nd<\/sup> grade students who are preparing for First Communion began bringing up the gifts at Masses.<\/p>\nThinking about our OCIA class and First Communion students is a great tie with the Holy Eucharist, which we have been reviewing over the past couple of weeks. Last week, we focused on Jesus being really and truly present in the Eucharist. Just as important is our belief and understanding that the Mass is a sacrifice, actually the same one sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. When speaking of the Eucharist, sacrifice is very much related to the real presence, since the Mass is a sacrifice\u2014the one perfect sacrifice\u2014because Christ is truly present.<\/p>\n
The Mass is often called the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, a sacrifice of praise, a spiritual sacrifice, and pure and holy sacrifice (CCC 1330). Sacrifice is a natural human expression of love and was found among Old Testament Jewish practices, from Genesis up until the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. Sacrifice is an expression of the covenantal relationship, performed for many reasons, including peace\/communion or appeasement for sin\/guilt, and often included the important dimension of the shedding of blood from animals. In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in sacrifice among the first fruits of the earth as a sign of grateful acknowledgement to the Creator. Sacrifice was also connected to Passover flight from Egypt. Through His sacrifice on the Cross, Jesus gives the Passover its definitive meaning\u2014His Passover to Heaven by His death and resurrection. This anticipated the final Passover of the Church in the glory of the kingdom (CCC 1340). In the time of Jesus, sacrifice was always linked to the temple, but Malachi prophesied that there would be a universal sacrifice throughout the entire world\u2014a prophesy that is now fulfilled in the Eucharist, celebrated in Masses all around the world (Malachi 1:11; Psalm 113:3).<\/p>\n
As we said last week, during the Mass at the Eucharistic prayer, the power of the words and the action of Christ, with the Holy Spirit, make sacramentally present under the appearance of bread and wine Christ\u2019s Body and Blood. Also made present is His sacrifice offered on the Cross once for all (CCC 1353). In the Eucharist, Jesus, through the ministry of the ordained priest, offers Himself to the Father, just as He did on the cross.\u00a0 As St. John Paul II taught, the third Eucharistic Prayer especially shows the sacrificial character of the Eucharist when it says, “Look with favor on your Church’s offering, and see the Victim whose death has reconciled us to yourself\u201d (JPII DC 9; [current translation: \u201cLook, we pray, upon the oblation of your Church and, recognizing the sacrificial Victim by whose death you willed to reconcile us to yourself\u201d]).<\/p>\n
The Mass, then, as the sacrifice of Christ, is actually a twofold sacrifice: a sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise to the Father and the sacrificial memorial of Christ and His Body. Both of these are true because of the true presence of Christ in his Body and Blood (cf. CCC 1358). The Eucharist is a sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for the work of creation\u2026Through Christ the Church can offer the sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for all that God has made good, beautiful, and just. The word \u201cEucharist\u201d actually means thanksgiving\u2014in it we express gratitude to the Father for all His benefits, for all that He accomplished through creation, redemption, and sanctification. The Eucharist is also a sacrifice of praise by which the Church, through Christ, sings the glory of God in the name of all creation (CCC 1359-61).<\/p>\n
Continuing, the Eucharist is also a memorial of Christ\u2019s Passover sacrifice; it is the making present and the sacramental offering of His unique sacrifice. As Christ said, we are to repeat His actions and words \u201cuntil He comes again in glory\u201d (CCC 1341). However, this memorial is not just a recollection of the past, it is a celebration of these events in such a way that they become present and real. So, in the Eucharist the one sacrifice Christ offered once for all on the Cross remains ever present. The sacrificial character of the Eucharist is seen in the words of institution\u2014\u201cThis is My Body, which will be given up for you\u201d and \u201cThis is the Chalice of My Blood\u2026\u201d The Mass is a true sacrifice because it makes present the sacrifice of the Cross. So, at Mass we are present at the Cross and can then share in its fruits in a special way. The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice\u2014the Victim is one and the same; the Priest is one and the same; the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is now contained and offered in an unbloody manner (CCC 1362-1367).<\/p>\n
Additionally, the Eucharist is also the sacrifice of the Church…that is, the sacrifice of Christ also becomes the sacrifice of the members of His Body. The lives of the faithful, their praises, sufferings, prayer, and work, are united with those of Christ and with His total offering. This offering together is a source of unity\u2014not only with all those present, but with all those throughout history and in heaven (CCC 1368-9). St. Thomas Aquinas said the Eucharist was the sacrifice of Christ for two reasons:\u00a0 it re-presents Christ\u2019s sacrifice of Himself in the Passion and makes us sharers of the Passion. So, said simply, the Mass makes Christ\u2019s sacrifice present and unites us to it.<\/p>\n
As many know, the sacrifice of the Mass is not just for the benefit of those present, but for the salvation of all the world. The Mass can also be offered for the dead\u2014so that they may be able to enter the light and peace of Christ. (St. Cyril of Jerusalem). In offering this Sacrifice, the Church, for the salvation of the entire world, applies the single, boundless, redemptive power of the Sacrifice of the Cross. What an amazing gift\u2014all of that every time we are at the Mass!\u00a0 Know of my prayers for you all this week!<\/p>\n
In Christ,
\nFather Luke<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear St. Philomena Parish Family, Blessings and peace to you all this day! Last weekend was truly such a wonderful one for our parish\u2014we closed out the Christmas Season with great joy and fervor as we celebrated the Baptism of the Lord. We also began praying in earnest for three groups of people making preparations … Continue reading Pastor’s Letter: January 18, 2026<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6066,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[176,40],"tags":[106,60,107,102,61,58],"class_list":["post-6672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fr-luke-spannagel","category-letter-from-pastor","tag-communion","tag-confirmation","tag-eucharist","tag-sacraments","tag-first-communion","tag-st-philomena-church"],"yoast_head":"\nPastor's Letter: January 18, 2026 - St. Philomena Catholic Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-january-18-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"chadmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-january-18-2026\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-january-18-2026\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"chadmin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/5e00f5f2ab9dc0c9672d91f3666e7572\"},\"headline\":\"Pastor’s Letter: January 18, 2026\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-16T14:00:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-january-18-2026\/\"},\"wordCount\":1144,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-january-18-2026\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Fr.-Luke-Spannagel_9358-Copy.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Communion\",\"Confirmation\",\"Eucharist\",\"sacraments\",\"First Communion\",\"St. Philomena Church\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Fr. 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