Day 186: The Sacrificial Memorial

The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the making present and the sacramental offering of his unique sacrifice, in the liturgy of the Church which is his Body. In all the Eucharistic Prayers we find after the words of institution a prayer called the anamnesis or memorial. CCC 1362

In today's reading, the Catechism discusses the Eucharist as a sacrificial memorial. The Catechism Compendium summarizes this section:

The Eucharist is a memorial in the sense that it makes present and actual the sacrifice that Christ offered to the Father on the cross, once and for all on behalf of mankind. The sacrificial character of the Holy Eucharist is manifested in the very words of institution, “This is my Body which is given for you” and “This cup is the New Covenant in my Blood that will be shed for you” (Luke 22:19-20). The sacrifice of the cross and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one and the same sacrifice. The priest and the victim are the same; only the manner of offering is different: in a bloody manner on the cross, in an unbloody manner in the Eucharist. (#280)

Christ is our "paschal lamb" (1 Cor 5:7), whose suffering and death was offered as a sacrifice for our redemption to the Father. The Mass "re-presents" Christ's Passover that was prefigured in Exodus 13:3, only while the latter liberated the Jews from "out of the house of bondage" in Egypt, the former liberates us from the bondage of sin and leads us to salvation. In the Exodus Passover, the Jews "once again experience God's saving work" which in Christ's Passover is magnified by making present "the sacrifice of the cross" (p. 136). 

I like how the Catechism Companion, Vol II comments on this:

The Eucharist is a "noun" - it is the Body and Blood of Christ. It is also a "verb" - it is the action of the sacrifice of Jesus offered to the Father... The Mass allows us to participate fully by actively offering the sacrifice, as well as by joining our lives and experiences to Christ's sacrifice. Everything we go through can be offered and united to Christ's sacrifice, for the glory of the Father and the salvation of the world. (p. 136)

Finally, Dr. Brant Pitre has a good video on the Mass as a sacrifice: 

In the catacombs the Church is often represented as a woman in prayer, arms outstretched in the praying position. Like Christ who stretched out his arms on the cross, through him, with him, and in him, she offers herself and intercedes for all men. CCC 1368