FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION: SECOND WEEK OF THE YEAR

FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION: SECOND WEEK OF THE YEAR

The readings for Week Two of Ordinary Time tell us the Mass is our unique act of worship. Nothing in any religion can compare with it.

Invitation: Keep growing in understanding of the Mass by listening and reflecting as disciples on the words of God read in the Liturgy of the Word.

For prayer and discussion: What below helps you love and live your faith?

Hebrews 5:1-10: In the New Covenant there is only one Priest and one Victim: Jesus, who offered himself one time, not to “placate” God by “paying” for sins, but to take away the sin of the world. We who were “baptized into Christ Jesus” were baptized into his Sacrifice as “priests in the Priest” and “victims in the Victim.”.

Hebrews 6:10-20: The “solid food” of Christian belief is “for the mature.” Catechism instruction is not enough for an adult Christian life. We need to be disciples, “students” of the Truth that “invites endless exploration.”

Hebrews 7:1-17: Melchizedek, a preview of Jesus, was priest and “king of justice and peace.” We recognize justice and peace as religious issues belonging to the “royal priesthood” of all believers.

Hebrews 7:25 to 8:6: The mystery of Christ’s Sacrifice is that we died in him. Our sins went down into the grave and were annihilated. Jesus does not just “forgive.” He “takes away” the sins of the world. This is “the main point” of Hebrews.

Hebrews 8:6-13: Because we “became Christ” through Baptism (Catechism of the Catholic Church 795), we share in his own act of knowing. We do not read Scripture like mere human beings but like divine children of God’s family. We have a certain co-naturality with God’s words, because he is already speaking them in our hearts. This is the charter of discipleship.

Hebrews 9:2-14: People who can’t get rid of their guilt feelings think they have to keep doing something to “make up” or “pay” for their sins. This is rooted in a misunderstanding both of Baptism and of the Mass — because it is rooted in a profound misunderstanding of Christ’s sacrificial death.

Meditations:

Am I a disciple? How am I seeking beyond basic teaching?

Do I read Scripture as a regular part of life? If I don’t, who can I talk to about that?

What is taking place at Mass? How am I included in it?

What is the difference between Christ dying for us and us dying in him?

How do I as “priest in the Priest” offer myself as “victim in the Victim” at Mass?

Have I let go of all my past sins by giving them to Jesus on the cross?

Have I left my sins with him to dispose of and never looked back?

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How do I combine in action being both “priest and king”?