Sacrifice and Its Purpose
October 30, 2024
Fr. John Riccardo
Brothers and sisters: The levitical priests were many because they were prevented by death from remaining in office, but Jesus, because he remains forever, has a priesthood that does not pass away. Therefore, he is always able to save those who approach God through him, since he lives forever to make intercession for them.
It was fitting that we should have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, higher than the heavens. He has no need, as did the high priests, to offer sacrifice day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did that once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints men subject to weakness to be high priests, but the word of the oath, which was taken after the law, appoints a son, who has been made perfect forever
(Hebrews 7:23-28).
We now draw near to the center of The Letter to the Hebrews, a title that doesn’t convey in any way what this New Testament writing is actually about. Again, this text is not a letter but a sermon addressed to Christians, and its main focus is the High Priesthood of Jesus – something that no other New Testament writing even mentions. As mentioned last week, this can make it challenging to understand, for the Old Testament world of the Temple, the priesthood and sacrifices is a foreign world to virtually all of us. Since we are near the heart of the argument, this week is an opportune time to make some important observations about these realities.
As good a starting point as any might simply be this: God is the One who instituted the Old Testament priesthood, the sacrifices, and the building of the Temple. Two helpful things are worth calling attention to here, one regarding priesthood and one regarding sacrifices. First, in the Greek translation of the Old Testament the rites prescribed by God for the conferral of the priesthood were not called “ordination” or “consecration,” but “perfection,” i.e., an action that makes perfect. The priest’s role as a mediator between God and humanity requires this. Here is the problem, however: the priest always remains a fallen, sinful man, in need of forgiveness himself, and so the rite didn’t actually make the priest “perfect.” Second, while we tend to equate “sacrifice” with privation and pain of some sort, the word simply means to make holy or sacred. The purpose of sacrifice is not pain but transformation, and most significantly the transformation of our hearts. Here, we can immediately recognize that the rites and sacrifices in the Old Testament – instituted by God – were not able to accomplish what they signified. The priest always remained an imperfect mediator, and no matter how much blood from an animal was sprinkled on the altar or the people, no actual transformation of the heart took place
The preacher in Hebrews astutely points out that the Old Testament itself as revelation predicts the end of the Old Testament as an institution. Why? Once again, because the Old Testament priesthood and sacrifices cannot actually accomplish what they claim, and even to enter into the Holy of Holies in the Temple is not to actually enter into the presence of God. For all of these things to happen, we need a new priest, a new sacrifice that actually brings about transformation and a new Temple where we can enter into God’s presence. The new high priest, of course, is Jesus – true God and true man, and therefore able to serve as a perfect mediator between us. The new sacrifice that actually brings about transformation of and in our hearts is His loving self-offering on the cross in perfect obedience to the Father and out of fraternal love for us. Finally, the new Temple is Jesus’ body.
Here’s a final thought to ponder in awe. Jesus’ loving sacrifice on the cross, offered once for all on Calvary, is sacramentally made present at each and every Mass. Unlike how some misunderstand this teaching, the Church teaches that Jesus’ sacrifice offered once for all is made present for us in an unbloodied manner, and then – wonder of wonders! – His Blood (and Body) are not sprinkled on us but given to us to eat, so that real transformation might happen in our lives and our hearts might be ever more conformed to His Sacred Heart, the real Holy of Holies. Every time we receive the Eucharist we do something that the priests of the Old Testament would marvel at: we are actually transformed and made holy.
Let us pray this week that the Holy Spirit will help us to better understand what is happening at Mass and to approach the Eucharist with ever greater reverence and devotion.
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
October 2024
For safe travels for the Acts team as they travel to Dallas, TX for a mission with Walking With Purpose.
For our benefactors and prayer partners, that the Lord would richly bless them for the manner in which they make the mission of ACTS XXIX possible.