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Read:
Genesis
4:1-5:
And Adam knew
Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten
a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was
a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process
of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground
an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings
of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel
and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not
respect.
And ponder:
The Supra
Quĉ of the Traditional Mass, a prayer after Consecration:
"And now, O
Lord, we, Thy servants, and with us all Thy holy people, calling to
mind the blessed Passion of this same Christ, Thy Son, our Lord,
likewise His Resurrection from the grave, and also His glorious
Ascension into heaven, do offer unto Thy most sovereign Majesty out of
the gifts Thou hast bestowed upon us: a Victim + which is pure, a
Victim + which is holy, a Victim + which is spotless, the holy Bread +
of life eternal, and the Chalice + of everlasting Salvation. Deign to
look upon them with a favorable and gracious countenance, and to accept
them as Thou didst accept the offerings of Thy just servant Abel, and
the sacrifice of our Patriarch Abraham, and that which Thy high priest
Melchisedech offered up to Thee, a holy Sacrifice, an immaculate
Victim."
The Novus
Ordo Offertory Rite:
"Blessed are
You, Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this
bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made. By the
mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the Divinity of
Christ, Who humbled Himself to share in our humanity. Blessed are you,
Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this wine to
offer, fruit of the vine and work of human hands. It will become for us
our spiritual drink. "
And what comes
after in the Novus Ordo? One of the the four Novus Ordo proclamations
of the "Mystery of Faith" which come after the Consecration:
- "Christ has
died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again."
- "Dying you
destroyed our death, rising you restored our life. Lord Jesus, come in
glory."
- "When we eat
this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death, Lord Jesus,
until you come in glory."
- "Lord, by your
cross and resurrection you have set us free. You are the Savior of the
world."
In the Novus Ordo, three of the four "Memorial Acclamations" indicate
that what is being offered is still "bread and wine." If "Christ will
come again," then Who/who/or what is on the Altar as the priest says
those words? How can we partake of the Body of Christ by eating "this
bread" and drinking "this cup" as we also wait for Him to
come?
The traditional "Mystery of Faith" refers not to the
Resurrection, but to transubstantiation, and the words "Mystery of
Faith" are found in the very words of Consecration, making it clear
that what is being offered is not "bread and wine," but the Son to the
Father.
The Novus Ordo
liturgy mimics in style the offering of Cain, giving to God that "which
earth has given and human hands have made." The traditional Mass
clearly, in all its words and signs, offers the Divine Victim, the Lamb
of God, to the Father..
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