20170124 THE PERFECT SACRIFICE FOR SIN
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Hebrews 10:1-10 ©
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Since the Law has no
more than a reflection of these realities, and no finished picture of
them, it is quite incapable of bringing the worshippers to perfection, with the
same sacrifices repeatedly offered year after year. Otherwise, the offering of
them would have stopped, because the worshippers, when they had been purified
once, would have no awareness of sins. Instead of that, the sins are recalled
year after year in the sacrifices. Bulls’ blood and goats’ blood are useless
for taking away sins, and this is what he said, on coming into the world:
You who wanted no
sacrifice or oblation,
prepared a body
for me.
You took no
pleasure in holocausts or sacrifices for sin;
then I said,
just as I was
commanded in the scroll of the book,
‘God, here I am! I
am coming to obey your will.’
Notice that he says
first: You did not want what the Law lays down as the things to be
offered, that is: the sacrifices, the oblations, the holocausts and the
sacrifices for sin, and you took no pleasure in them; and then he says: Here
I am! I am coming to obey your will. He is abolishing the first sort to
replace it with the second. And this will was for us to be made holy by the
offering of his body made once and for all by Jesus Christ.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
39(40):2,4,7-8,10,11 ©
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Here I am, Lord! I
come to do your will.
I waited, I waited
for the Lord
and he
stooped down to me;
he heard
my cry.
He put a new song
into my mouth,
praise of
our God.
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.
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.
I have not hidden
your justice in my heart
but
declared your faithful help.
I have not hidden
your love and your truth
from the
great assembly.
Here I am, Lord! I
come to do your will.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Ps118:135
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Let your face shine
on your servant,
and teach me your
decrees.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Mt11:25
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you,
Father,
Lord of heaven and
earth,
for revealing the
mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 3:31-35 ©
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The
mother and brothers of Jesus arrived and, standing outside, sent in a message
asking for him. A crowd was sitting round him at the time the message was
passed to him, ‘Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for
you.’ He replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking round at
those sitting in a circle about him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my
brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister
and mother.’
THE
PERFECT SACRIFICE FOR SIN
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ HEB 10:1-10; PS 39:2,4,7-8,10,11; MK 3:31-35 ]
What must we do so that we
can be redeemed perfect and be freed from the clutch of sin completely?
In ancient times and even among some religions today, the way to be saved from
our sins and the wrath of God or the punishment of the deities is to offer
sacrifices in atonement for our sins. The idea behind the offering of
sacrifices is to appease God for having offended Him. This is the
mentality of fear. Very often, when something bad happens to people, the
immediate thought is that God must be punishing them for their
wrongdoings. God is seen as someone who cannot tolerate disobedience and
will take revenge upon sinners.
Such a concept of God is
alien to Jesus and the New Testament. God is all mercy, love and
compassion. He does not punish us for our sins. Rather, what we see
as punishment is simply the effects of our wrong doing. What we sow is
what we reap. As St Paul reminds us, “For he who sows to his own flesh
will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from
the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Gal 6:8) On the
contrary, God who is so merciful comes to take away our sins, not by providing
holocausts but the life of His only begotten Son. We are to be “made holy
by the offering of his body made once and for all by Jesus Christ.”
In the death of Jesus, our sins are forgiven.
This explains why the
sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for us supersedes all other forms of
sacrifice. With the death of Jesus, we know for certain that God has not
held any anger against us. He has forgiven us completely in Christ
through His passion, death and resurrection. Contemplating on Christ’s
passion and especially His last words on the cross, “Father, forgive them for
they know not what they are doing”, we are assured that His prayers for our
forgiveness is heard. So the sacrifice of Jesus is not so much for His
Father but for us sinners so that we can come to appreciate the immeasurable
and infinite love of the Father for us in surrendering His own Son to the
cruelty and injustices of men.
