20170119 JESUS THE PERFECT HIGH PRIEST
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Hebrews 7:25-8:6
©
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The power of Jesus to
save is utterly certain, since he is living for ever to intercede for all who
come to God through him.
To suit
us, the ideal high priest would have to be holy, innocent and uncontaminated,
beyond the influence of sinners, and raised up above the heavens; one who would
not need to offer sacrifices every day, as the other high priests do for their
own sins and then for those of the people, because he has done this once and
for all by offering himself. The Law appoints high priests who are men subject
to weakness; but the promise on oath, which came after the Law, appointed the
Son who is made perfect for ever.
The great
point of all that we have said is that we have a high priest of exactly this
kind. He has his place at the right of the throne of divine Majesty in the
heavens, and he is the minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tent of
Meeting which the Lord, and not any man, set up. It is the duty of every high
priest to offer gifts and sacrifices, and so this one too must have something
to offer. In fact, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since
there are others who make the offerings laid down by the Law and these only
maintain the service of a model or a reflection of the heavenly realities. For
Moses, when he had the Tent to build, was warned by God who said: See that
you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
We have
seen that he has been given a ministry of a far higher order, and to the same
degree it is a better covenant of which he is the mediator, founded on better
promises.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
39(40):7-10,17 ©
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Here I am, Lord! I
come to do your will.
You do not ask for
sacrifice and offerings,
but an
open ear.
You do not ask for
holocaust and victim.
Instead,
here am I.
Here I am, Lord! I
come to do your will.
In the scroll of the
book it stands written
that I
should do your will.
My God, I delight in
your law
in the
depth of my heart.
Here I am, Lord! I
come to do your will.
Your justice I have
proclaimed
in the
great assembly.
My lips I have not
sealed;
you know
it, O Lord.
Here I am, Lord! I
come to do your will.
O let there be
rejoicing and gladness
for all
who seek you.
Let them ever say:
‘The Lord is great’,
who love
your saving help.
Here I am, Lord! I
come to do your will.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Jn6:63,68
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message
of eternal life.
Alleluia!
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Or
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cf.2Tim1:10
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus
Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed
life through the Good News.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 3:7-12 ©
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Jesus
withdrew with his disciples to the lakeside, and great crowds from Galilee
followed him. From Judaea, Jerusalem, Idumaea, Transjordania and the region of
Tyre and Sidon, great numbers who had heard of all he was doing came to him.
And he asked his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd,
to keep him from being crushed. For he had cured so many that all who were
afflicted in any way were crowding forward to touch him. And the unclean
spirits, whenever they saw him, would fall down before him and shout, ‘You are
the Son of God!’ But he warned them strongly not to make him known.
JESUS
THE PERFECT HIGH PRIEST
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ HEB 7:25-8:6; PS 39:7-10,17; MK 3:7-12 ]
How is Jesus the perfect
high priest? What do we expect of a priest? We know that a priest
is supposed to be a bridge to God. He not only offers sacrifices but
shows us the face of God. He makes our access to God possible, not just
by offering sacrifices but by his very life of love and charity. For this
reason, those who have been deeply hurt by the insensitivity of their priests,
their harsh words, their lack of care and concern, their lack of compassion,
have stopped coming to Church altogether, or are no longer able to look at
priests with respect and love. Many have stopped going to confession
because they felt betrayed by their confessors or hurt by their
reprimands. Yet others who suffered injustices at the hands of their
priests in the workplace or ministry have become so disheartened that they have
given up not just on the ministry but the Church as well. Wounded, it is
not surprising that they judge all priests to be hypocrites. In the same
vein, just as many Catholics and potential Catholics have given up on the
Catholic Church because of bad examples shown by Catholics, especially in their
place of work.
In the light of the above,
we must then look to Jesus as the model and exemplar of the High Priest; not on
fallible human priests because they too are sinners like the rest of
humanity. “The law appoints high priests who are men subject to
weakness.” Hence, the author says, “To suit us, the ideal high priest
would have to be holy, innocent and uncontaminated, beyond the influence of
sinners, and raised up above the heavens; one who would not need to offer
sacrifices every day, as the other high priests do for their own sins and then
for those of the people, because he has done this once and for all by offering
himself.” All of us, priests and laity alike, are called to reflect the
qualities of a good priest, since all are members of the royal priesthood.
In the first place, “the
ideal high priest would have to be holy, innocent.” A priest is one who
is expected to be holy. He must be always seeking to be identified with
God and become more like Him. In this sense, he must remember that he is
called to be apart from the rest of the world. Being apart does not mean
he is not connected with the world. But he lives an exemplary life and a
life of contradiction in the values that he lives by in contrast to those
values advocated by the rest of the unredeemed humanity. To be holy
is to be faithful to oneself and one’s calling in life. Our identity is
to be a child of God. This means that we must show ourselves to be
children of God in the way we live out our lives so that people can recognize
us immediately as men and women of God. Holiness therefore remains the
fundamental calling of every priest. To be holy is to be a saint, which
is to be another Christ to others.
