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| “St Thomas Aquinas” by Fra Angelico,1340-45 |
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
The author of the Letter to the
Hebrews speaks of Christ as the mediator of the new covenant. The language used
in v.15 ("since a death has taken place for deliverance from
transgressions under the first covenant, those who are called may receive the
promised eternal inheritance") can be interpreted in two ways. It can
be looked at theologically or it can be interpreted 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.
CCC: Heb 9:15 522, 579, 580, 592; Heb 9:24 519, 662, 2741; Heb 9:25 662; Heb 9:26 571; Heb 9:27 1013, 1021
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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
Psalm
98 is a song of praise and thanksgiving. We see in this selection how God is
praised for the strength he lends his people and the salvation he brings to
those who are faithful. 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
This passage 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 on 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; and if I 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, robbers attempting to tie him up.
The story concludes 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”). Jesus then defines the Holy Spirit and himself as of
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 attacked by a rare and endangered
species of animal, and the only way to survive was to kill it. 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 open 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 of
hatred and revenge. Those emotions come
from the evil one.
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.
Today, especially, we pray
that those who do not value human life will have a change of heart: those who believe they help women by
destroying life which is growing within them.
We pray that they might understand that destroying life is destroying
God’s gift, and rejecting that gift has eternal consequences.
Pax
[1]
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
republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4]
Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. p.429.
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