Fr. Ron Rolheiser, omi


March 26, 2001

Once upon a time there was a rabbi. Whenever he wanted God's presence, he went to a special place in the woods, lit a fire, said some prayers and did a dance.

Then God would appear to him.

When he died, his disciple did the same. If he wanted God's presence, he went to the same spot in the woods, lit the fire and said the same prayers, but nobody had taught him the dance. It still worked. God appeared.




In essence, this story explains how sacred ritual, liturgy, works. Judaism calls this "making zikkaron." Christians call it "making memorial." The idea is that a past event can be remembered, ritually recalled, in such a way that it becomes present again and can be participated in.


This idea of making memorial can be helpful in understanding an important aspect of the Eucharist, namely, the Eucharist as sacrifice. Among other things, the Eucharist is a memorial, a ritual re-enactment of Christ's sacrifice of himself for us. Among all the dimensions of the Eucharist, this one, sacrifice, is perhaps the least understood. How is the Eucharist a sacrifice?


As Christians, we believe that Jesus, not unlike a loving mother, sacrificed his life for us, particularly in the way he gave himself for us in his death. Indeed we believe that we are "saved" by his death, by his sacrifice on Good Friday. But how? How can one person's death help someone else, centuries later?

Through the Eucharist.

The Eucharist, among other things, is a memorial of Jesus' sacrifice for us, of his great act of "being broken," of giving himself over in love. Properly understood, the Eucharist, as a ritual, gives us another kind of "real presence." It makes present for us the reality of Christ's dying as well as God's response to that, the resurrection, and invites us to participate in that event.

What the Eucharist makes present is not an iconic Christ to be adored or even consumed, but the reality of Christ's dying and rising as an event to be participated in. But how can we participate in an event now long past in history?

Through memorial, through "making zikkaron." When we ritually tell the story of Jesus' sacrifice (in the Eucharistic Prayer, the very heart of liturgy) we experience the "real presence" of the event of Christ's dying and rising. Moreover, that reality is given to us so that we might participate in it.


Occasionally when St. Augustine was giving the Eucharist to a communicant, instead of saying, "The body of Christ," he would say, "Receive what you are." That puts things correctly. What is supposed to happen at the Eucharist is that we, the congregation, by sacrificing the things that divide us, become the body and blood of Christ. More so than the bread and wine, we the people are meant to be changed, to be transubstantiated.
