Friday of the Second Week in Course 2025
The Church has no definitive teaching on who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews, but we know that the Holy Spirit inspired the author, and he or she was very familiar with the liturgy of the Jewish Temple, especially the annual Day of Atonement, when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies for sacrifice to forgive the sins God’s people had committed during the past year.
G.K. Chesterton was once asked by another journalist why his faith was important, why he had “joined up.” He said, famously, “to get rid of my sins.” Sin in the first century was not restricted to people of the Jewish faith. St. Paul wrote “all men have sinned and fallen short.” The problem is that because of our not-so-good heritage from our first parents, we are prone to sin. We heed our passions rather than our conscience. Or, if we are really clever (or think we are) we rationalize that the sin we are contemplating isn’t “all that bad” or that “everybody does it.” That’s a backhanded compliment to St. Paul’s teaching. I’m sure Paul would not agree that it justifies evil behavior. I know when I let my passions overrule my Christ-attuned mind and heart, I quickly regret the action and am weakened by the result.
Hebrews’ author spends much ink reminding us that we need a priest without sin to offer sacrifice, a pure sacrifice, for us sinners. And he carefully proves from psalm 110 that Jesus, even though not a Levite, was and is a priest, just like Melchizedek, original king and priest of Jerusalem. Moreover, Jesus, free from sin, is a priest much better than any of the Jewish high priests, who themselves were encumbered by personal sin. Today we have heard that Jesus is priest, not of the old Mosaic covenant ministered by Aaron, but of the New Covenant poured out on Calvary, and at the previous evening Passover. It was a Covenant in the Precious Blood of Jesus the Messiah, a covenant written on the minds and hearts of believers. That Covenant of Divine Mercy extinguishes our sins, just as the prophet Jeremiah foresaw many generations earlier.
In this New Covenant, as the psalmist predicts, God shows us His hesed, His steadfast love. In this Covenant, His hesed meets faithfulness. In it, righteousness and peace embrace. Righteousness no longer needs to be imposed through violence. It comes with its own peace of mind and heart, and it is available to everyone, but only in Jesus Christ.
Our Gospel from Mark comes right after Jesus has shown His personal power over the minions of evil by driving them out. They even testify as they are driven out from their human victims that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus then goes up the mountain, like Moses, to pray, and at dawn he calls the men he desired for leadership. The Greek verb used here, ethelen, can also mean He delighted in these men. They came just as Hebrew leaders on the mountain joined with Moses. They became the pastors of the New Covenant “flock.” They are named, and Mark adds some of their characteristics to three of them, even Judas Iscariot the betrayer. Jesus sent them forth to preach and to cast out demons.
When Jesus calls any of us—and He does call each of us in one way or another—we often resist the call. Why is that? We know that the call of Jesus is a summons to reach beyond what we think possible. But as Mary heard from the angel, with God all things are possible. So listen to Christ beckoning, internalize His mission, get help if it’s needed, and act boldly in His powerful Name.
