Sacrifice

A sacrifice is an offering or act of propitiation (atonement)

• a sacred or ritual offering
• from Latin sacri (sacred) + facere "to make, to do"
  • from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"
  • thus "make done"
• as opposed to sacrare, which means "to make sacred", sacrifice is a sacred offering not an act of making holy unto itself

Per CCC 2099

It is right to offer sacrifice to God as a sign of adoration and gratitude, supplication and communion: "Every action done so as to cling to God in communion of holiness, and thus achieve blessedness, is a true sacrifice."

Jesus Christ is the perfect and only complete sacrifice

From CCC 1545:

The redemptive sacrifice of Christ is unique, accomplished once for all; yet it is made present in the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Church. The same is true of the one priesthood of Christ; it is made present through the ministerial priesthood without diminishing the uniqueness of Christ's priesthood: "Only Christ is the true priest, the others being only his ministers."

Types of Christ's sacrifice in the Old Testament

Christ's sacrifice is prefigured in the Old Testament, including

• Abel's offering
  • as opposed to Cain's which was inadequate
• Noah's burnt offerings after the Flood
• Passover
  • the unblemished lamb
• Abraham
  • offers Isaac, his son

• Isaiah 53 and the "suffering servant"
• Gideon's sacrifice

Also,

• the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
  • when the high priest would enter the inner temple, the Holy of Holies, and offer a sacrifice for the sins of Israel

Old Testament or "Old Temple" sacrifice

Old Testament, Israelite sacrifices were called "korban" (a noun)

• the Hebrew qrb (קרב) means "be near"
  • is related to Akkadian (Ancient Middle East) qribtu, for "act of offering"
  • thus near to God through a sacrifice to him

Types of Old Testament Sacrifices

Burnt offerings (olah for holocaust)	sacrifice of thanks & devotion, as well as for atonement the animal is not consumed = for God alone the sacrificial victim is an “unblemished” animal (see Gn 4:4) the blood was sprinkled around the altar the animal skin was given to the priest the rest of the animal consumed by fire the smoke = “pleasing aroma” for God (Lv 1:9) the smoke “sanctified” (make holy) the altar
Grain offerings (minchah for gift)	grain offerings usually in the form of bread may also be wine (“fruit of the earth”) a handful of flour or oil is used for a burnt as offering the rest is consumed by the priests
Peace or Slaughter offerings (shelamim for peace & prosperity)	sacrifice of thanksgiving the animal is slaughtered and consumed the fat of the animal is burnt as offering the best portion to God the priests received the breast or shoulder; the offerer received the rest for consumption that day or the next
Sin & Trespass offerings (chatat for sin from “to miss or to err”; asham for guilt)	sin offerings could be an animal or grain for atonement of unintentional sins which could be for the entire nation of Israel “guilt” or “trespass” offerings” were for intentional sin and required reparation i.e, repayment for harm done (see Lv 7:2)
Notes on Passover and the  Passover Lamb	from Exodus Ch. 12 the “lamb” is a 1 year old sheep or goat and must be “without blemish” the lamb is slaughtered, the blood applied to the doorposts & lintels lintel = supporting beam at top of the door no foreigner is to eat of the offering the blood marks the houses that Angel of God will “pass over” when taking the first born males of Egypt (Ex 12:27) the blood is to be applied with a “hyssop” plant which was used to give Jesus wine on the Cross (see Jn 19:29)