God has placed the cross in the midst of human history as an answer to man's folly that is considered wisdom by him, the real wisdom of God being Jesus crucified (1 Corinthians, 1: 18-19). Those who are on the way to ruin cannot accept the doctrine of the cross , while it is the power of God for those who are on the way to salvation. Paul himself was sent by Christ to proclaim the Gospel without relying on the language of worldly wisdom, the reason for this being that the fact of Christ on his cross might have its full weight. Since the world failed to find God through its wisdom, the wisdom of God ordained that those who believe in the folly of the Gospel should be saved. People like the Jews demand miracles and those like the Greeks look for wisdom, whereby Christ nailed to the cross proclaimed by the Church remains a stumbling-block and folly to them. However, for all those who have heard God's call, irrespective of which religion, region, caste, race, language, etc., they belong to, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God ( 1 Corinthians, 1: 17-24).
How is that man created in the image of God Himself had to undergo such a tremendous sacrifice in the person of Jesus Christ as if there was no other alternative to save man from sin and the degradation he brought upon himself? The answer to this question would reveal the inner essence of the priesthood of Christ consisting in the Will of God as well as the plan of God for men and women of all ages. The first point to keep in mind here is that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross was not an afterthought from the part of God when Adam sinned with the assistance of Eve prodded by Satan taking the form of a serpent. This is evident from the fact that the Lamb of God standing for Jesus Christ was slain even before the foundations of the world were laid (Revelation, 13: 8; 1 Peter, 1: 19-20). This means that the spiritual foundations of the universe created by God were laid much before its material foundations, both of which were created through the Word of God. By spiritual foundations we mean here the level of access to God specifically in human beings, apart from the creation of angels some of whom had fallen from grace and turned into devils whose chief is called the Satan. Given the nature of man created in the image of God , once it was marred by sin, God wanted to restore it to its pristine purity for which His original and eternal image was called upon to do the job. For restoration purposes of anything invaluable, there is no better option than to commission the original author or artist who knows how best to do it. The Word of God, through whom and for whom the entire universe was created by God, becoming man as Jesus Christ knew exactly how to restore his own image, himself being the very image of God. He wanted to do it submitting his will completely to God's Will that entailed suffering and death, in a world estranged from God, because it was decided so from all eternity with God's foreknowledge of what man was going to do with his free will. Because of Adam's sin death took over man's life and to liberate him from its shadow Jesus had to defeat death itself that was achieved through his own passion and death. The Father approved of this restoration work of Jesus by raising him from the dead implying that death had no more any hold on those who cling to Jesus Christ through faith. Thus God did not go for any other alternative in order to avoid turning man into mere puppets of His Will or robots and automatons. Men and women were to be internally renewed and become a reservoir of powers beyond their ordinary selves, if only they were willing freely to associate themselves with the Lamb of God slain before the foundations of the world were laid. For achieving this, men and women only have to leave their selves behind, take up their daily cross and follow Jesus (Mark, 8: 34).
When speaking of the priesthood of Christ, the Last Supper should be seen as its focal point as far as the Church is concerned since the sacrament of the Eucharist was instituted there, which is re-enacted in the sacrifice of the Holy Mass. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, however, is not re-enacted in the Holy Mass as the one and the only sacrifice of Christ need not be and cannot be repeated (Hebrews, 10: 12-14). The Holy Mass is truly a sacrifice not because it is a repetition of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, but because it is a representation of the same in virtue of its commemoration of the sacrifice of Christ. The Last Supper in which the Eucharist was instituted by Christ contained in itself his paschal mystery to be effected through his passion, death and glorification. Whenever the Church re-enacts the Eucharist in accordance with the command of Christ to do it in his memory, the members of the Church are able to receive his body and blood under the guise of bread and wine (Luke, 22: 19). Paul clarifies further and says that whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes ( Corinthians, 11: 26).
Let us try to see the interconnections between the Last Supper, the sacrifice on the cross, the Eucharist, the priesthood of Christ and our share in it. Strictly speaking, there is only one priest who is both priest and victim at the same time and any one of us can be a priest in the measure in which we are able to be approximate to this reality of the priesthood of Christ. To be a real victim is more important than to be a priest in so far as a victim is at the same time a priest in virtue of the priesthood of Christ, whereas a priest may not be a genuine one in the absence of a real victim in his or her own person. What a priest offers stands for him or her and the people for whom it is offered, which is an invitation for all of them to be victims. This is true also in the Eucharist, although Christ himself is present there both as priest and victim because he has become a life-giving Spirit Christ is represented by the priest and the people in the Eucharistic celebration and these are invited to turn out to be real victims of the sacrifice offered by Christ himself. Both the present Eucharistic celebration in the Church and the Last Supper of Christ are related to the sacrifice of the cross without which they would not have been able to participate in Christ's sacrifice. The time lag in both of these cases should not be seen as a problem as the priesthood of Christ is eternal and not bound by the limitations of time and space. However, for us who are bound by the limitations of time and space, salvation is achieved through enactment of events in history in tune with the principles of the economy of salvation. This means that everything in God's mind for our salvation is not revealed in full and at once, but gradually through history called the history of salvation.
