January
17, 2017
Tuesday,
Week Two, Year I
Hebrews 6:10-20; Psalm 111; Mark 2:23-28.
Believe, Read, And Grow
Hebrews warns us
before this reading that we are going to take up things “difficult to explain.”
This is the mystery of Christ’s priesthood. Since three readings in a row
(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) end with “You
are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek,” we know Hebrews will
use Melchizedek to explain Jesus.
Saturday the bishops told us that the Scriptures
read at Mass enable us to respond to the mystery of Christ:
· actively with
full faith, hope and love,
· through prayer
and self-giving,
·
not only during Mass but in our entire Christian
life.
We see the readings doing that.
Yesterday’s reading called for “full, active” faith in Jesus as a different kind of
mediator. If we accept that he is a priest by nature — and therefore forever
— we can have confidence that he is “the source of eternal salvation... having
been designated by God a high priest [forever] according to the order of Melchizedek.”
Today’s reading calls us to “seize the hope set before us” so that we will be
encouraged to persevere in good works and in “the love we have shown by our service to his holy people.” To continue
in “prayer and self-giving.”
We need to “go on showing the same enthusiasm
until we reach the ultimate fulfillment of our hope, never growing careless,
but taking as our model those who by their faith and perseverance are heirs of
the promises.” We need to do this, “not only during Mass but in our entire
Christian life.” What will help?
Hope. God made a promise to Abraham and
“guaranteed it by oath.” Abraham “believed and received.” And we who have
believed have already received. God’s
promise to us has been fulfilled in the person of “Jesus, our forerunner,” who
has entered “on our behalf” into the presence of God “beyond the veil,” where
he is “seated at the right hand of the Father” and intercedes for us as our
Mediator, “being made high priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.”
This gives hope. Tomorrow’s reading explains
what was so special about Melchizedek.
Hebrews prefaced this
reading by saying that the “solid food” of Christian belief is “for the
mature.”
Therefore
let us go on toward perfection, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ,
and not laying again the foundation: repentance from dead works and faith
toward God, instruction about baptisms, laying on of hands [Confirmation],
resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
In other words, catechism instruction is not
enough for an adult Christian life. We need to be disciples, “students” of “mystery”; that is, of Truth that “invites
endless exploration.” The Church urges us to use the Scripture readings at Mass
to spark this by “listening with an inward and outward reverence that will
foster continuous growth in the spiritual life.” The Liturgy of the Word is for disciples. It calls us to be students of
the mind and heart of God and helps us to answer that call.[1]
Most of the readings are not difficult to
understand. Hebrews is. But all need
to be absorbed through reflection and
assimilated, made part of our life, through decisions.
The “three R’s” of discipleship are: Read,
Reflect, Respond.
Meditation:
1.
Am I
a disciple?
2. How am I seeking
beyond basic teaching?
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