Secondly, he must be
innocent. In other words, although a priest is not perfect and has
weaknesses like the rest of humanity, he is sincere. Being innocent means
that he is without guile and malice. He might occasionally be angry with
people, even lose his temper. He might even pass insensitive remarks at
times without thinking. He might fall into sin because of the temptations
of the flesh. But so long as there is no deliberate intention to do so,
he could be said to be innocent. When he is reacting out of his wounds,
especially from childhood days, his temperament and character, he could be said
to be innocent. Of course, this is not a license to continue in his
sinful ways, but the truth is when there is no real consent, even though it is
a sin, he is not fully culpable. He sins by human weakness. People
can forgive a priest for succumbing to human weakness but they cannot forgive a
priest for cheating, conniving, discriminating and hurting people deliberately.
Thirdly, we are told that
he must also be “uncontaminated, beyond the influence of sinners, and raised up
above the heavens.” A priest must never forget that he has been set
apart and therefore he must not live like the rest of the world. This is
a great challenge today in a globalized world. In the olden days, when there
was no mass communication, no advanced technology and not much migration,
society was homogenous. But with rapid globalization and digital
communication, we are no longer sheltered by our culture, religion and
society. With so much information from the internet, cross cultural
exchanges, trans-cultural interaction and inter-religious activities, including
the propagation of the secular, materialistic, relativistic values of our
times, it is very difficult not to be contaminated by the world. Today,
many faith believers and religious leaders of all faiths are also influenced by
the secular and relativistic values of our times. We are influenced
by the world in the way we live our lives, our entertainment, our enjoyment and
in the way we dress. The sense of the sacred is lost and today, the
secular values hold sway over our people, particularly the younger
generation. This explains why even religious leaders have become worldly
in their outlook, relativistic in their moral appreciation. Instead of
changing society, we are absorbed by society. As it is said, if you
cannot win them, join them. This appears to be the trend of our
days. This is the reality of our times. We have one set of beliefs
but another set of practices outside our faith community and in our homes.
Fourthly, to be a priest is
not simply to offer sacrifices for the atonement of the sins of our fellowmen
but more importantly, to make ourselves a living sacrifice. The letter to
the Hebrews says that the High Priest must be “one who would not need to offer
sacrifices every day, as the other high priests do for their own sins and then
for those of the people, because he has done this once and for all by offering
himself.” A priest is one who offers himself in service for God and for
his fellowmen. His whole life is a sacrifice. The mass that he
offers each day is but an expression and a plea to be more and more a sacrifice
for others. Unless, we make ourselves a living sacrifice, we are not yet
a true priest. Everyone of us, whether we are parents, leaders, workers or
collaborators, must offer ourselves as a living sacrifice for the service of
all. Most of all, it means doing His holy will at all times.
“You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings, but an open ear. You do not ask for
holocaust and victim. Instead, here am I. In the scroll of the book it
stands written that I should do your will. My God, I delight in your law in the
depth of my heart. ” Living the life of grace in obedience to His
will is what the sacrifice of the priesthood entails. Jesus was obedient
to God unto death.
How, then, can we be true
priests as just described? How can we, human beings with frailties, seek
to live such a sublime and lofty life? We need to turn to the Lord who is
the leader in our faith. We must imitate Him as our model. As
priests of the new covenant, we are inadequate and at most just a copy of the
real thing, of which only Christ is the High Priest. The author wrote,
“In fact, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are
others who make the offerings laid down by the Law and these only maintain the
service of a model or a reflection of the heavenly realities.”
Secondly, like Jesus, we
must be close to God in loving intimacy. When the devil confessed Jesus
as the Son of God, we must not imagine that he was thinking of Jesus as the
Second Person of the Trinity or even that He is God. Although, it is not
impossible, it is more likely that he used the term like in the Old Testament,
referring to someone who is close to God as anointed by God and representing
Him. So when the devil cried out and ‘You are the Son of God!’, it was
his recognition that Jesus was so closely identified with God. And this
explains why power flowed out of Him wherever He went.
Thirdly, we cannot grow in
holiness without turning to Christ; not just as our model but He is also our
mediator. “We have seen that he has been given a ministry of a far higher
order, and to the same degree it is a better covenant of which he is the
mediator, founded on better promises.” His intercession is efficacious because
He is the meeting place of God. “The great point of all that we have said
is that we have a high priest of exactly this kind. He has his place at the
right of the throne of divine Majesty in the heavens, and he is the minister of
the sanctuary and of the true Tent of Meeting which the Lord, and not any man,
set up.” In other words, in Christ our mediator, we meet God.
In and through Christ, our prayers and sacrifices are offered to the
Father. Because it is Christ who prays in and through us, as His Church,
we can be confident that His Father will hear our prayers. When
Christ is the one who prays on our behalf, our prayers will always be
heard. “The power of Jesus to save is utterly certain, since he is living
for ever to intercede for all who come to God through him.”
Finally, we come to Jesus
because He remains the healer of our souls. “He had cured so many that
all who were afflicted in any way.” He did all these not for His
glory or status. Jesus healed simply out of compassion and without
self-interest or recognition. We who are broken by our sins and wounded
by the sins of others must turn to the Lord for constant healing like the
people. We know that Jesus is ever ready to heal us if we ask Him.
He came to save us and to heal us. That was how people of all ages
experienced God. We too must turn to Him to experience His saving love
and grace at work in our lives.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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