Video Homily: Saturday, 16th Week in Ordinary Time

Yesterday the IT genius (Krysten) at our parish gave me a video of my homily for Saturday of the 16th week of Ordinary Time (27 July 2019). The text has already been posted here. 

In my homily I address the foreshadowing of the Eucharist -- the Blood of the Old and New Covenants -- found in the Book of Exodus.

Readings: Ex 24:3-8; Ps 50; Mt 13:24-30

The video follows:

Homily: Saturday, 16th Week in Ordinary Time

To view a video of this homily, click here.
---------------------
Readings: Ex 24:3-8 • Ps 50 • Mt 13:24-30
---------------------

Our first reading from Exodus describes a remarkable event in salvation history, for here we read how the Israelites, the children of Abraham, confirmed their covenant with God. It was really quite a formal occasion. But for us today, it also offers insights into what actually happens right here at Mass, helping us better understand the words of consecration during the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Let's look at our Exodus passage a bit more closely.

Moses assembled all the people and then led them through a rather interesting ritual. Perhaps it was a little primitive for our 21st century sensibilities, but let's try to set them aside for a few moments. The rite included sacrificial slaughter of young bulls. Moses then took half of the blood of these bulls and splashed it, poured it out, on the altar. Note that the altar represented God's presence and its 12 pillars the 12 tribes of Israel, God's People.

Moses then read the Book of the Covenant to the assembled people, so they would know exactly what obligations they had and what God had promised. When Moses asked the people if they agreed, if they ratified the covenant, they responded:

"All that the Lord has said, we will hear and do" [Ex 24:7].

Of course, If you know your Biblical history, you'll know that for the next 1,000 or so years they seldom listened to the Lord and only rarely did what He told them. 

But at the time they seemingly had good intentions. And so Moses, after accepting their agreement, took the other half of the bulls' blood and sprinkled it on the people. But listen again to Moses' words as he splashed that blood on them.

"This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words of His" [Ex 24:8].

Yes, the people, by their agreement and this shedding of blood, were now bound to the Lord God in a most solemn way. It's all of one piece: the altar, representing God; the people assembled before it; and the blood, which for Jews was the sacred life force, is sprinkled on both. Can any agreement be more solemnly ratified?

Moses Sprinkling the Blood of the Covenant

Well, yes, it can, and it happens every day right here on this altar, and in the presence of this assembly of the People of God. What were those words of Moses?

"This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you" [Ex 24:8}.

And what does the priest say, what words does he use, over the chalice of wine, during the solemn consecration?

"Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of My Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of Me."

These, of course, are words of Sacred Scripture, straight from the Bible, from four passages in the New Testament. In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus says:

"Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins" [Mt 24:27-28].

In Mark's Gospel we find similar words:

"This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many" [Mk 14:24].

And again in Luke:

"This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you" [Lk 22:19].

And finally, St; Paul in his first Letter to the Corinthians also describes the Lord's words of consecration:

"This cup is the new covenant in My Blood.  Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me" [I Cor 11:25].

Blood of the New Covenant

The difference between the two covenants? This New Covenant, this final covenant, does not involve the blood of animals as a symbolic representation of the covenant between God and His people. No, this New Covenantal bond is solidified by the Blood of God Himself. And to be real, to be a true bond between God and us, it must be real Blood, God's Blood. 

Jesus, man and God, through His sacrificial death on the Cross, binds us to our God so uniquely, so deeply that, with the Incarnation itself, it tears down the all the walls that would separate us from God. We, then, are His people, and this bond happens right here, through the Blood of the Lamb of God. 

Just as Jesus perfected and completed the sacrifice of Moses, so too did He perfect and complete the Law of Moses. This is why the consecration is real, why the Blood is real. If it remained only wine it would be meaningless, just another symbol, signifying nothing. 

Brothers and sisters, leave here today, bound to the Lord, ready to do His work in our broken world.

