MAKING OURSELVES A LIVING SACRIFICE WITH CHRIST

20170204 MAKING OURSELVES A LIVING SACRIFICE WITH CHRIST

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading

Hebrews 13:15-17,20-21 ©

Through Christ, let us offer God an unending sacrifice of praise, a verbal sacrifice that is offered every time we acknowledge his name. Keep doing good works and sharing your resources, for these are sacrifices that please God.

  Obey your leaders and do as they tell you, because they must give an account of the way they look after your souls; make this a joy for them to do, and not a grief – you yourselves would be the losers. I pray that the God of peace, who brought our Lord Jesus back from the dead to become the great Shepherd of the sheep by the blood that sealed an eternal covenant, may make you ready to do his will in any kind of good action; and turn us all into whatever is acceptable to himself through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 22(23) ©

The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.

The Lord is my shepherd;

  there is nothing I shall want.

Fresh and green are the pastures

  where he gives me repose.

Near restful waters he leads me,

  to revive my drooping spirit.

The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.

He guides me along the right path;

  he is true to his name.

If I should walk in the valley of darkness

  no evil would I fear.

You are there with your crook and your staff;

  with these you give me comfort.

The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.

You have prepared a banquet for me

  in the sight of my foes.

My head you have anointed with oil;

  my cup is overflowing.

The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.

Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me

  all the days of my life.

In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell

  for ever and ever.

The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.

Gospel Acclamation

Jn10:27

Alleluia, alleluia!

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,

says the Lord,

I know them and they follow me.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Mark 6:30-34 ©

The apostles rejoined Jesus and told him all they had done and taught. Then he said to them, ‘You must come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest for a while’; for there were so many coming and going that the apostles had no time even to eat. So they went off in a boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves. But people saw them going, and many could guess where; and from every town they all hurried to the place on foot and reached it before them. So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length.

MAKING OURSELVES A LIVING SACRIFICE WITH CHRIST

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ HEB 13:15-21; MK 6:30-34   ]

In the last couple of weeks, the scripture readings from the letter to the Hebrews have been extolling the dignity of Jesus as our High Priest of the New Covenant.  We read how Jesus, although God, became a man like us. As such, Christ is greater than the angels. He is identified with us in every way except sin.  He too underwent tremendous hostilities, opposition and suffering.  He too was tempted.  He is superior even to Moses and greater than the Old Testament priesthood.  As the High Priest, Jesus is our bridge to God.  He came to do His Father’s will.  He became the perfect sacrifice for our sins.  Through Him our sins are forgiven and we are saved from damnation by His death on the cross.  He is our perfect representative to God.  In His moments of darkness He too pleaded with loud cries and tears for the Father to deliver Him from death.  He remains now in heaven interceding for us unceasingly.  He is truly the perfect revelation of God, the compassionate and merciful High Priest.

Having contemplated on Christ’s personal sacrifice for us, we are now called not only to be spectators of His death on the cross but to make His sacrifice ours. This is the true objective of the sacrificial celebration of the mass; that we join Jesus in offering Himself to the heavenly Father.

How then do we share in the sacrifice of Christ? Firstly, we need to participate actively in the sacrifice of the mass through fervent worship.  This is what the author of Hebrews says, “Through Christ, let us offer God an unending sacrifice of praise, a verbal sacrifice that is offered every time we acknowledge his name.”  We are called to worship His Father through His Son, Jesus Christ our High Priest.  The Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy reminds us that “in order that the liturgy may be able to produce its full effects, it is necessary that the faithful come to it with proper dispositions, that their minds should be attuned to their voices, and that they should cooperate with divine grace lest they receive it in vain. Pastors of souls must therefore realize that, when the liturgy is celebrated, something more is required than the mere observation of the laws governing valid and licit celebration; it is their duty also to ensure that the faithful take part fully aware of what they are doing, actively engaged in the rite, and enriched by its effects.”  (SC 11)

Secondly, the offering of worship is not merely in the liturgy or reducible to the performance of rituals.  It requires a personal relationship with the Lord and more.  “The spiritual life, however, is not limited solely to participation in the liturgy. The Christian is indeed called to pray with his brethren, but he must also enter into his chamber to pray to the Father, in secret; yet more, according to the teaching of the Apostle, he should pray without ceasing.” (SC 12)  The greatest danger among Catholics is that they tend to offer the sacrifice of the mass in a superstitious and ritualistic way without any real participation in the worship but as a bystander or observer.  Such worship cannot change lives.

