garden of Eden and told them “You may freely eat of every tree in the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” (Gen 2:16-17) When God created Adam and Eve he gave them an intellect and free will to enable them to make choices. He gave them the choice to freely serve Him. God showed by giving them this freedom that He truly loved them, because the only love that is true is un-coerced love.

Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, `You shall not eat of any tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, `You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" And he said, "I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I ate." The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." To the woman he said, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, `You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return." The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them. Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" -- therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:1-23)

When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge and life they turned from God. When they turned from God they lost the immortality they had received through the gift of “original holiness,” and they brought about for the entire human race the loss of immortality and all the curses listed in the above passage.

Jesus came to restore what the first Adam lost for us. Through the sacrifice of Christ we are given another opportunity to partake of eternal life. We are made alive beginning with Baptism, and in an ongoing manner through the Eucharist.

Sacrifice in the Old Testament

Cain and Able

The first time we encounter sacrifice in the Old Testament is found in the book of Genesis.

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD." And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground.

In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.

Cain said to Abel his brother, "Let us go out to the field." And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" And the LORD said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth." Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me this day away from the ground; and from thy face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me." Then the LORD said to him, "Not so! If anyone slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden. (Genesis 4: 1-16)

When most of us first read this passage we wonder why God is pleased with the sacrifice of Able, but displeased with the sacrifice of Cain. A closer reading shows us that Abel offered a “first fruit.” He brought a firstling from his flock. Cain on the other hand offered a “fruit” of the ground. God was not happy with Able and dissatisfied with Cain because Able sacrificed a lamb and Cain sacrificed grain, but because Able gave God the best he had. Cain gave what was left.

From this passage we learn that what we sacrifice is not as important as our motive behind it. Abel put God first, Cain put himself first.

Melchizedek

The next time we encounter sacrifice is found in the passages concerned with Melchizedek.

So the enemy took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way; they also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
Then one who had escaped came, and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner; these were allies of Abram. When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. Then he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his goods, and the women and the people. After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!" And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. And the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself." But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have sworn to the LORD God Most High, maker of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything that is yours, lest you should say, `I have made Abram rich.' I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me; let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share." (Genesis 14:11-24)

As we see in the above passage Melchizedek is a priest of the most high God. He is also king of Salem. Just as Christ is a king and a priest so is Melchizedek. He is also the first person in the Bible to offer bread and wine as sacrifice. Christ offers His Body and Blood under the sacramental forms of bread and wine at the last supper, which was the first Mass. He also commands that this continue to be done as a remembrance of Him.

Abraham and Isaac

The next time we encounter sacrifice in the Old Testament is in Genesis 22. God calls upon Abraham to sacrifice his son. To fully understand this passage and what it means we need to look at what God told Abraham when He calls Abraham out of Ur. He tells Abram, as he was called at that time,

Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves." (Genesis 12:1-3)

Here we find the start of salvation history. As time goes on God clarifies His plans by swearing covenant oaths to Abram that he will make of his descendants.

·In Genesis (15:12-13) God covenants with Abram that he will make of his descendants a great nation. This covenant was fulfilled when the Israelites were liberated from Egypt and became the nation of Israel.

·In Genesis (17:3-13) God covenants with Abraham that He will make a Kingdom of his descendants. This was fulfilled when David became the King of Israel.

·In Genesis (22:15-19) God covenants to Abraham that he will be a blessing to all nations. This was fulfilled in Abraham’s descendant Jesus Christ when he offered man redemption from sin and death.

He said, "Here am I." He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."
So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the ass; I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you." And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!" And he said, "Here am I, my son." He said, "Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham said, "God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. Then Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place The LORD will provide; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided." And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, "By myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because you have obeyed my voice." So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. (Genesis 22: 1-18)

God has promised Abraham that He will make of him a great nation. Then he tells Abraham to take his son Isaac and offer him as a burnt offering. Why would God do this? How can God keep His promise if Abraham sacrifices Isaac? It would seem as if God did this in order to prefigure Christ’s sacrifice. God in His infinite love for us sacrificed His only begotten Son that we might have eternal life. Abraham having faith in God trusted that God would fulfill His promise. We might ask ourselves if we have a faith as strong as Abraham’s. When things are not going our way do we trust in the Lord?

Increase Your Understanding
If you would like to receive feedback from me copy and paste the questions into your e-mail, answer them and send to me at mass1@musingsofacatholic.com

1.When did Christ institute the Eucharist?

2.Is Christ crucified at each and every Mass?
3.How did God show Adam and Eve that He loved them?
4.Why was Christ’s sacrifice necessary?
5.What does Christ’s sacrifice mean for us as individuals?
6.What did we lose because of the sin of Adam and Eve?
7.What curses were placed on the human race because of the sin of Adam and Eve?
8.What determines whether or not a sacrifice is acceptable to God?
9.In what ways are Christ and Melchizedek similar?
10. What did Melchizedek offer to God for Abraham?
11. What covenants did God make with Abraham?
12. What did God ask Abraham to Sacrifice?
13. How does this sacrifice relate to the sacrifice of Christ?

