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Underrated

Eintstein

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.


There is a humorous contrast of one element of today’s Scripture passages relative to all the rest. It is not the first reading, which speaks of the wonderful effectiveness of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the one eternal High Priest. It is not the psalm, which celebrates the entry of that High Priest into His glory.

It is not the gathering of the crowd in the gospel, clamoring to get close to Jesus, the great healer, who as High Priest saves people even from their physical illnesses.

Rather, it is that last line in the gospel, where Jesus’ relatives try to seize Him because they think He is “out of His mind.”

Have you ever felt misunderstood? Have you seen your good intentions misinterpreted? You are in good company.

The King of Splendor, the great High Priest whose entire human existence was focused on the unmerited salvation of mankind, found himself considered to be nuts, by His own family members.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Jesus’ entire sojourn on earth was continuously filled with the misunderstanding and scorn of lesser hearts and minds. Think of times when you have been misunderstood, or slighted. Offer to Jesus those moments, past, present and future, as part of your overall gift of self to Him. Ask Him to transform you by His saving grace into a person who can contribute through your self-offering to His saving mission.

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The Center of It All

Ripples

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.


As we put today’s first reading and gospel together, we realize that the climactic moments of Jesus’ ministry where he heals great numbers of the sick, disabled, and possessed only make sense in the shadow of the Cross. And, the Cross only makes sense in light of His role as the great, eternal High Priest.

In the gospel we see Jesus pressed from every side as the afflicted clamor to get close to Him for healing. It is a very vivid, earthy picture, where we even see Him order up a boat in case he needs a little physical distance.

Yet this very earthy seen is part of a glorious plan that, per the first reading, ultimately plays out for eternity in Heaven, where the great High priest has entered once and for all, offering Himself as the definitive sacrifice.

One can say that, as omnipotent as God is, and by inclusion of course therefore Jesus Christ Himself is likewise, He set up such an inviolable and permanent respect for man’s freedom, that to release us from the consequences of that freedom, He felt the need to offer Himself up in atonement.

It is this act of atonement, Jesus’ death on the Cross, that reaches back and overshadows with its power the incredibly potent scene in today’s gospel, of the transmission of saving healing. The power to save man from the consequences of his sin comes from the Cross.

And it is that same act of atonement, the one we see by its effect present in today’s earthy scene, that is offered eternally by the great High Priest, Jesus Christ, to His Father for us all.

Not only the gospel, but all of salvation history, from the moment Adam sinned to the end of time–indeed, all of history–revolves around the saving act of Jesus’ death and Resurrection. And, with the great High Priest offering that sacrifice for eternity in heaven, eternity itself revolves around the very same axis.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: One can never meditate too much on the Passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. But today, perhaps meditate on these mysteries in in a new light: The light of how they stand center stage in both time and in eternity as the apex moment of the grand plan that God designed for man at the beginning. Then, chat with Jesus, great High Priest and yet your intimate friend, and ask Him to help your life to fit into that plan in just the manner that He wishes.

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