Week 32, Sunday. Words of THE WORD

ANTIPHON (click for full Psalm)

“Let my prayer come into Your presence. Incline Your ear to my cry for help, O Lord." (Psalm 88:3)

COLLECT

Almighty and merciful God,
graciously keep from us all adversity,
so that, unhindered in mind and body alike,
we may pursue in freedom of heart
the things that are yours.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (click for full Psalm)

Praise the Lord, my soul! (Psalm 146:1).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT (click for all readings)

“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.”
(Letter to the Hebrews 9:24-28).

REFLECTION

Alexandria’s celebrated third-century evangelizer and catechist, Origen, begins this Sunday’s reflection on the Letter to the Hebrews: “If the ancient custom of sacrifices is clear to you, let us see what these things also contain according to the mystical understanding. You heard that there were two sanctuaries: one, as it were, visible and open to the priests; the other, as it were, invisible and inaccessible. With the exception of the high priest alone, the others were outside. I think this first sanctuary can be understood as this church in which we are now placed in the flesh, in which the priests minister “at the altar of the whole burnt offerings” with that fire kindled about which Jesus said, “I came to cast fire upon the earth, and would that it were already kindled.” And I do not want you to marvel that this sanctuary is open only to the priests. For all who have been anointed with the chrism of the sacred anointing have become priests, just as Peter says to all the church, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.” Therefore you are a priestly race, and because of this you approach the sanctuary…. Therefore the priesthood is exercised in this way in the first sanctuary and the offerings are offered. And from this sanctuary the high priest, dressed in the sanctified garments, proceeds and enters into the interior of the veil just as we already pointed out above in citing the words of Paul, “Christ has entered not into a sanctuary made with hands but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.” Therefore, the place of heaven and the throne itself of God are designated by the figure and the image of the interior sanctuary (Homilies On Leviticus, 9).”

Throughout the Letter to the Hebrews, a contrast is made between the Day of Atonement ritual (the holiest Day in Jewish life, Yom Kippur) and the uniqueness of Who Jesus is and His sacrificial death. With that contrast, another one – somewhat subtler – exists: accessibility and inaccessibility to Divine Life. In terms of life in the Ancient Near Eastern world, sacrifice was a common practice – originally in the polytheistic traditions and continuing later in the monotheistic world. While scholarly debate studies the purpose of sacrifice in the polytheistic world, it is clear that the monotheistic tradition, beginning with Abraham, viewed sacrifice in a different light. Grounded in the Hebrew verb “to cut,” – berit – covenants, especially the covenant of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with humanity, had a particular ‘task’ – the cutting away of selfishness from life. The relationship uniquely offered by God to humanity required both an exterior and an interior change of heart. That conversion, made possible by the atoning death of Jesus, makes love possible and in the end defines Christian love.

Stated another way, “It is love “to the end” that confers on Christ’s sacrifice its value as redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfaction. He knew and loved us all when he offered his life. Now “the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.” No man, not even the holiest, was ever able to take on himself the sins of all men and offer himself as a sacrifice for all. The existence in Christ of the divine person of the Son, who at once surpasses and embraces all human persons, and constitutes himself as the Head of all mankind, makes possible his redemptive sacrifice for all. “The Council of Trent emphasizes the unique character of Christ’s sacrifice as “the source of eternal salvation” and teaches that “his most holy Passion on the wood of the cross merited justification for us.” and the Church venerates his cross as she sings: “Hail, O Cross, our only hope (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 616-617).”

Thus with a continued focus in this “Year of Faith” on the encounter with the Person Jesus, the Letter to the Hebrews this Sunday places His sacrifice in such a focus that the individual believer and the entire community must come to terms with all obstacles – visible and invisible – that weaken the encounter with Jesus. The love that all persons so deeply hunger for is a love born of sacrifice, a most unique sacrifice offered by a most unique Person, Jesus the Christ.

