"The religion established by the sacrament of the Cross of Christ cannot be destroyed by any kind of cruelty."
--Pope St. Leo the Great
"The religion established by the sacrament of the Cross of Christ cannot be destroyed by any kind of cruelty."
--Pope St. Leo the Great
January 18, 2021
Monday of the Second
Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 311
Brothers and sisters:
Every high priest is taken from among men
and made their representative before God,
to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring,
for he himself is beset by weakness
and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself
as well as for the people.
No one takes this honor upon himself
but only when called by God,
just as Aaron was.
In the same way,
it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest,
but rather the one who said to him:
You are my Son:
this day I have begotten you;
just as he says in another place,
You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.
In the days when he was in the Flesh,
he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears
to the one who was able to save him from death,
and he was heard because of his reverence.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;
and when he was made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
Responsorial Psalm
R.
(4b) You are a priest for ever,
in the line of Melchizedek.
The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand
till I make your enemies your footstool.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The scepter of your power the LORD will stretch forth from Zion:
“Rule in the midst of your enemies.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
“Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor;
before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The LORD has sworn, and he will not repent:
“You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The word of God is
living and effective,
able to discern
reflections and thoughts of the heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast.
People came to Jesus and objected,
“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them,
“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast on that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”
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Where is Christ's Priesthood Today?
Jesus is a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. So says today's first scripture, which quotes what we use for today's responsorial Psalm. What does this mean? Just who was Melchizedek?
Jesus was not born in the line of Melchizedek, but the order; Melchizedek was not in his family tree. Melchizedek wasn't even a Jew; therefore, he was never a priest of the Covenant. The writer of this Letter to the Hebrews was not using a Hebrew example to help the readers understand who Jesus is.
Melchizedek was a Canaanite priest-king who lived at the time of Abraham. He ruled the town of Salem, which means "peace". Nearly a thousand years later, a young Hebrew king, David, renamed it Jerusalem.
Melchizedek met Abram (later called Abraham) when Abram settled in Canaan with his family. Melchizedek worshipped God with him as they agreed to a peace treaty. He sealed this covenant with bread and wine, praying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand" (see Genesis 14:18-20).
Thus, we can define the "order of Melchizedek" as a God-worshiping priestly authority who provides peace and whose ministry is not exclusive to the Hebrew nation and the Jewish religion.
Jesus is this kind of authority. Like Melchizedek, he offers peace and seals the promise with bread and wine, although now it becomes his own body and blood. With this new covenant, his kingly priesthood takes the order of Melchizedek to its highest level and its greatest benefit. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus gives us complete and everlasting peace.
Jesus is the new wine skin that he speaks of in today's Gospel passage. The old wine skin -- the priesthood of the old covenant -- consisted of sinful kings and sinful priests. Through the gift of the Eucharist, the sinless Jesus became the ultimate king, ruling in peace, and a new type of priest, atoning for the sins of all the world, giving peace to all who enter into the new covenant with him.
This is the meaning of the Eucharist.
The Catholic priesthood -- i.e., the priesthood of Christ lived out in those who are ordained into the apostolic succession that goes back to St. Peter -- is the continuation of Christ's sacrificial presence among us. Every personal sacrifice that a priest makes (not marrying, responding to middle-of-night hospital calls, etc.) is a gift of Jesus to the world.
In other Eucharistic denominations, such as Episcopalian or Anglican, they believe that the bread and wine become Jesus due to the faith of the believer; in Catholicism, it is the faith of Christ that makes it happen. Therefore, even when a Catholic priest is a horrific sinner, the work of Christ is still always valid in him, always real, because it's not the sinning priest who consecrates the bread and wine; it is Christ himself.
Today's Prayer
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the joy of Your living presence in our lives. Grant us the grace to leave behind everything that prevents us from receiving it in fullness. Amen.
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God Bless You.....
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