The Passover
Now we come to the pivotal sacrifice in Israel’s history-The Passover. The Israelites had been held in slavery for four hundred years when God sent Moses to save them. The following passage describes the Passover sacrifice they performed just before being released from Egypt.
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, "This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they shall take every man a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household; and if the household is too small for a lamb, then a man and his neighbor next to his house shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old; you shall take it from the sheep or from the goats; and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs in the evening. Then they shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat them. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled with water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning, anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you, upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. "This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as an ordinance forever.
Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses, for if any one eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly; no work shall be done on those days; but what every one must eat, that only may be prepared by you. And you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt: therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as an ordinance forever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, and so until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses; for if any one eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.

Then Moses called all the elders of Israel, and said to them, "Select lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood which is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the LORD will pass through to slay the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to slay you. You shall observe this rite as an ordinance for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, `What do you mean by this service?' You shall say, `It is the sacrifice of the LORD's passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he slew the Egyptians but spared our houses.'" And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. (Exodus 12:1-23)

Here we see God asking the people of Israel to sacrifice lambs and use the blood to mark their doors. The doors marked with blood are passed over when the angels of the Lord comes to kill the first born of all in the Land of Egypt. The Passover anticipates both the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary and the Mass.

·First we have the sacrifice of the lambs. Christ the Lamb of God is sacrificed on Calvary and in the Mass
.
·Second, The Israelites ate the lambs. In the Mass we partake of the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ - the Lamb of God.

·Third, the lambs were unblemished. Christ was perfect.

·Forth, none of the bones of the lambs were to be broken. None of Christ’s bones were broken.

Three times (Ex 12:14, 17, 24) Moses is told that he and his descendants are to keep the Passover as an “ordinance forever.” God could have meant by “for ever” only until such time as the Old Testament was replaced, but if we look closely at the Last Supper we can see that the celebration of the Passover is not stopped but adapted to the new covenant. In the Passover celebration described in Luke Chapter 22 no mention is made of a lamb. The focus is shifting to Jesus “the Lamb of God.”

The Day of Atonement (Yon Kipper)

The last sacrifice we look at in the Old Testament is the Day of Atonement. This was a most Holy day. The Epistle to the Hebrews points out to us that these sacrifices for sin prefigure the great sacrifice to come. The specific sacrifice which points to the sacrifice of Christ is the sacrifice of a bull and two goats which atones for the sins of the high priest and of the nation respectively.

The LORD spoke to Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the LORD and died; and the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron your brother not to come at all times into the holy place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is upon the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. But thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen coat, and shall have the linen breeches on his body, be girded with the linen girdle, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water, and then put them on. And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. "And Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. Then he shall take the two goats, and set them before the LORD at the door of the tent of meeting; and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD, and offer it as a sin offering; but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel. "Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house; he shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small; and he shall bring it within the veil and put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat which is upon the testimony, lest he die; and he shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times. Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood within the veil, and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat; thus he shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel, and because of their transgressions, all their sins; and so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which abides with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. There shall be no man in the tent of meeting when he enters to make atonement in the holy place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. Then he shall go out to the altar which is before the LORD and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar round about. And he shall sprinkle some of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and hallow it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel. And when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat; and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities upon him to a solitary land; and he shall let the goat go in the wilderness. Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting, and shall put off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there; and he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. And the fat of the sin offering he shall burn upon the altar. And he who lets the goat go to Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. And the bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be carried forth outside the camp; their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be burned with fire. And he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water in a holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. And the fat of the sin offering he shall burn upon the altar. And he who lets the goat go to Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. And the bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be carried forth outside the camp; their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be burned with fire. And he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. And it shall be a statute to you for ever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves, and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you; for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the LORD. It is a sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute for ever. And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father's place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments; he shall make atonement for the sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. And this shall be an everlasting statute for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins." And Moses did as the LORD commanded him. (Leviticus 16)

The key items we to focus on are:

1.The High Priest Sacrifices a Bull and two goats,

2.The bull is sacrificed first for the sins of the high priest,

3.One of the goats is sacrificed for the people.

4.Once the bull and goat has been sacrificed the high priest carries the blood of the bull and goat into the Holy of Holies to offer the sacrificial victims to God.

5.The other goat representing the sins of the Israelites is taken out to the wilderness.

6.That this sacrifice did not atone for sins committed deliberately. Further this sacrifice had to be repeated each year.

Increase your Understanding

If you would like to receive feedback from me copy and paste the questions into your e-mail, answer them and send to me at mass1@musingsofacatholic.com

1.What were the requirements for the lamb that was to be used by the Israelites to prepare for the Passover?

2.What were the Israelites to do with the blood of the lambs?

3.What would happen to them if they did not use the blood as specified?

4.How were they to eat the lamb?

5.For how many years were the Israelites to celebrate the feast of Passover.

6.What are some similarities between the Passover and the Mass.

7.Did the feast of the Passover end with Christ?

8.What is the Day of Atonement?

9.What part of the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement points to the Sacrifice of Christ?

10.What similarities do you see between the Day of Atonement and the Sacrifice of Christ?

Part One

Did You Know

SACRIFICE

Sacrifice in the Old Testament

Cain and Able

Melchizedek

Did You Know