Week 31, Friday. Feast of the Dedication of Saint John Lateran Basilica, Rome

On this day in 324, lands and buildings that originally belonged to the Roman Laterani family were formally dedicated as the Cathedral Church of Rome by Pope Sylvester I. The during the reign of Emperor Nero, the Laterani family lost the property to the Emperor when a family member was accused of some unknown impropriety against Nero. From the the time of Nero to the early years of the fourth century, the ‘ownership history’ is somewhat sketchy as the property eventually passes to Constantine's wife, Fausta. What is clear is that with the Edict of Toleration, the Roman Empire's relationship with the Church changed dramatically. Not only were bishops appointed civil magistrates by the emperor, Constantine also began an aggressive 'renovation' project taking existing Roman buildings and permitting the bishops to use them for places of worship and ecclesiastical gatherings/meetings. New buildings were also constructed during this time and dedicated as Churches to signal the Church’s clear visible presence in the Empire. Robin Jensen notes that this ‘church building campaign’ “symbolized the beginning of Christianity’s transition from a minority community adapting what it had available and expressing itself in familiar terms, to a powerful, wealthy and dominant segment of the population, now able to determine the forms and styles by which it expressed its own cultural identity. The imposing scale and potential grandeur of the basilica design well suited the gradually more elaborate liturgy, even as it reflected the changed social and political status of the church and became a definitive and monumental symbol of the church’s new self-understanding and cultural integration (Christianity: Origins to Constantine, page 585).”

ANTIPHON

“I saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Revelation 21:2)

COLLECT

O God,
Who from living and chosen stones
prepare an eternal dwelling for Your majesty,
increase in your Church
the spirit of grace you have bestowed,
so that by new growth your faithful people
may build up the heavenly Jerusalem.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High! (Psalm 46, 5).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT

“Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said, "Take these out of here, and stop making my Father's house a marketplace." His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, Zeal for your house will consume me. At this the Jews answered and said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking about the temple of his Body. Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.” (John 2:13-22).

Ordinary Time Week 31: TuesdayElection Day 2012 (USA)

As citizens in the United States of America vote today for our new President, may the Lord’s blessing be upon our land and indeed the entire world.

SCRIPTURE

“His help is near for those who fear Him and His glory will dwell in our land. Psalm 85” Click for full Psalm.

COLLECT

(This prayer is taken from The Roman Missal, “Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions, #21: For the Nation or State”)

O God,
Who arrange all things according
to a wonderful design,
graciously receive the prayers
we pour out to You for our country,
that, through the wisdom of its leaders and
the integrity of its citizens,
harmony and justice may be assured
and lasting prosperity come with peace.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever.

Week 31, Sunday. Prayer for Fine Weather and Charity

With an extra hour of sleep to strengthen many of us for cleaning up after Sandy, an appropriate prayer for fine weather is offered together with continued prayer for first-responders, electrical linemen, those supplying and delivering water, food, clothing, shelter and gasoline and all involved in restoring order in the wake of Sandy’s chaos. May all be safe and may all lives be marked by patience, service and gratitude. Grant, O Lord, eternal rest to all who died and comfort to their families.

SCRIPTURE

“Praise the Lord from the earth, sea creatures and all oceans, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy winds that obey His word! Psalm 148” Click for full Psalm.

COLLECT

(This prayer is taken from The Roman Missal, “Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions, #36:  For Fine Weather”)

Almighty ever-living God,
Who heal us through correction and save us
by Your forgiveness,
grant to those who seek Your favor
that we may rejoice at the good weather
for which we hope and
always use what in Your goodness
You bestow for the glory of Your Name
and for our well-being.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever.

(This prayer is taken from The Roman Missal, “Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions, #40: For Charity”)

Set our hearts aflame, O Lord,
with the Spirit of your charity, we pray,
that we may always think thoughts
worthy and pleasing to Your majesty
and love You sincerely in our brothers and sisters.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the
Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever.

Week 31, Sunday. Words of THE WORD

ANTIPHON (click for full Psalm)

“Forsake me not, O Lord, my God; be not far from me! Make haste and come to my help, O Lord, my strong salvation!" (Psalm 38:27-28)

COLLECT

Almighty and merciful God,
by whose gift your faithful offer You
right and praiseworthy service,
grant, we pray,
that we may hasten without stumbling
to receive the things you have promised.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (click for full Psalm)

I love you, Lord, my strength. (Psalm 18:2).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT (click for all readings)

“Brothers and sisters:
The levitical priests were many
because they were prevented by death from remaining in office,
but Jesus, because he remains forever,
has a priesthood that does not pass away.
Therefore, he is always able to save (σῴζειν, sozein) those who approach (προσερχομένους, proserchomenous) God through him,
since he lives forever to make intercession (ἐντυγχάνειν, entugchanein) for them.
It was fitting that we should have such a high priest:
holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners,
higher than the heavens.
He has no need, as did the high priests,
to offer sacrifice day after day,
first for his own sins and then for those of the people;
he did that once for all when he offered himself.
For the law appoints men subject to weakness to be high priests,
but the word of the oath, which was taken after the law,
appoints a son,
who has been made perfect forever”
(Letter to the Hebrews 7:23-28).

