What does she show by this? She shows that she bases her baptizing of infants on entirely different grounds from the promises usually made in their name. (For the Scripture reasons for Infant Baptism, see Second Sunday in Christmas-tide.) To what, then, does the Church testify by her requirement of sureties or sponsors to promise repentance and faith in the name of the child? She testifies to the exceeding need of repentance and faith in all who are capable of exercising them, seeing that she will not ordinarily allow even an infant to be baptized unless she receives from him as personal a pledge as she can possibly exact that he will, when he comes of age, repent and believe. Third Sunday before Advent.* (ALSO FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.) THE MEMORIAL IN THE EUCHARIST. PORTION OF CHURCH CATECHISM. From "What dost thou chiefly learn" to "please God to call me." § 1. The Institution of the Eucharist. Why was the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper ordained? For the continual remembrance of the Sacrifice of the death of Christ, and of the benefits which we receive thereby. By Whom was the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper ordained? By the Eternal Son of God, the Word made flesh. *This lesson is only to be used in the Trinity season when there are more than twenty-two Sundays after Trinity. When was the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper or. dained? It was ordained by the Son of God on the night on which He was betrayed; i.e., on the night before the day on which His Body was broken and His Blood shed for the remission of sins. In what words did the Son of God ordain this Sacrament? In the words, "Take, eat: this is My Body, which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of Me." "This cup is the New Testament in My Blood [or, this is My Blood of the New Testament]. This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me" (1 Cor. xi. 23–26). § 2. The Memorial. What do you mean by the " continual remembrance of the Sacrifice of the death of Christ?" I mean a memorial or commemoration of the Death of Christ, to be perpetually celebrated by His Church" till He come (1 Cor. xi. 26). Before whom, more especially, does the Church make the memorial? Before God the Father. Can it be that the Holy Communion is intended merely to remind us of Christ's Death? No; it is plainly intended to remind God of the "Sacrifice of Christ's Death." Why are we sure that our Lord ordained this Sacrament, not to enable us to exercise an act of the memory but to enable the Church to make before God a public commemoration of His Sacrificial Death? Because our Lord, in speaking of "remembrance," employs the word anamnesis, which is elsewhere only used as betokening such a public memorial as the Church has ever held the Eucharist to be. In what other place does this word occur in the New Testament? Only in Hebrews x. 3: "In those sacrifices there is a remembrance (anamnesis) made of sins every year; "where the remembrance was evidently the solemn sacrificial recognition before God, on the great day of atonement, of the sins of the people Is this word ever used in the Old Testament? Yes, in two places; in each one of which it signifies a memorial before God. Mention these places. (1.) The shew-bread, with the frankincense upon ít, is said to be a memorial [or anamnesis] before God (Levit. xxiv. 7). (2.) The burnt offerings and peace offerings are What, then, is the remembrance which Christ ordained? To what, then, does the Eucharist correspond? To the sacrifices which were offered under the Law: Are there any prophecies of the Eucharist as a Sacrifice? "In every place incense shall be offered unto My What is the word used for offering in this place? The same word (mincha) which is used for the Has this always been understood of the Eucharist? Yes; Jeremiah xxxiii. 15-23 and Isaiah lvi. 6, 7. But these places speak of "burnt offerings," and Christians have no such rites or ordinances. No; but they have an ordinance which is far more significant of Christ and of His Death than all these Jewish rites put together. Have you another Scripture reason for applying sacrificial terms to the Eucharist? Yes; the book of Psalms has, on the authority of Apostles (1 Cor. xiv. 26; Eph. v. 19; James v. 13), always formed a leading part in the service of God amongst Christians; and this book is full of sacrificial allusions which have now their counterpart only in Eucharistic worship. Give a few instances. "I will wash mine hands in innocency, O Lord; and so will I go to Thine altar" (Psalm xxvi. 6). "That I may go unto the altar of God, even unto the God of my joy and gladness" (xliii. 4). (Also xx. 3; xxvii. 7; lxvi. 13; cxvi. 12–16.) But may not all these expressions be understood of acts of praise and prayer? If in a lower and more indirect sense they may be understood of simple prayer and praise, much more must they be applied to that service in which we set forth before God Christ's Body sacrificially broken, and His blood sacrificially shed. § 4. The Holy Eucharist a Sacrifice. Why, then, do we call the Eucharist a sacrifice? For the same reason that we call those things which the Jews offered on their altars, sacrifices. How many kinds of sacrifices were there in the Jewish Dispensation? Four: 1st, the Burnt-offering; 2d, the Sin-offering; 3d, the Peace-offering; 4th, the Thank-offering. What was the Burnt-offering? It was a sovereign act of worship by which men paid to God their adoration and praise as Lord of all things, the Master of Life and Death. What was the Sin-offering? The Sin-offering was made in expiation of sin. What was the Peace-offering? The Peace-offering was a sacrifice made to God to call down favors from Him. What was the Thank-offering? The Thank-offering was a sacrifice made to God as a devout expression of gratitude for His mercies. Had these sacrifices any virtue or grace in themselves? No; they only pointed to the Sacrifice of Christ. Have our Eucharists any virtue of themselves? Not apart from that One Sacrifice which they set forth and apply. Which sets forth most fully the Sacrifice of Christ, the Jewish sacrifices or the Eucharist? The Eucharist. Why? Because our Lord says, respecting the bread, "This is My body;" and respecting the wine, "This is My blood." Was anything like this said by God respecting any Jewish sacrifice? No; such words would have been unmeaning be fore the Incarnation and Birth of the Son of God. What then must that memorial be which is made with things which Christ called by such names? It must be beyond everything great and efficacious. On account of all this, what has the Church always called it? A sacrifice. Do the ancient liturgies uphold this view of the Eucharist as a sacrifice? Yes; all, without exception, are founded upon it. How does St. Paul call attention to this? By adding from our Lord's special revelation to him concerning the Holy Eucharist: "Ye do shew the Lord's death till He come "* (1 Cor. xi. 26). § 5. One Only Sacriâce. In saying that the Eucharist is a sacrifice, do you mean that Christ in any way suffers again when the bread is broken? No; "Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust" (1 Peter iii. 18). In saying that the Eucharist is a sacrifice, do you mean that the Sacrifice on the Cross is not all-sufficient? No; the Sacrifice on the Cross was a complete and finished sacrifice, containing in itself allatoning virtue. Does Christ offer anything in Heaven? Yes; if He be a priest, He must "have somewhat to offer" (Heb. viii. 3). *Irenæus, in the 2d century, uses the similar expression found also In the Clementine Liturgy, "We invoke the Holy Spirit that He may (apophene) show or exhibit this sacrifice, both the bread, the Body of Christ, and the cup, the Blood of Christ.' |