Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/212

 Christ is  also  true  God,  and  so  able  to  make  infinite  satisfaction  to  the divine justice. The Sacrifice  of  Christ  was  a true  holocaust,  because He shed  all  His  Blood,  and  was  consumed  by  the  fire  of  infinite  love in honour  of  His  heavenly  Father. It was  a sin-offering,  in  the  highest sense of  the  word,  because  it  took  away  the  sins  of  the  world,  and cancelled the  debt  of  man. It was  the  greatest  of  peace-offerings, because it  reconciled  heaven  to  earth, and  brought  peace  to  the world. Since our  Lord  offered  Himself  as  a Sacrifice,  the  typical sacrifices of  the  Old  Law  have  lost  all  efficacy  and  all  legitimate  existence.

The confession  of  sins  required  for  sin-offerings  is  typical  of  the holy Sacrament  of  Penance,  without  recourse  to  which  no  sinner  dare partake of  the  “meat-offering”  of  Holy  Communion.



Two significant  facts. The  entrance  of  the High Priest  into  the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  his blood-offering there  on  the  Day  of  Atonement, signified that  reconciliation  with  God  can  only proceed from  His  throne;  and  that  one  day  the Redeemer would  rend  asunder  the  veil  of  separation and  open  the  way  into  the  Holy  of  Holies. Secondly, it  was  foreshown  that  even  as  the  goat which was  the  sin-offering  of  the  people  had  to be  burnt  outside  the  camp,  so  Jesus  Christ,  the Lamb of  God,  laden  with  the  sins  of  the  whole world, would  be  crucified  outside  the  city. He is the  great,  the  true  atoning  Sacrifice  to  whom all the  ceremonies  of  the  Day  of  Atonement pointed.

''The immediate  meaning  of  the  Jewish  feasts. '' The religious  feasts  of  the  Jewish  people  had  a double  meaning,  a retrospective  and  a prospective or prophetical. The feasts  served  immediately  to remind  the  people  of  the  wonderful  graces  and benefits which  they  had  received  from  God. The Christian feasts  are  also  intended  to  remind  us  of,  and  make  us  grateful for the  grace  of  sanctification  and  redemption.

The typical  meaning  of  the  Jewish  feasts.  Their  significance  lies in this,  that  they  were  types  of  the  Christian  feasts,  and  pointed  towards that manifestation  of  grace  which  is  the  foundation  of  these  last. You learnt in  chapters  XXXIII  and  XXXVI  the  connexion  between  the Jewish feasts  of  the  Pasch  and  Pentecost  and  our  Easter  and  Pentecost. The Feast  of  Tabernacles  corresponds  with  our  Corpus  Christi,  which is solemnized  in  the  open  air,  and  is  a Feast  of  thanksgiving  to  God, that Jesus  Christ,  God  made  Man,  has  given  Himself  to  be  our  Leader through the  wilderness  of  this  life,  feeding  our  souls  with  the  true