REFLECTION

This Sunday’s proclamation from the Letter to the Hebrews places Jesus, Son and appointed High Priest, front and center in the Sacred Text as well as in the center of the disciple’s life as Jesus is the locus of and point of contact with salvation. He is salvation. Contrasted with the Levitical priests of Old, Jesus the Son and High Priest differs not solely in terms of function but in His very being. Because of Who Jesus is, He consequently acts in a manner different from those whose priesthood is subjected to the finitude of present existence. The fact that Jesus “remains” recalls the rich imagery from the Gospel according to Saint John that speaks of His abiding presence and His dwelling among us. One recalls “Emmanuel” from the Gospel according to Saint Matthew that not only promises “God-with-us” in the beginning but also the promise “I am with you until the end of the ages.” Thus the declaration that “He [Jesus] remains” underscores not only a temporal existence but a ‘being-with,’ an indwelling animating the life of the disciple. Furthermore, Jesus’ Priesthood is unique in that it is “a priesthood that does not pass away (ἀπαράβατον, aparabaton).” In Greek, ἀπαράβατος is used rarely in the New Testament and scholars debate various shades of meaning as the word can mean “without a successor,” “immutable” and “non-transferable.” While certainly respecting linguistic and historical studies, theologically is makes good sense to keep all these translations as each sheds a particular light on the Person Jesus and His Priesthood. True, the translations may not do anything for Him, but for us as His disciples, each word is crucial in how each believer approaches the High Priest, Jesus the Son.

The Letter to the Hebrews is clear that Jesus’ Priesthood is ordered to others and others is defined here particularly those who need to be healed; in other words everyone who is a sinner – all of us! What is interesting though in this part of the text is the implication of what everyone ought to be doing: approaching God [the Father]! That movement can not be done on one’s own and requires an intervention of Someone ‘saving us.’ σῴζειν (sozein), the Greek verb “to save,” conveys two motions that must be taken together: “to remove from a dangerous situation” AND “to bring to safety.” σῴζειν, as understood in antiquity, is not a singular activity. As good as removal from a dangerous situation truly is, whatever one is removed from must be delivered to an experience of safety. A good part of this meaning of σῴζειν is rooted in Greek medicine that viewed the removal of illness or disease as only 1 part of medicine’s art. The elimination of disease, a good in itself, must be completed by an environment and actions that not only sustain but promote health and enable a person to thrive. This is the unique work of Jesus’ Priesthood seen previously in the Letter to the Hebrews referencing His atoning and sacrificial death. In this section of the Letter to the Hebrews, Jesus’ saving Priesthood is also expressed by His life that ‘lives forever to intercede for us.’

“To make intercession (ἐντυγχάνειν, entugchanein)” is rooted in the language of voicing a complaint or making an appeal. What is most noteworthy is that in antiquity, the complaint or the appeal was secondary to the fact that either HAD TO BE DONE IN PERSON! (Recall times dealing with ‘customer service’ and being put on hold … would things be different if we could talk with someone in customer service eyeball-to-eyeball, mano-a-mano?) The image here is once again one of being an Advocate, a Paraclete. In his Theological Oration IV: On the Son, Saint Gregory of Nazianzus writes, “Petition does not imply here, as it does in popular parlance, a desire for legal satisfaction; there is something humiliating in the idea. No, it means interceding for us in his role of mediator, in the way that the Spirit too is spoken of as “making petition” on our behalf. “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Even at this moment he is, as human, interceding for my salvation, until he makes me divine by the power of his incarnate humanity. “As human,” I say, because he still has with him the body he assumed, though he is no longer “regarded as human,” meaning the bodily experiences, which, sin aside, are ours and his. This is the “advocate” we have in Jesus—not a slave who falls prostrate before the Father on our behalf. Get rid of what is really a slavish suspicion, unworthy of the Spirit. It is not in God to make the demand, nor in the Son to submit to it; the thought is unjust to God. No, it is by what he suffered as man that he persuades us, as Word and encourager, to endure. That, for me, is the meaning of his “advocacy.””

