Saturday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

A view of the Friars' Cemetery
from the cross

…he entered once for all into the sanctuary, 
not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own Blood, 
thus obtaining eternal redemption.

Hebrews celebrates the priesthood of Jesus Christ with fascinating imagery and wonderful insight. He has drawn on the ancient belief that the Temple in Jerusalem was, for all its grandeur, only a pale copy of the true temple of heaven in which God dwells. One needs only to see a morning sunrise or evening sunset to see how much greater is the beauty of God’s works over human architecture.

As our imagination, energized by faith and courage, enters that heavenly temple we find Jesus disappearing into the Holy of Holies, the innermost sanctuary which the High Priest could enter only once a year. Rather than the blood of sheep or cows, Jesus carries his own flesh and blood into The Presence of God.

This is the sacred ritual, the sacrifice, we offer each time we celebrate the Mass. Jesus had to enter that room only once, and we too enter it only once as we stand with him, although we celebrate the Mass repeatedly throughout our lives. The liturgy is that timeless place where the Church of the past, present and future lives. It cannot be repeated; it happens only once.

The Mass is the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Although we appear to be eating a small wafer of bread and sipping a small cup of wine, we are actually eating his flesh and drinking his blood. The Mass sweeps us into that magnificent, terrifying, beautiful sacrifice of Jesus.

This is a gesture the special effects of filmdom cannot duplicate, although they often try. Their thunderous, earth-shaking noise and dazzling, computer-enhanced legerdemain can only suggest with bewildering excitement the sublime assurance we know as we listen to the words of our prayer.

I witnessed with fascination and horror the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar a few years ago. There on a stage in Louisville I saw a reenactment of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. The lights were blinding and the noise was terrifying and the Pentecostal crowd went wild; and I fled into the night. The next morning I quietly celebrated the Mass all the more grateful for the faith we share. Looking at food, no matter how well presented; and admiring the liquid clarity of wine, no matter how beautiful the goblet or radiant the color -- can not replace the act of eating and drinking.

Hebrews takes us as far as the sacred word of scripture can go into the Heavenly Temple and the Holy of Holies. As we follow Jesus through the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist, he cleanses our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.