Monday,
1/28/13
This
month we have twenty of our first readings from the Letter to the Hebrews, and
although we recognize them to be of great beauty our ignorance of the Old
Testament priesthood keeps us from understanding much that is in them.
Today’s
reading contrasts the Jewish priesthood with the priesthood of Christ. While
the Jewish priests offered sacrifices without number, Jesus offered only one
sacrifice. How can that be?
The
way I understand it is this. St. Augustine taught us that a true sacrifice is
nothing but a complete subjection of ones will to God. It involves a total
overcoming of selfishness.
So,
rather than seeing Christ’s function as a priest as a distinct act he performs
on our altars or on the cross, I see it as something he accomplishes through
all phases of his life. We can see the kickoff of his sacrifice as taking place
when the Spirit led him into the desert to be tempted for forty days. We can
see all his days and nights as scenes from his battle against selfishness. I
like to think of his last twenty hours as a unit. He culminated his life-long
sacrifice at the Last Supper, saying, “This is my body—my blood, which is for
you.” He ratified that sacrifice in the Garden of Olives, sweating blood in
saying, “Not as I will, but as thou willest.” He finished his sacrifice on the
cross.
He
does nothing new on our altars. He is simply continuing the sacrifice that he
was making of himself at the Last Supper, in the Garden, and on the cross. The
sacrifice he continues on our altars s like a laser beam of love to the Father.
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