Once again, the Word of God in speaking of the unique Priesthood of Jesus the Son of God, we are dealing with a Divine Person Who, like the Other Divine Persons, desires our heart, mind, body, soul and strength. Jesus the Son of our Father desires to be-in-communion-with-us and for that encounter to spark an ongoing relationship with Him as Person. Putting it another way, ““At the heart of catechesis we find, in essence, a Person, the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, the only Son from the Father. . .who suffered and died for us and who now, after rising, is living with us forever.” To catechize is “to reveal in the Person of Christ the whole of God‘s eternal design reaching fulfilment in that Person. It is to seek to understand the meaning of Christ‘s actions and words and of the signs worked by him.” Catechesis aims at putting “people . . . in communion . . . with Jesus Christ: only he can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 426).””

Week 30, Sunday. Words of THE WORD.

ANTIPHON (click for full Psalm)

“Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice; constantly seek His face." (Psalm 105:3-4)

COLLECT

Almighty ever-living God,
increase our faith, hope and charity,
and make us love what you command,
so that we may merit what you promise.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (click for full Psalm)

The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy. (Psalm 126:3).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT (click for all readings)

“Brothers and sisters:
Every high priest is taken from among men
and made their representative before God,
to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring,
for he himself is beset by weakness
and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself
as well as for the people.
No one takes this honor upon himself
but only when called by God,
just as Aaron was.
In the same way,
it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest,
but rather the one who said to him:
You are my son:
this day I have begotten you;
just as he says in another place:
You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.”
(Letter to the Hebrews 4:14-16)

REFLECTION

As the sequential proclamation from the Letter to the Hebrews continues this Sunday, the Sacred Text places before us once again the Person Jesus, the Eternal High Priest Who lives forever to make intercession for us. Timely as it is, this Proclamation comes only a few days after the publication of the Synod on The New Evangelization’s Message to the People of God. Article 3 of that document, “The personal encounter with Jesus Christ in the Church,” is worth pondering in the light of Hebrews.

“Before saying anything about the forms that this new evangelization must assume, we feel the need to tell you with profound conviction that the faith determines everything in the relationship that we build with the person of Jesus who takes the initiative to encounter us. The work of the new evangelization consists in presenting once more the beauty and perennial newness of the encounter with Christ to the often distracted and confused heart and mind of the men and women of our time, above all to ourselves. We invite you all to contemplate the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, to enter the mystery of his existence given for us on the cross, reconfirmed in his resurrection from the dead as the Father’s gift and imparted to us through the Spirit. In the person of Jesus, the mystery of God the Father’s love for the entire human family is revealed. He did not want us to remain in a false autonomy. Rather he reconciled us to himself in a renewed pact of love.

The Church is the space offered by Christ in history where we can encounter him, because he entrusted to her his Word, the Baptism that makes us God’s children, his Body and his Blood, the grace of forgiveness of sins above all in the sacrament of Reconciliation, the experience of communion that reflects the very mystery of the Holy Trinity, the strength of the Spirit that generates charity towards all.

We must form welcoming communities in which all outcasts find a home, concrete experiences of communion which attract the disenchanted glance of contemporary humanity with the ardent force of love – “See how they love one another!” (Tertullian, Apology, 39, 7). The beauty of faith must particularly shine in the actions of the sacred Liturgy, above all in the Sunday Eucharist. It is precisely in liturgical celebrations that the Church reveals herself as God’s work and renders the meaning of the Gospel visible in word and gesture.

It is up to us today to render experiences of the Church concretely accessible, to multiply the wells where thirsting men and women are invited to encounter Jesus, to offer oases in the deserts of life. Christian communities and, in them, every disciple of the Lord are responsible for this: an irreplaceable testimony has been entrusted to each one, so that the Gospel can enter the lives of all. This requires of us holiness of life.”

