i need to write an essay on mass as a sacrafice. i need help on sacrifice in natural religion, the Old Testament beckround to sacrafice, and the relationship of the mass to sacrafice and calvary PLEASE HELP!

Since this is not my area of expertise, I searched Google under the key words "religion sacrifice Catholic mass" to get these possible sources:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10006a.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Church
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacrifice
(Broken Link Removed)
http://www.carm.org/catholic/mass.htm

Use other key words to search for the answers to you other questions.

In the future, you can find the information you desire more quickly, if you use appropriate key words to do your own search.

I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.

These sites may give you some ideas.
Sacrifice in Religion
http://mb-soft.com/believe/txs/sacrific.htm
http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1178553151
http://www.dpjs.co.uk/animal.html#Historical

Old Testament on Sacrifice
http://www.crivoice.org/sacrifice.html
http://www.rationalchristianity.net/ot_sacrifice.html

Calvary and Sacrifice
http://www.tanbooks.com/doct/sacrifice_mass.htm
http://www.catholic.com/library/Sacrifice_of_the_Mass.asp

Catholic belief on Mass as Sacrifice
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2001/0109sbs.asp
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10006a.htm
http://www.catholic.com/library/Sacrifice_of_the_Mass.asp
http://www.ewtn.com/faith/Teachings/euchb1a.htm

I have quite a bit of information on this, so be sure to check back later. I need to leave for work in 2-3 minutes.

I would also suggest, if it's not in any of the links above, looking at how this issue helped shape the Protestant Reformation.

I'll post more later today. It's almost 8 AM here and I need to get going.

Matt

The first mention of sacrifice in the Scriptures as we have them is in Genesis Chapter 4.

Exodus 12 has the story of the passover. That's a key point of sacrifice - especially if you read all the imagery in the New Testament of Jesus being a sacrificed lamb (Read, especially, Revelation 4 or 5...can't think of where he appears that way)

Sacrifice takes place in the Covenant in Exodus (24:8-11) and Jeremiah (Chapter 31). The idea of atonement through sacrifice comes to us in Isaiah 53. Read through the accounts in the New Testament of the last Supper and see whether or not the authors of the scriptures intended to draw these ideas together and, if so, how they did it.

Council of Trent clearly states that the Mass is a true sacrifice. Here is a link to what the council of trent wrote about. (Broken Link Removed)

You want to look for the 13th Session to find information on the Eucharist. The 22nd Session has more specific information about the Sacrifice of the Mass. Fair warning: It's not easy reading. You might do better to google other information about it. But wanted to give you the direct source. I find it's easier, in the long run, to start with that, then start to seek out comments about it. Then you at least have knowledge of what was ACTUALLY written.

As a side note, a lot of protestant religions disagree with seeing the Mass as a sacrifice. See if you can find out why as you study it.

Matt