Does it mean that all the
sacrifices that have been made, and are still being made are useless? Of
course not! It is true that “bulls’ blood and goats’ blood are useless
for taking away sins”; nevertheless, it still has a utilitarian function in
expressing the desire for repentance and conversion. It remains a pale
reflection as what the author of Hebrews says, “Since the Law has no more than
a reflection of these realities, and no finished picture of them, it is quite
incapable of bringing the worshippers to perfection, with the same sacrifices
repeatedly offered year after year.” That is why we still offer
sacrifices, not just the Eucharist, which of course for us is the reenactment
of the paschal mystery, a memorial which brings about the real presence of
Christ. We also exhort our people to practice mortification, fasting, do
penance and almsgiving, help the poor and the sick, and to pray as means by
which they show their sincerity in giving up sins and making amends to their
sinful life. Yet all these sacrifices that we perform remain but a token
expression of our desire to change and a symbolic way of showing our love and
devotion to God and His people.
In the final analysis, the
perfect sacrifice is the offering of oneself, like Jesus on the cross. This is
the perfect sacrifice that sums up and gathers all the other sacrifices that we
offer to the Lord. This was the way our Lord offered Himself to His
Father and to us all. He offered Himself entirely, body and soul to His
Father by His death on the cross. The real sacrifice of Jesus was not
simply on the cross but His entire life, beginning from the self-emptying of
His divinity at the Incarnation, to His earthly life in Nazareth, learning from
Mary and Joseph, followed by His untiring devotion to His ministry, and finally
to being put to death on the cross.
More fundamental than just
offering one’s body to God and His people, what makes the sacrifice perfect is
when we do it according to His holy will. St Paul writing to the
Corinthians remarked, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have
not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have
prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have
all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If
I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have
not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Cor 13:1-3) So it
is not enough to offer our body and do lots of things for God and for His
people unless we do it out of love for God. Many people give money to
charity and to the Church but they do it not out of love but out of guilt, or
honour or glory or with an expectation of gain.
Doing His will is the basic
principle and the way to overcome all sins. Both scripture readings today
underscore this truth. What God wants of us is to do what He commands us
so that we can fit into His divine plan of salvation for the rest of
humanity. The Word of God says, “You who wanted no sacrifice or oblation,
prepared a body for me. You took no pleasure in holocausts or sacrifices for
sin; then I said, just as I was commanded in the scroll of the book, ‘God, here
I am! I am coming to obey your will.’” In the gospel, Jesus stated
emphatically, putting biological relationship second to the obedience of God’s
will when He remarked, “‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking round
at those sitting in a circle about him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my
brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister
and mother.’”
True kinship with God and
with our Lord is not a biological relationship but in sharing the mind and
heart of His Father as Jesus did. When we think and act like God in mercy
and compassion, then we can be said to be God’s children and His brother and
sister. And because it was His will that the Son died for us to
show His love for us, Jesus willingly submitted to God’s will. The author
wrote, “And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of his body
made once and for all by Jesus Christ.” Like the psalmist we too must
therefore pray and ask that we do His will. “You do not ask for sacrifice
and offerings, but an open ear. You do not ask for holocaust and victim.
Instead, Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.”
Having established this
simple principle, the more difficult challenge is to discern what the will of
God is. This is the complex part of the process of discovering God’s will
for us, especially in the light of today’s information overload. There
are so many views and so many perspectives that even religious leaders cannot
agree among themselves which is the right approach or moral principle. We
are confused and paralyzed by the plethora of choices. This is
where each one of us must take the Word of God seriously. If we say that
the bible in divinely inspired with God as the author, then let us, as St Paul
exhorts us, take the Word of God as it really is. “And we also thank God
constantly for this, that when you received the word of God which you heard
from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the
word of God, which is at work in you believers.” (1 Th 1:13) This is
what the psalmist asks of us as well. We need to pray and discern.
“I waited, I waited for the Lord and he stooped down to me; he heard my
cry. He put a new song into my mouth, praise of our God. You do not ask
for sacrifice and offerings, but an open ear. You do not ask for holocaust and
victim. Instead, here am I.” With an open ear, a listening heart
and with patience, we must search for His divine will for us.
Once we know His will, then
let us like Jesus, spare no effort to do what He commands of us. With
confidence and conviction, we too must say, “God, here I am! I am coming to
obey your will.” Concretely, it means proclaiming His truth and His
justice by word and deed. “Your justice I have proclaimed in the great
assembly. My lips I have not sealed; you know it, O Lord. I have not
hidden your justice in my heart but declared your faithful help. I have not
hidden your love and your truth from the great assembly.” Let us not be
outside the circle of discipleship, as were Jesus’ relatives, but within His
circle by doing His will.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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