Untitled Sermon
In addition to re-presenting Christ’s sacrifice, the Eucharistic sacrifice perpetuates the sacrifice of the cross:
At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us. (SC in Vatican II)
First, if I have understood Gros correctly, it is no part of Catholic teaching that the Eucharist involves a second bloody sacrifice of Christ on the altar. It is a re-presentation of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice, making sacrifice present without repeating it. That is much better than what most Protestants think Catholics believe. It still raises questions about the once-for-allness of Christ’s atoning death, but at least a major obstacle to Catholic-Protestant understanding is removed by Gros’s exposition.