This “holiness of life,” – the summons and imperative of Baptism-Confirmation-Holy Eucharist – is made possible through the mediation of Jesus’ Priesthood. Pope Leo the Great, writing in the fifth century put it this way:

“Our origin, corrupted right after its start, needed to be reborn with new beginnings. A victim had to be offered for reconciliation, a victim that was at one and the same time both related to our race and foreign to our defilement. In this way alone could the plan of God — wherein it pleased him that the sin of the world should be wiped away through the birth and passion of Jesus Christ — in this way alone could the plan of God be of any avail for the times of every generation. Nor would the mysteries — as they pass through various developments in time — disturb us. Instead, they would reassure us, since the faith by which we live would not have differed at any stage.

Let them stop complaining, those who speak up against the divine arrangements with a disloyal murmuring and object to the lateness of our Lord’s nativity — as if that which was done in the last age of the world was not applied to previous eras as well. For the incarnation of the Word accomplished by being about to take place the very same thing that it did by having taken place — as the mystery of human salvation never ceased to be active in any earlier age. What the apostles preached, the prophets had also announced. Nor was it too late in being fulfilled, since it has always been believed. But the wisdom and “kindness of God” — by this delay in his salvific work — has made us better disposed to accept his calling. That way, what had been foretold through so many ages by numerous signs, numerous words and numerous mysteries would not be open to doubt in these days of the gospel. That way, the birth of the Savior — which was to exceed all wonders and the whole measure of human intelligence — would engender in us a faith all the more steadfast, the more often and the earlier it had been proclaimed beforehand.

No, indeed, it is not that God has just recently come up with a plan for attending to human affairs, nor that it has taken him this long to show compassion. Rather, he laid down from the very “foundation of the world” one and the same “cause of salvation” for all. For the grace of God — by which the entire assembly of saints has always been justified — was not initiated at the time when Christ was born, but augmented. This “mystery of great compassion,” with which the whole world has now been filled, was so powerful even in its prefiguration that those who believed it when promised attained to it no less than those who received it when actually given (Sermon 23).

Week 29, Friday. Evangelizing Thought of the Day

Just released - (Friday, 26 October), "Synod: Message to the People of God." In terms of the Year of Faith and the New Evangelization, this is an important document as we now await the Holy Father's post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation. http://www.news.va/en/news/synod-message-to-the-people-of-god

COLLECT

Almighty ever-living God,
grant that we may always conform our will to yours
and serve your majesty in sincerity of heart.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Week 29, Monday. Memorial Blessed Pope John Paul II

Throughout this “Year of Faith,” Pope Benedict has called the universal Church to once again ponder and live the primacy of the encounter with the Person, Jesus the Christ. Throughout the pre-Synodal documents, the Lineamenta and the Instrumentum Laboris, we have been reminded of the privileged encounter with Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist and a robust life of prayer; all of which intends, once again, to re-capture as a Grace of God the Father the joy, beauty and ardor of being a disciple of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

In the Church’s Prayer known as the Liturgy of the Hours, we have begun to listen to the words of Saint Augustine in the Office of Readings as he penned a “Letter to Proba” in the year 412 (also known as Letter 130). This letter amounts to a short ‘school of prayer’ and his guidance as a Father of the Church can certainly form us in the ways of prayer whose object is always responding to the invitation to commune with God our Father, Jesus His Son and Holy Spirit. The full translation of the Letter can be found here. It is worth a ‘slow and pondering’ read and multiple re-reads throughout this week - AND - perhaps beyond!

COLLECT

O God, who are rich in mercy and
who willed that the Blessed John Paul II
should preside as Pope over your universal Church,
grant, we pray,
that instructed by his teaching,
we may open our hearts to the
saving grace of Christ,
the sole Redeemer of mankind.
Who lives and reigns.

Week 29, Sunday. Year of Faith - Words of THE WORD

ANTIPHON (click for full Psalm)

“To You I call; for You will surely heed me, O God; turn Your ear to me; hear my words. Guard me as the apple of Your eye; in the shadow of Your wings protect me." (Psalm 17:6, 8)

COLLECT

Almighty ever-living God, grant that we may always conform our will to yours and serve your majesty in sincerity of heart.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (click for full Psalm)

Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you. (Psalm 33:22).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT (click for all readings)

“Therefore, since we have (Ἔχοντες, Echontes)
a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast (κρατῶμεν, kratomen)
to our confession (ὁμολογίας, homologias).
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize
with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly
been tested in every way, yet without sin.
So let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.”
(Letter to the Hebrews 4:14-16.

