Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
(II Samuel 6:12b-15.17-19; Mark 3:31-35)
The first reading today tells of King David making “burnt
offerings” and “peace offerings.” In a burnt
offering the animal sacrificed to God is destroyed so that there is nothing to be
eaten. Burnt offerings were made to
atone for sins.
A peace offering was not wholly consumed by fire. Blood was
shed, of course, but most of the animal was left to be eaten by the people who
brought it. Peace offerings were not
made to pacify God for sins but to thank God for His goodness.
The Eucharist is a kind of peace offering. The bread and the wine brought for sacrifice
become the body and blood of Christ. He is
offered to God in a spirit of praise and thanks. The people who brought the
sacrificial elements then receive them back transformed. Eating Christ’s body and drinking Christ’s blood
give them new life. At the Last Supper Christ
made a New Covenant with his disciples.
Under this arrangement their sins are forgiven. They may leave in complete peace, freed from
past sins and energized with new life.
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