How is that man created in the image of God Himself had to undergo such a tremendous sacrifice in the person of Jesus Christ as if there was no other alternative to save man from sin and the degradation he brought upon himself? The answer to this question would reveal the inner essence of the priesthood of Christ consisting in the Will of God as well as the plan of God for men and women of all ages. The first point to keep in mind here is that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross was not an afterthought from the part of God when Adam sinned with the assistance of Eve prodded by Satan taking the form of a serpent. This is evident from the fact that the Lamb of God standing for Jesus Christ was slain even before the foundations of the world were laid (Revelation, 13: 8; 1 Peter, 1: 19-20). This means that the spiritual foundations of the universe created by God were laid much before its material foundations, both of which were created through the Word of God. By spiritual foundations we mean here the level of access to God specifically in human beings, apart from the creation of angels some of whom had fallen from grace and turned into devils whose chief is called the Satan. Given the nature of man created in the image of God , once it was marred by sin, God wanted to restore it to its pristine purity for which His original and eternal image was called upon to do the job. For restoration purposes of anything invaluable, there is no better option than to commission the original author or artist who knows how best to do it. The Word of God, through whom and for whom the entire universe was created by God, becoming man as Jesus Christ knew exactly how to restore his own image, himself being the very image of God. He wanted to do it submitting his will completely to God's Will that entailed suffering and death, in a world estranged from God, because it was decided so from all eternity with God's foreknowledge of what man was going to do with his free will. Because of Adam's sin death took over man's life and to liberate him from its shadow Jesus had to defeat death itself that was achieved through his own passion and death. The Father approved of this restoration work of Jesus by raising him from the dead implying that death had no more any hold on those who cling to Jesus Christ through faith. Thus God did not go for any other alternative in order to avoid turning man into mere puppets of His Will or robots and automatons. Men and women were to be internally renewed and become a reservoir of powers beyond their ordinary selves, if only they were willing freely to associate themselves with the Lamb of God slain before the foundations of the world were laid. For achieving this, men and women only have to leave their selves behind, take up their daily cross and follow Jesus (Mark, 8: 34).
When speaking of the priesthood of Christ, the Last Supper should be seen as its focal point as far as the Church is concerned since the sacrament of the Eucharist was instituted there, which is re-enacted in the sacrifice of the Holy Mass. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, however, is not re-enacted in the Holy Mass as the one and the only sacrifice of Christ need not be and cannot be repeated (Hebrews, 10: 12-14). The Holy Mass is truly a sacrifice not because it is a repetition of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, but because it is a representation of the same in virtue of its commemoration of the sacrifice of Christ. The Last Supper in which the Eucharist was instituted by Christ contained in itself his paschal mystery to be effected through his passion, death and glorification. Whenever the Church re-enacts the Eucharist in accordance with the command of Christ to do it in his memory, the members of the Church are able to receive his body and blood under the guise of bread and wine (Luke, 22: 19). Paul clarifies further and says that whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes ( Corinthians, 11: 26).
Let us try to see the interconnections between the Last Supper, the sacrifice on the cross, the Eucharist, the priesthood of Christ and our share in it. Strictly speaking, there is only one priest who is both priest and victim at the same time and any one of us can be a priest in the measure in which we are able to be approximate to this reality of the priesthood of Christ. To be a real victim is more important than to be a priest in so far as a victim is at the same time a priest in virtue of the priesthood of Christ, whereas a priest may not be a genuine one in the absence of a real victim in his or her own person. What a priest offers stands for him or her and the people for whom it is offered, which is an invitation for all of them to be victims. This is true also in the Eucharist, although Christ himself is present there both as priest and victim because he has become a life-giving Spirit Christ is represented by the priest and the people in the Eucharistic celebration and these are invited to turn out to be real victims of the sacrifice offered by Christ himself. Both the present Eucharistic celebration in the Church and the Last Supper of Christ are related to the sacrifice of the cross without which they would not have been able to participate in Christ's sacrifice. The time lag in both of these cases should not be seen as a problem as the priesthood of Christ is eternal and not bound by the limitations of time and space. However, for us who are bound by the limitations of time and space, salvation is achieved through enactment of events in history in tune with the principles of the economy of salvation. This means that everything in God's mind for our salvation is not revealed in full and at once, but gradually through history called the history of salvation.
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