Friday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
Showing posts with label Hebrews 8:6-13. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hebrews 8:6-13. Show all posts
Friday, January 20, 2023
Friday, January 23, 2015
Friday of the
Second Week in Ordinary Time
(Hebrews 8:6-13; Mark 3:13-19)
Today’s passage from the Letter to the Hebrews presents Christians
with a dilemma. We know that the Old
Testament (or Old Covenant, the words mean the same thing) has immense
value. After all, it inspired and
informed Jesus. Nonetheless Hebrews,
which is part of the New Testament, indicates that it is “obsolete” and “close
to disappearing.”
We must hold up both the old and the new as
critical. The Old Testament enables us
to understand Jesus, and the New Testament brings him into even clearer
focus. Yet neither of them nor both
together is the perfect revelation of God.
That comes in the person of Jesus.
Scripture, howsoever indispensable it is for us, is the Word of God in human words. This last phrase bespeaks inevitable limitation
and even error. In other words, both Old
and New Testaments are defective. We
only find God revealing Himself to us perfectly in the living presence of
Jesus.
How can we so meet Jesus today? We find him in the Eucharist where he
nourishes us with his body and blood. For
sure, we will not interpret him perfectly there. Nevertheless, receiving the Eucharist we hold
Jesus close to our hearts. Then we want
to implore him to purify our understanding so that we live up to his call for
us.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Memorial of Saint Agnes, virgin and martyr
(Hebrews 8:6-13; Mark 3:13-19)
It is not that typewriters are old that makes us want to ditch them, it is because they are obsolete. In almost every way computers outperform typewriters so that most of us don’t even have room for the latter in storage. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews finds God’s covenant with Israel similarly obsolete.
The Old Testament passage which today’s reading cites comes from the prophet Jeremiah. Living six hundred years before Christ, Jeremiah saw that the people were not prepared to keep the Covenantal Law. He foretold not only a new law but a new kind of law written on the heart so that those so inscribed could comply with it just as much as, for example, they love their children. We understand this New Law as coming to us with the Holy Spirit who prompts us to do what is right.
But how obsolete is the Old Covenant? To be sure, as liberal critics point out, we cannot hold to each of its ceremonial and judicial precepts. Yet the Ten Commandments still guide our relationships with God and neighbors. It would be tragic to dismiss these moral precepts as out of date. Rather we need to apply their wisdom to life today as a matter of the Spirit’s
(Hebrews 8:6-13; Mark 3:13-19)
It is not that typewriters are old that makes us want to ditch them, it is because they are obsolete. In almost every way computers outperform typewriters so that most of us don’t even have room for the latter in storage. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews finds God’s covenant with Israel similarly obsolete.
The Old Testament passage which today’s reading cites comes from the prophet Jeremiah. Living six hundred years before Christ, Jeremiah saw that the people were not prepared to keep the Covenantal Law. He foretold not only a new law but a new kind of law written on the heart so that those so inscribed could comply with it just as much as, for example, they love their children. We understand this New Law as coming to us with the Holy Spirit who prompts us to do what is right.
But how obsolete is the Old Covenant? To be sure, as liberal critics point out, we cannot hold to each of its ceremonial and judicial precepts. Yet the Ten Commandments still guide our relationships with God and neighbors. It would be tragic to dismiss these moral precepts as out of date. Rather we need to apply their wisdom to life today as a matter of the Spirit’s
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
(Hebrews 8:6-13; Mark 3:13-19)
Valerie Plame Wilson’s career as a CIA agent came to sudden end a few years ago when a newspaper columnist revealed her identity. Indeed, her life was put in jeopardy when it was reported that she was gathering information on Iraq’s nuclear weapons’ program. We can see Jesus in the gospel in a parallel way. He tries to conceal his full identity so that he might keep his mission on track.
Jesus hushes the unclean spirits who want to proclaim him as “Son of God” because the world does not understand who God is. People see God as one to be worshipped and to be paid lip service. Like those who sing in church on Sunday and take bribes on Monday, they do not understand that God’s way is to sacrifice Himself in love. This lesson hits home in Jesus’ death on the cross although it has never been appreciated by all.
Today many want to identify themselves with Jesus but refuse to follow his ways. They call themselves Catholics if asked and perhaps go to Mass on Christmas but are unwilling to make the sacrifices which the gospel demands. We hope that these people may find in our behavior the joy that emanates from sacrificial love and may expend more effort in following Jesus.
(Hebrews 8:6-13; Mark 3:13-19)
Valerie Plame Wilson’s career as a CIA agent came to sudden end a few years ago when a newspaper columnist revealed her identity. Indeed, her life was put in jeopardy when it was reported that she was gathering information on Iraq’s nuclear weapons’ program. We can see Jesus in the gospel in a parallel way. He tries to conceal his full identity so that he might keep his mission on track.
Jesus hushes the unclean spirits who want to proclaim him as “Son of God” because the world does not understand who God is. People see God as one to be worshipped and to be paid lip service. Like those who sing in church on Sunday and take bribes on Monday, they do not understand that God’s way is to sacrifice Himself in love. This lesson hits home in Jesus’ death on the cross although it has never been appreciated by all.
Today many want to identify themselves with Jesus but refuse to follow his ways. They call themselves Catholics if asked and perhaps go to Mass on Christmas but are unwilling to make the sacrifices which the gospel demands. We hope that these people may find in our behavior the joy that emanates from sacrificial love and may expend more effort in following Jesus.
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