An Offering
Another one of the elements of the Eucharist I have been studying is the idea of sacrifice. This is interesting because I remember talking to a professor about 25 years ago about the idea of sacrifice and my desire to write about it. I have been studying the ideas of Dr. David Fagerberg on liturgical theology and the differences between the ancient understanding of thusia , or sacrifice, and our modern understanding. In ancient times, sacrifice was a gift given to God, so it was a good and positive act of love and thanksgiving. The offering of a sacrifice was a joyous occasion, for it was a way of bringing honor, glory, praise, and oblation to God. Sacrifices were made as large as possible. In fact, the larger the sacrifice, the greater the celebration! Sacrifices were often actually made as an act of thanksgiving after a blessing was already received, and therefore were not made transactionally in order to obtain a good. The gift had already been given. Compare that to our moder...
