my sacrifice and yours: 33rd week tuesday 2012 II

Last week we reflected on the first person singular personal pronoun I and its implications on our life when we profess the faith saying the lex orandi, I believe. 

Today we now make the jump to the second part of the mass, from the liturgy of the word, we now go to the liturgy of the Eucharist.  The Liturgy of the Eucharist starts with the offertory, the so called preparation of the gifts.  We prepare the gifts to be offered by bringing in the bread and wine mixed with a little water.  Then the priest washes his hands and invites one and all to pray that the Lord will make this sacrifice acceptable.  The exact words are: Pray brethren that my sacrifice and yours may become acceptable to God the almighty Father. 

We are reminded that what we are doing is a sacrifice.  Many times we forget this.  Sometimes we just say ma-attend ako misa, but we have to remember that this mass is not just a mass but the sacrifice of the mass.

When we speak of a sacrifice we speak of two things.  First a sacrifice is a gift freely given.  It is not something required.  It is not something compulsory.  A sacrifice can only become a sacrifice when it is freely given because it was freely chosen.

When we speak of the mass as a sacrifice we refer to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  It was not required, it was not compulsory, it was not forcefully exacted.  It was a gift Jesus freely gave for our salvation.  He gets nothing in return for what he gave but he gave anyway.  This is sacrifice - it is given unconditionally out of love.

The second element required for a sacrifice is immolation.  A sacrifice to become a sacrifice has to be transformed - it has to undergo a drastic and even painful change.  That is why in the Old Testament, we see animals brought to the altar to be killed, to be burnt because a sacrifice to become sacrifice has to undergo a radical change.  Jesus offered a sacrifice - from being unscathed, he became scathed; from a body that is whole it became a body that was literally broken up; from being alive he became dead.  Jesus sacrificed because his body underwent a radical, drastic and even a very painful change.  That makes his sacrifice therefore a sacrifice because of the presence of two characteristics - it was a free gift, no strings attached, and it involved change that so painfully came about.

I pointed this out because I want you to appreciate what Christ has done for all of us in Calvary for which the mass is a reminder, for which the mass we celebrate is making present again and again before us every day.  But also I want to remind you that this sacrifice is not just Christ’s sacrifice.  It is now my sacrifice and yours.  Every time we celebrate the mass we bring with us also our own offering freely given - my own sacrifices and your own sacrifices in life.

I have a deep admiration especially for husband and wife, for mother and father - not that I am planning to be one anytime soon.  Pero nadumduman nyo anay sang soltero pa kamo kag soltera, nga wala kay may ginapanumdum kundi ang imo lamang kaugalingon?  Ilabi na gid sadtong tion nga soltero kag soltera ka pa tapos wala ka na nagadepende sa imo ginakanan para sa imo allowance?  Those were carefree days.  But then all of a sudden you fall in love.  Then all of a sudden you entered marriage, may gamay nga pang-alang-alang but then you accepted it with all the risks and the insecurities involved.  Sigurado na gid bala ini?  May palangabuhian na bala kami, bastante na bala ini?  Binaylohan na ang kasadya, binaylohan na ang wala labot, wala paki-alam nga pangabuhi sa isa ka kabuhi nga puno sang responsibilidad.  Dayon umabot ang kabataan - and worries abound all the more, indi ka na katulog, damo ka na ginakabalak-an, kon madamo ikaw ginabayaan halin sa pagkasoltero pagkadto sa pagpang-asawa, mas damo pa gid ang ginpangayo sa imo sang may kabataan ka na.

Pray brethren that my sacrifice and yours may become acceptable to God the Almighty Father.  This is what sacrifice is and it is good to be reminded of it each time we stand to offer bread and wine on the altar - to be reminded of Christ’s sacrifice, that this sacrifice is also mine and yours - each time we give something of ourselves freely, each time we accept and embrace the painful transformations in ourselves whenever we give ourselves as gifts for others, as gifts for our children, as gifts for the church and as gifts for people who need us.

Amo na nga i-remind gid naton ang aton kabataan nga sa sining sahi sang pangabuhi dapat lang nga may gamay man nga pang-alang-alang kag indi magpadaso-daso, pero dapat may kahanda man nga magbiya sang tanan bisan pa ini masakit.  If there is no sense of sacrifice ay tapos gid - pari na nagasinoltero pa, pila na kabataan nagasinoltero pa gihapon.  Remember - my sacrifice and yours. 

The gospel today speaks of Zacheus.  Zacheus realized that to be with Jesus he has to embrace sacrifices.  He did not just stop doing sin, he repaid his sins fourfold and it was not even required.  Now what is that?  Sacrifice.