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| “St Thomas Aquinas” by Fra Angelico, 1340-45 |
(Monday of the Third Week in Ordinary
Time)
Reading 1: Hebrews 9:15, 24-28
Christ is mediator of a new
covenant:
since a death has taken place
for deliverance from
transgressions under the first covenant,
those who are called may
receive the promised eternal inheritance.
For Christ did not enter into
a sanctuary made by hands,
a copy of the true one, but
heaven itself,
that he might now appear
before God on our behalf.
Not that he might offer
himself repeatedly,
as the high priest enters
each year into the sanctuary
with blood that is not his
own;
if that were so, he would
have had to suffer repeatedly
from the foundation of the
world.
But now once for all he has
appeared at the end of the ages
to take away sin by his
sacrifice.
Just as it is appointed that
human beings die once,
and after this the judgment,
so also Christ,
offered once to take away the
sins of many,
will appear a second time,
not to take away sin
but to bring salvation to
those who eagerly await him.
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Commentary on Heb 9:15,
24-28
Hebrews speaks of Christ as the mediator of the new covenant. The language used in v.15 can be interpreted
in two ways – theologically or from the standpoint of Hebrew legal
terminology. The author blends the two,
using the word “diethēkē” which can be translated “covenant” (and usually is)
but it may also be used as “will” or “testament”.[4] The point made, however, is that Jesus’ blood
must be shed as sacrifice, the perfect sacrifice that seals the covenant for
all time and secures in a legal way, the inheritance of eternal life promised
by the Father.
This idea of the perfect sacrifice is taken up further in v.24-28,
contrasting Christ’s heavenly sacrifice (Christ did
not enter into a sanctuary made by hands).
Rather his singular act of self-sacrifice replaced and refuted the untold
number of sacrifices offered by the Jewish priests which must have caused
rivers of blood to flow from the altars in the temple.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6
R. (1a) Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has
done marvelous deeds.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous
deeds;
His right hand has won
victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done
marvelous deeds.
The LORD has made his
salvation known:
in the sight of the nations
he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness
and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done
marvelous deeds.
All the ends of the earth
have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD,
all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done
marvelous deeds.
Sing praise to the LORD with
the harp,
with the harp and melodious
song.
With trumpets and the sound
of the horn
sing joyfully before the
King, the LORD.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done
marvelous deeds.
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Commentary on Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6
The
psalm is a song of praise to God for his saving work. From our perspective, knowing that he sent us
His Son for our salvation, we see clearly the reference to Jesus as God’s
saving hand is extended.
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Gospel: Mark 3:22-30
The scribes who had come from
Jerusalem
“He is possessed by
Beelzebul,” and
“By the prince of demons he
drives out demons.”
Summoning them, he began to
speak to them in parables,
“How can Satan drive out
Satan?
If a kingdom is divided
against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house is divided
against itself,
that house will not be able
to stand.
And if Satan has risen up
against himself and is divided,
he cannot stand;
that is the end of him.
But no one can enter a strong
man’s house to plunder his property
unless he first ties up the
strong man.
Then he can plunder his
house.
Amen, I say to you, all sins
and all blasphemies
that people utter will be
forgiven them.
But whoever blasphemes
against the Holy Spirit
will never have forgiveness,
but is guilty of an
everlasting sin.”
For they had said, “He has an
unclean spirit.”
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Commentary on Mk 3:22-30
The reading from Mark’s Gospel takes up the story from Mark 3:20-21 when Jesus had
taken his disciples to Matthew’s house for a meal but could not eat because of
the crowd. The Lord’s mother and family
came to get him and the word passed it was that they thought he had lost his
mind.
The conflict between Jesus and the Scribes reveals itself
completely. They are now openly calling him “prince of the demons”. The Lord
summons them and demonstrates with parables the foolishness of their claim. He
first asks the ironic question that could be paraphrased “If I, who destroy
unclean spirits, am from the originator of those spirits, were in league with
him, he has destroyed himself.” He continues an analogy about the strong
man protecting his house. In this case he, Jesus would represent the defender
of the house (of Israel) and those attacking him, attempting to tie him up.
He concludes this passage with an
important theological understanding. The Son of God came into the world so that
sins might be forgiven (“…all sins and all blasphemies that people utter
will be forgiven them.”) He then defines the Holy Spirit and Himself as one
in the same (essence) by saying that whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
(as the scribes had just done in calling Jesus an emissary of Satan) would be
guilty of an everlasting sin (- their sin would never be forgiven).
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Reflection:
If we are to live the life of
Christ then compassion must be our motto.
Can you see the Lord in the story above from Mark’s Gospel? As he is attacked and condemned by the scribes,
he knows the doom they have sealed for themselves.
It would be as if
naturalists, while exploring in Africa were
suddenly attached by a rare and endangered species of animal and the only way
to survive was to kill them. They would
feel something like the anguish the Lord must have suffered as the scribes
blasphemed against the Holy Spirit and, in doing so, condemned themselves to
spend eternity with Satan, with whom they accused the Lord of being in league.
If we are truly
compassionate, when we face opposition of any kind, the gate to love that
person is opened to us. Compassion flows
from the Lord in His gift to us, the Holy Spirit. It was given to us at our Baptism, an
indelible gift that marks us as God’s adopted Children. All we need to do is reach for that gift when
people persecute us or attack us and the compassion of the Lord will well up in
us. It will banish the feelings for
hated and revenge. Those emotions come
from Satan.
Compassion allows us to try,
with humility, to show our errant brothers and sisters where they have gone
wrong. The Lord tries to do this with
the scribes in the Gospel today. We know
that if our brothers and sisters attack us they are committing a sin. Is it not always sinful to hurt another
person? In doing so they are placing
themselves at risk. It is our duty to at
least warn them of the consequences.
It is difficult, what the
Lord shows us. We have our whole lives
to get it right but we don’t know how long that might be so we had better get
started.
Pax
[2]
The picture is “St Thomas Aquinas” by Fra Angelico,1340-45
[3]
The readings are taken from the New
American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were
developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by
USCCB and is for private use only.
[4]
Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco , CA. pp.429
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