Hello, it’s Elizabeth with a reaction to this week’s Winter Wine talk.  This week, Dr. Lynne Boughton from the Liturgical Institute spoke to us about the historic Jewish origins of the Eucharist.  While many Catholic authors and scholars focus on the analogies between the Eucharist and the Passover Seder, Dr. Boughton focused on the analogies between the Eucharist and the sacrificial rites described in Exodus. Dr. Boughton’s talk was packed full of information, so bear with me as I attempt to describe all of the incredible insights.

The talk began with some basics about the Bible including the overall structure, context, and focus of the Old and New Testaments.  While I knew the Old Testament contained books on law, prophecy, history, and wisdom, I had not realized that the New Testament followed a similar structure.  The writing of the New Testament started from the beginning, approximately 31 to 70 A.D. and presumes knowledge of the Old Testament and its sacrificial system.  This sacrificial system was rooted in the Temple in Jerusalem. 

The first temple was destroyed in 586 BC after the Babylonian conquest and then rebuilt 70 years later in 516 BC--while Israel was under the rule of Persia.  This rebuilt temple was the same one Jesus and the Apostles worshipped at.  Tragically, this temple was destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans after a Jewish revolt.  This destruction also resulted in the loss of the priesthood and the sacrificial system.  Modern Rabbinical Judaism began to take shape around 200 A.D. with a revision of the previous rites to a more family focused religion.  The modern Seder meal comes from this shift from a centralized place of worship and priesthood to a family centered religion. Our Catholic faith was developed from the older, temple-based Judaism. Why? Because something more important than the temple has come.

The sacrificial system of the Old Testament is based on the idea that we understand and know God through sacrifice, and I love this idea.  We know of God’s complete love and mercy through His sacrifice for us. I had never really thought of the reverse, though: that it is through our daily sacrifice that we begin to understand and know God.  As I reflect on this idea, I feel like the second part--our sacrifice--results in a more intimate and beautiful understanding of God, His sacrifice, and His love for me.  In fact, as I write this blog, I’m realizing that this idea of sacrifice is a perfect meditation for the upcoming Lenten season.

The second half of Dr. Boughton’s talk, focused on the Last Supper and its parallels to the architecture of the Temple and the different sacrifices throughout Exodus.  She pointed out that God did not enter the community of the Israelites until the ordination of Aaron and the establishment of the priestly lineage--not when Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt or when he encounters the burning bush.  In Christianity, the role of the apostolic priesthood is so important as it is the priest who brings Jesus in the Eucharist into the community.

This Eucharist is so important as a continuation of the sacrifices of the Old Testament.  There are so many parallels to the Passover but also to other sacrifices such as the twice daily Holocaust offering where the lamb’s blood and wine was poured out. Dr. Boughton pointed out that Jesus blesses and consecrates the bread and wine, active verbs indicating a transformation--not just thanksgiving.  This is so important especially since I find my focus failing at the consecration in Mass.  

The part about the Eucharist that stuck with me the most, however, was the parallel between the Exodus memory sacrifice and Jesus’ words to “do this in memory of me”.  This memory sacrifice was meant to keep oneself in God’s memory.  Through Jesus’ sacrifice, God remembers us and our actions.  Lately, I’ve been imagining my intentions, desires, and worries as tangible items and placing them on the altar during the Eucharistic prayer and uniting them to the Eucharistic sacrifice.  And if it’s through this sacrifice that God remembers us and our actions, then uniting all of these parts of my life to the Eucharist means that God knows and remembers every part of my life. 

This talk was definitely a more academic talk and I truly enjoyed it.  My notes are full of so many beautiful ideas to meditate on and I hope that the ideas here help you grow spiritually especially as we prepare to enter Lent in two weeks.