REFLECTION

Today is World Mission Sunday and this is observed throughout the Church universal. Coming as it does only days after the opening of the “Year of Faith” and the “Synod on The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith,” World Mission Sunday recalls specifically Jesus’ command: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20).” Both the Synod and the “Year of Faith” have shed bright light on Jesus’ missionary mandate and brought into clear focus broad as well as specific dimensions of the Church’s missionary life that must be engaged in both the evangelizing of the World and the re-evangelizing of those who have been catechized in the Faith, but have drifted away from the encounter with the Person, Jesus.

How timely as the Letter to the Hebrews expresses concerns (some might say alarm) for those who have drifted away from the assembly and encourages them to return. Why? It is all about grasping the uniqueness of Who Jesus is as “the Great High Priest.” As the proclamation from Hebrews begins this Sunday, this is the joy, confidence and hope of the inspired authored: “we have (Ἔχοντες, Echontes) a great high priest.” The Greek verb ἔχω (echo) is appropriately translated “to have.” But a quick check of any Greek lexicon reveals that this verb has many, many shades of meaning. Many of those meanings historically developed as earlier languages, particularly Hebrew and other Semitic languages, did not have the verb “to have.” While there were certainly ways of describing possession without the verb “to have,” as this verb came into later languages of antiquity a distinction was made between the verb’s application to an object and the verb’s application to some aspect of human living. Bauer notes in his Lexicon that when referencing human life, ἔχω means “to stand in a close relationship to someone.” This is the grounding of the author’s confidence. Not an ideology. Not a listing of do’s and don’ts. Not a listing of teachings or principles. Simply, a Person – a unique Person Who is God-in-the-flesh.

Because of Who this Person is, Hebrews is clear about ‘holding fast’ to “our confession.” The translation, “let us hold fast,” is an apt rendering of κρατέω (kratwo) into English, yet antiquity and the context suggest examining the meaning of κρατέω further. While some uses of κρατέω suggest a violent grasping or seizing, others suggest “to use one’s hands to establish a close contact.” Once again, in a human context the image is more of relationship, connection, and encounter. This helps us to view “our confession (κρατῶμεν, kratomen)” not as heartless data stored somewhere in our psyche but rather an act of allegiance wherein each person commits the totality of herself or himself to another – in this case, the Person, Jesus.

For readers of this blog, much of today’s study of the Original Sacred Text echoes what has been seen in print (both the Lineamenta and the Instrumentum Laboris for the Synod on The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith) and what has been heard consistently from Pope Benedict and some bishop-participants at the Synod. They have echoed the words of Blessed John Paul II penned in an Apostolic Exhortation at the conclusion of another Synod called by his predecessor. “The primary and essential object of catechesis is, to use an expression dear to St. Paul and also to contemporary theology, “the mystery of Christ.” Catechizing is in a way to lead a person to study this mystery in all its dimensions: “to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery... comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth ...know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge ... (and be filled) with all the fullness of God.” It is therefore to reveal in the Person of Christ the whole of God’s eternal design reaching fulfillment in that Person. It is to seek to understand the meaning of Christ’s actions and words and of the signs worked by Him, for they simultaneously hide and reveal His mystery. Accordingly, the definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ: only He can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity (Catechesi Tradendae, 5. 16 October 1979).” So important is this insight that it was repeated years later in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “At the heart of catechesis we find, in essence, a Person, the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, the only Son from the Father. . .who suffered and died for us and who now, after rising, is living with us forever.” To catechize is “to reveal in the Person of Christ the whole of God’s eternal design reaching fulfilment in that Person. It is to seek to understand the meaning of Christ’s actions and words and of the signs worked by him.” Catechesis aims at putting “people . . . in communion . . . with Jesus Christ: only he can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity (paragraph 426).”