Homily, Saturday 25th week of Ordinary Time

Readings: Eccl 11:9 -12:8; Ps 90; Lk 9:43b-45

While they were all amazed at his every deed, Jesus said to his disciples, “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.”  But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them so that they should not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying [Lk 9:43b-45].

-----------------------------

My eighth-grade class was quite large, probably about 40 children. And Sister Francis Jane, our teacher, handled us with a near-perfect blend of discipline and love. She was a tiny woman, and the oldest of the Dominican nuns who taught in our school, but she kept us in line and insisted that we learn.

She also had a clever method of getting our attention in class. As she taught, whether she was speaking to us or writing something on the blackboard, she would occasionally rap her desk twice with one of those bony knuckles. This was a signal that what she was speaking about or writing would be on the next test. I quickly discovered that if I took note of these signals – in other words, if I paid attention – I could easily ace the test.

Well, dear Sister Francis Jane always comes to mind whenever I read this brief Gospel passage from Luke. Jesus turned to His disciples and said, “Pay attention to what I am telling you” [Lk 9:44].

Jesus was shaping the apostles, teaching them to understand the depth of the Paschal Mystery, both in His life and later in their lives. Yes, He wanted them to listen, because it would definitely be on the test.

Not long before, up in Caesarea Philippi, Jesus had made that first prediction, a three-fold prediction: He would be handed over to men, they would kill Him, but after three days He would rise from the dead. In Matthew’s Gospel we’re told that Peter challenged Jesus: “God forbid, Lord! No such thing will ever happen to you” [Mt 16:22]. But this was followed by that sharp rebuke from Jesus: “Get behind me, Satan” [Mt 16:23].

Get Behind Me, Satan!

Peter and the others really didn’t have a clue about Jesus’ mission. Their vision of the Messiah didn’t coincide with what they heard from Jesus, because just like you and me, they thought in worldly terms. How did Jesus put it? “You are not on the side of God, but of men” [Mt 16:23]. In today’s passage from Luke Jesus predicts His passion for the second time; but this time, after getting their attention, He simply says: “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men” [Lk 9:44].

Delivered into the hands of men...

Unlike His first prediction, this time there’s no shout of indignation from Peter; no, the response is very different. In Luke we’re told “…they did not understand…and they were afraid” [Lk 9:45]. But Matthew describes the Apostles’ response differently: “…and they were deeply saddened” [Mt 17:23].

And note that Jesus didn’t use the first person here. He didn’t say, “I will be handed over…” No, he says, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” Yes, the Apostles were both afraid and deeply saddened because the Son of Man, the perfect One, will be betrayed by men – and not just by first-century Romans and Jews, but by all of us. 

By rejecting God’s gift of faith, by betraying God, by killing God, who is one of us, it’s as if we all actually betray and destroy ourselves. It’s as if we see God as some sort of alien being; but that’s not how He came to us, is it? No, He came to us, not in difference but in sameness, as one of us, one of us in all things except sin. He came as a loving brother of the same loving Father.

And yet the world hates Jesus – and believe me, brothers and sisters – the world does hate Jesus. It hates Him because He shows us what we could be. And the world fights that, doesn’t it? Indeed, we fight it too – that call to conversion – and try to do away with the judgment under which we live. What did we hear in our first reading from Ecclesiastes? “God will bring you to judgment” [Eccl 11:9].

But only if we become like Him can we be on the side of God, not of men. Only if we change, only if we repent and accept conversion, can we become what He desires for us.

And so, in the overwhelming mercy of His divine plan of love, Jesus allows Himself to be delivered into men’s hands. He allows Calvary’s horrendous demonstration of violence and hatred. He allows it so that when men wound Him, when they nail Him to that Cross, they will be washed in the tide of His Blood. And the power of that Blood, the Blood of divine love, can overcome and erase any hatred that fills the human heart.

The Blood of Christ

You see, brothers and sisters, once we accept the depth and breadth of God’s mercy, once we accept the forgiveness He desires for all, it’s easy to pay attention when He speaks to us.