Toda Sacrifice

Before the current Bishop of Rome was Bishop of Rome, a collection of his essays was published called *Feast of Fatih.* Dr. Tighe was kind enough to send me a copy of this book a while ago. In reading through his essay "Form and Content of the Eucharist" I was especially captivated by the second postscript. In it, Benedict XVI expounds a bit on the research of H. Gese into the nature of the Eucharist and its relationship to the Jewish "Toda" sacrifice - the sacrifice of thanksgiving that is offered after being delivered from a particularly dangerous or even deathly circumstance. Gese gives a rabbinic dictum that is very curious: "In the coming (Messianic) time, all sacrifices will cease except the toda sacrifice. This will never cease in all eternity. All (religious) song will cease too, but the songs of the toda will never cease in all eternity." (p. 58) The sacrifice of thanksgiving endures and the songs of thanksgiving endure into all eternity, when all other sacrifices of have ceased. Is it any wonder that Benedict finds this whole matter intriguing? He writes: "Surely there are new possibilities here for ecumenical dialog between Catholics and Protestants? For it gives us a genuinely New Testament concept of sacrifice that both preserves the complete Catholic inheritance (and imparts to it new profundity) and, on the other hand, is receptive to Luther's central intentions." (p. 58)

What I found most curious was that the one problem that he notes with the Eucharist as the toda sacrifice is that it was offered by Christ BEFORE His resurrection had vindicated Him and delivered Him (and us!) from death. But I think that is actually CENTRAL. He gives and celebrates the sacrifice of thanksgiving in complete FAITH that He WILL be delivered, and then He reaches it to us as the promise that we too shall be delivered and so we can share in the sacrifice that celebrates the victory that WILL Be ours on the day of Christ's glorious Appearing even as He first celebrated His victory before it happened.

Much to think about. I think I need to read Gese's own work on the topic.