Fulfilled: Uncovering the Biblical Foundations of Catholicism

by Sonja Corbitt

daily animal sacrifices offered on the altar were a constant reminder that sin causes death,

The constant washing taught the people that after atonement for sin, purity was necessary to draw near to God in the sanctuary.

The bread was called Presence Bread because it was placed in the presence of God, and God was present in it, in the Tabernacle.

Just inside the inner curtain separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was the Ark, the most sacred of all the furniture in the Tabernacle,

because it was here on which the presence of God rested in the pillar of fire and cloud.

God, not man is at the center of Catholic liturgy. We come to worship him. The liturgy is not about you and I; it is not where we celebrate our own identity or achievements or exalt or promote our own culture and local religious customs. The liturgy is first and foremost about God and what he has done for us.1

Jesus is the new Tabernacle where the glory of God dwells.

You reap what you sow. You reap what you sow in kind.

You reap if you sow. You reap after you sow. You reap more than you sow.

Without the breath he gives me daily, I could not work, build, or earn anything at all.

She brings God to man by preparing the flesh in which the soul will be implanted; she brings man to God in offering the child back again to the Creator

St. Cyprian, writing around the year 250, said there is but “one altar and the one priesthood.”15

sacrifice of Christ that the priest offers on the altar—“through him,

with him, and in him”—imparts eternal life according to the promise of Christ (see John 6:53-57).

Ignatius of Antioch, who is known as the Doctor of Unity, taught as early as the first century that a bishop should be obeyed as Christ:

Scripture relays that in the end times, the Church will be characterized by defiance in and against the institutional priesthood in particular and against authority in general.

Animal sacrifices were only ever meant to be a temporary mercy until the one, pure, and eternal sacrifice in Christ could be made. As eternal high priest and spotless victim, “by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14).

The flesh of the olive does not “bleed” its oil unless pierced or bruised. Perhaps this is why Jesus began his passion on the Mount of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane (which means “oil (or olive) press” in Aramaic). As you probably know, the name Christ is not a family or personal name but a prophetic title, a Greek form of the word “Messiah,” or “anointed one.” As

Even for the Israelites, the word “shewbread” meant Bread of the Face or Presence. Who else is the Face of God but Christ? To this day, matzo bread carries great symbolism: it is flat with lines and holes in it. Just as the Bible says, the Messiah was pierced and wounded, and by his stripes, we are

“Do this in remembrance of me.” We carry out this command of the Lord by celebrating the memorial of his sacrifice. In so doing, we offer to the Father what he has himself given us: the gifts of his creation, bread and wine which, by the power of the Holy Spirit and by the words of Christ, have become the body and blood of Christ. Christ is thus really and mysteriously made present (CCC 1356–1357).

and bears its light and life. The Word is incarnated.

It stretched about sixty feet in height, thirty feet in width, and four inches thick, yet it was ripped from the top down during the darkness and earthquake accompanying Jesus’ death (see Matthew 27:45-54). In fact, this earthquake and modern analysis of its Dead Sea seismic activity make it possible to pinpoint April 3, ad 33 as the probable day of Jesus’ crucifixion.68

As the Sacrifice was accepted, the veil was torn, and the Holy of Holies was exposed. God’s presence was now accessible to all.

We can now enter into God’s presence, “the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf”