“... how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.” (Hebrews 9:14)
In commenting on this verse from today’s Second Reading, Saint John Chrysostom writes:
“For, he says, if “the blood of bulls” is able to purify the flesh, much more shall the blood of Christ wipe away the defilement of the soul. Because you may not suppose when you hear the word sanctifies that it is some great thing, he marks out and shows the difference between each of these purifications and how the one of them is high and the other low. And he says it is so with good reason, since that is “the blood of bulls” and this “the blood of Christ.”
“Shall purify your conscience,” the apostle says, “from dead works.” And well said he “from dead works”; if any man touched a dead body, he was polluted. And here also, if any touch a “dead work,” those ones are defiled through their conscience. Here the apostle declares that it is not possible while one has “dead works to serve the living God,” for they are both dead and false. ”(On the Epistle to the Hebrews, 15)
“Shall purify your conscience,” the apostle says, “from dead works.” And well said he “from dead works”; if any man touched a dead body, he was polluted. And here also, if any touch a “dead work,” those ones are defiled through their conscience. Here the apostle declares that it is not possible while one has “dead works to serve the living God,” for they are both dead and false. ”(On the Epistle to the Hebrews, 15)
“The blood of Christ, however, purifies the conscience, because it draws its value and efficacy from a perfect personal sacrifice. The insistence on “the blood of Christ” corresponds, moreover, to the logic of the incarnation, which is opposed to a complete spiritualization. It is the blood of Christ, poured out for us, that obtained redemption for us. ... Very differently from the former immolations of animals, the personal offering of Christ, accomplished in complete docility, interior and exterior, to the inspiration of the eternal Spirit, ensured that his blood perfectly achieved the purification of consciences and the right relation of humankind with God. The author expresses this double effect by means of an antithesis between “dead works” and “the living God.” He calls the sins “dead works” to show that sins really do break the relation with “the living God” and make it impossible. They are the opposite of the worship that must be paid to the living God. “The blood of Christ” makes people fit to “pay worship to the living God.” The end of this sentence shows that the author really is concerned with relations with God. His final goal is not purification, nor perfection, nor salvation, but that vivifying relation with the living God.” (Cardinal Albert Vanhoye, The Letter to the Hebrews: A New Commentary. Paulist Press 978-0809149285, 148-150.)
Collect
O God,
Who in this wonderful Sacrament
have left us a memorial of Your Passion,
grant us, we pray,
so to revere the sacred mysteries
of Your Body and Blood
that we may always experience
in ourselves the fruits of Your redemption.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
have left us a memorial of Your Passion,
grant us, we pray,
so to revere the sacred mysteries
of Your Body and Blood
that we may always experience
in ourselves the fruits of Your redemption.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