However, the offering of the sacrifice of Christ requires ultimately the offering of ourselves in union with Him on the cross.  Again, Vatican II Council cautions us saying, “We learn from the same Apostle that we must always bear about in our body the dying of Jesus, so that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodily frame. This is why we ask the Lord in the sacrifice of the Mass that, “receiving the offering of the spiritual victim,” he may fashion us for himself “as an eternal gift”.  (SC 12) Indeed, the author of the letter to the Hebrews invites us saying, “Keep doing good works and sharing your resources, for these are sacrifices that please God.” We must unite ourselves in Christ’s suffering by offering ourselves as a gift to God and humanity through our sacrifices of love.  It calls for a dying to self and our desires.   Putting others before self and giving up our lives for others call for a heroic crucifixion of self. St Paul in his letter to the Romans also says the same thing.

Sometimes, the offering of self is more than just giving ourselves in service to others.  At times, it calls for a death to oneself and to one’s ego.  This is what the author told the Christians, “Obey your leaders and do as they tell you, because they must give an account of the way they look after your souls; make this a joy for them to do, and not a grief – you yourselves would be the losers.”  The evangelical counsel of obedience is hardly practiced by Catholics today, not even by the clergy and the religious.  In these days of individualism and in the name of freedom and creativity, many of us have difficulty submitting to authority as we feel we know better.  Obedience for the preservation of unity is necessary in any community or institution.  But because we cannot give up our ego and pride, we refuse to cooperate with those who think differently from us, even if they are our leaders.  This is the tragic situation in many Church organizations and ministries.  Often leaders cannot agree among themselves or with their members. This has led to bickering, disagreement and slander, sometimes even leading to litigation.

Indeed, the worship of God calls for a personal sacrifice of one’s will for God’s will.  In the letter to the Hebrews, we read that Christ came to do His Father’s will.  “Here I am, Lord, I have come to do your will.” (Heb 10:7)  Accordingly, if we were to share in Christ’s living sacrifice, the author says, “I pray that the God of peace, who brought our Lord Jesus back from the dead to become the great Shepherd of the sheep by the blood that sealed an eternal covenant, may make you ready to do his will in any kind of good action.”   Yes, we are called to do His holy will like Jesus.  There is no greater sacrifice than doing the will of God at all times.  Some of us might feel that we are doing God’s will most of the time.  But more often than not, we are not discerning because we are not praying people.  The devil deceives us into believing we are doing His will when in fact, what we do spring from our selfish desires and our egoistic needs.

Today, we have before us the examples of the apostles and our Lord Jesus Christ.  We read in the gospel that they were tired after a long journey.  They were out proclaiming the Good News, healing the sick and delivering the possessed from the oppression of the demons.  Jesus knew how tired they were and so invited them to rest.  He knew that constant giving of oneself to others without proper rest, not just physically but spiritually, will be self destructive.  Hence, He instructed His disciples to take a break from the people so that they could find some time to eat, rest and to learn from the Lord.  Indeed, as the psalmist reminds us, we must seek the Good Shepherd to refresh us.

We cannot offer ourselves to the world if we do not first spend time with the Lord. The Lord Jesus Himself rose early in the morning to go to a lonely place, either in the desert or at the mountains to spend time in prayer with His heavenly Father.  We, being weaklings, all the more need to be fed and loved.  It is difficult to be giving and giving always without being refreshed and empowered by the love and wisdom of the Lord.  So we must listen to the psalmist as he prays, “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose. Near restful waters he leads me, to revive my drooping spirit.”   Not only does the Good Shepherd give us rest, He will lead us and give us the direction in our ministry.  We cannot be shepherds if we are not first the sheep of the Lord.

But most of all, we turn to the Good Shepherd because we need to be loved and share in God’s delight. The responsorial psalm says, “You have prepared a banquet for me in the sight of my foes. My head you have anointed with oil; my cup is overflowing. Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life. In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell forever and ever.” There is nothing more fulfilling and more empowering than to live in the House of the Lord, bathing in His love and sharing in His joy.   Only those who have enjoyed the delight of the Lord, experience His good, kindness and mercy can with joy and enthusiasm announce the Good News to the world.

Indeed, only when we are identified with Jesus in making of ourselves a living sacrifice to God for others, can we become like Jesus, the glory of God to others.  The author of Hebrews assures us that He will “turn us all into whatever is acceptable to himself through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.”  So let us come to the Lord to find wisdom and strength so that we can truly make ourselves a living sacrifice to the Lord and His people and give Him glory for all that we are.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved