Sunday Gospel Reflection, June 2, 2024: This is my blood of the covenant...

This is my blood of the covenant…

What does sacrifice have to do with salvation? 

    Moses desperately wants the Israelites to obey the commandments of the Lord. When, in the Book of Exodus, Moses relates all the words and ordinances of the Lord to the people, they all answer with one voice: We will do everything that the Lord has told us. To solemnize this moment, Moses creates a formal covenant by means of a sacrifice: taking the blood of young bulls, Moses splashes half on the altar, then sprinkles the rest on the people, saying, This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you. A blood sacrifice was traditionally a way to ask for forgiveness of sin; when the people are marked with the blood of the covenant, they agree to participate as one body, bound together in a binding contract with the Lord. Therein lies their salvation. 

    Jesus’ disciples also participate in a covenant established in and through blood. At the Last Supper, in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus breaks bread and then, when all have drunk from the cup, Jesus says, This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. His words, echoing Exodus, are meant to help the disciples to realize that they too are bound up in a covenant in which they must participate. In this, Christ is, as the Book of Hebrews tells us, the high priest who offers himself unblemished to God, the perfect sacrifice, offered freely, once and for all. Through the sacrifice of his own blood, Jesus washes away our sin, cleansing our consciences, and thereby making possible the salvation of the world – all this, that we might, as Psalm 116 suggests, offer the only sacrifice remaining to us: a sacrifice of thanksgiving in gratitude for the cup of salvation that is ours. Christ’s blood binds us; his sacrifice trumps all sacrifices. We too are called to participate in this covenant by obeying the commandments of the Lord, and by offering a sacrifice of praise for the tremendous gift of the Body and Blood of Christ, sacrificed on the cross. 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, June 6, 2021: This is my blood of the covenant...

This is my blood of the covenant…

How are you transformed by Eucharist? 

   In the Book of Exodus, after he has recorded the commandments that God has given to him, Moses delivers the tablets to the people and prepares for a sacrifice by constructing an altar at the foot of the mountain. Taking the blood from the sacrifice, Moses sprinkles half of it on the people, stating, This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you. The blood, an essential life force and God’s gift to all, is representative of them as a people and serves as a peace offering between them and the Lord. The twelve pillars Moses erects will stand in perpetuity to represent their ongoing commitment to the covenant between God and God’s people; the blood represents the sacrifice of the people themselves to the Lord, and is meant to help them realize that it is their lives they are committing to God’s covenant. Psalm 116 speaks of a sacrifice of thanksgiving for all the good God has done for the psalmist; here, the psalmist gives public witness to this ongoing commitment to covenant.

   The Book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is mediator of a new covenant; having entered once for all into the sanctuary … with his own blood, his sacrifice establishes a covenant that is eternal, achieved through the gift of God’s own Son. At his Last Supper with the disciples, in Mark's Gospel, Jesus tries to give them a sense of this new covenant when he takes bread, blesses it, breaks it and shares it with them – this covenant will endure because Jesus will offer himself as a sacrifice for all humankind. The disciples will soon understand that they can never go back; like the waters of the Red Sea that closed behind Moses and the people when they fled the land of Egypt, this new Passover sacrifice marks a change, a transformation that has occurred.

   When we participate in Eucharist, we bring to the altar all that we wish to be transformed. The bread and wine that become the body and blood of Christ represent us, and should come from us, from the midst of the congregation, carried by members of the assembly. Simultaneously, however, we bring ourselves forward for transformation; it is a covenant we must work to enter into ever more deeply at every celebration of Eucharist. Participating in Christ’s sacrifice through Eucharist purifies us from the dead works of sin. Eucharist should renew us in Christ, who died and rose for us, renew us in his presence and in his love – it is meant to keep transforming us, that we might continue to grow toward the perfection that we hope will someday be ours. 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com