Such is the missionary work we must all engage by virtue of our baptismal incorporation into Jesus Christ. Appropriately, the entire Church gives thanks for the many women and men both of previous generations as well as those who are heroically responding to the Lord’s call and work as missionaries in lands far removed from home and family. Also important this day is to know that while I as an individual may not be a Consecrated missionary in distant land, I am nonetheless impelled to reveal and never conceal the authentic face of Jesus Christ. Seize, therefore, opportunities in this “Year of Faith” to ‘continue being formed in the Faith, to speak always the Truth and to never be deficient in religious, moral or social living (Gaudium et Spes, 20).’

Week 28, Sunday. Year of Faith. Words of THE WORD.

ANTIPHON (click for full Psalm)

“If You, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But with You is found forgiveness, O God of Israel." (Psalm 130:3-4)

COLLECT

May your grace, O Lord, we pray,
at all times go before us and
follow after and make us
always determined to carry out good works.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (click for full Psalm)

Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!. (Psalm 90:14).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT (click for all readings)

“Brothers and sisters:
Indeed the word of God is living (Ζῶν)
and effective (ἐνεργὴς),
sharper than any two-edged sword,
penetrating (διϊκνούμενος) even between
soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and
able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
No creature is concealed from him,
but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes
of him to whom we must render an account.”
(Letter to the Hebrews 4:12-13.

REFLECTION

As the beginning of the Year of Faith is noted this Sunday in many dioceses, s short and most appropriate passage from Letter to the Hebrews draws our attention to “the word of God.” Quickly, we hear that this “word” is “living (Ζῶν) and effective (ἐνεργὴς).” ζάω (zao) is the verb in the New Testament that often describes the unique life embodied in the Person Jesus. ζάω is distinguished from the Greek noun βίος (bios), also translated “life,” but life more on the level of natural metabolic processes such as circulation, respiration, digestion, etc. A number of scholars note that the New Testament usage and significance of ζάω as embodied in a person marks a noticeable difference between the two Testaments, with the Johannine usage not only echoing this meaning but sounding clearly, Jesus is ζάω.

Hebrews notes that this ζάω is ἐνεργής (energes), translated here as effective. The Greek word ἐνεργής is actually a compound of ἐν (en) meaning “in” (in the sense of localized presence) and ἔργον (ergon) meaning “work.” While wordy and somewhat awkward in English, ἐνεργής denotes a reality about ζάω that it is ‘a living that is a work (or act of labor) effected (being done) in the here-and-now.’ This underscores the dynamic quality of God’s word: it is impossible NOT to be impacted by the word of God. This is graphic imagery provided by διϊκνέομαι (diikneomai), “to penetrate” or “to pierce through.” Like ἐνεργής, διϊκνέομαι is a compound of two Greek words and when curiosity moved me to check some entries in a very old Lexicon, there are some references in Greek antiquity that viewed διϊκνέομαι as “cutting through that which is superfluous to arrive definitely at reality.” Yet another mouthful of words to describe 1 ancient word but the precision and image it offers in terms of Christian living is ‘priceless!’ For there is nothing more superfluous in life than sin itself and uncovering the reality of sin is at times as difficult as excising cancer from one’s body. We tend to hide from sin’s reality (certainly there is an echo of Genesis 3 in today’s proclamation), rationalize its appropriateness and go one with living life; at least we attempt to do such until we encounter a Person, the Person Jesus Who is ζάω and Whose very life is the embodiment of love and life.

It is vital to make this connection from the Sacred Printed Text to the Person Jesus. Paragraph 108 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers a necessary insight for this Sunday’s Sacred Text: “Still, the Christian faith is not a “religion of the book”. Christianity is the religion of the “Word” of God, “not a written and mute word, but incarnate and living.” If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit,” open (our) minds to understand the Scriptures.” “…the word of God [that] is living (Ζῶν) and effective (ἐνεργὴς), sharper than any two-edged sword” is a Person and a Person Who sounds His very own Word that each of us may encounter Him and be blessed with the gift of a relationship with Him, a relationship that biblically is called Faith! We ought then, in light of Hebrews ask ourselves, how do I approach the word of God? Is the word of God merely pixels on a page or on a screen? Is the word of God simply one opinion among many that I may or may not consult prior to action? Or is listening to the word of God an encounter with a Person Who desires to know me and have me respond by daily conversion of heart, mind, body and strength?