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It is something that we just don’t understand. \u00a0We just can’t relate to it- this business of sacrificing animals to God. \u00a0But in the Old Testament days, that is how people approached their God. \u00a0The Lord of the Old Testament seemed so distant, so overwhelming, so impersonal, and even fearful. \u00a0And so, the people would take their gifts to a Priest, who had to be from the Levite Tribe, and hope that, following the precise methodology handed down through Moses, and through the intercession of that Priest, their appeal to God might be answered.<\/p>\n
Now these sacrifices started as offerings from the heart. \u00a0They were animals that really meant something to those who offered them, because livestock was at a premium and was critical to the society. \u00a0These people were nomadic herders and farmers, not city dwellers with 9 to 5 jobs. \u00a0And unlike today, meat was not commonly eaten- it was the exception and a treat. \u00a0And so the hope was that really giving something up that meant something to you, would save you from your sins, and restore you to God’s favor. \u00a0But over time, these sacrifices became more mechanical and scripted. \u00a0So that they lost significance in terms of sincerity. \u00a0Following the formula became a culturally necessary thing to do, and not necessarily an offering from the heart.<\/p>\n
In our first reading today there are some very detailed theological concepts discussed about priests and how Jesus relate to priesthood. \u00a0But the basic point is that Jesus changed everything. \u00a0Jesus sacrifice was necessary and sufficient to achieve salvation. \u00a0We can’t justify or atone for our offenses by offering up animals, and it is not burnt offerings and animals that appease our God. \u00a0Jesus sacrifice did the atonement. \u00a0So Old Testament style priesthood is no longer applicable. \u00a0That means it is our relationship with Jesus that matters now because he is our high priest and can intercede for us. \u00a0And like anyone else that we have a relationship with, it needs to be built on faith and trust in each other.<\/p>\n
In our Gospel today, we hear that so many people believed in Jesus’ power, that they were coming from far and\u00a0wide, and from outside the area. \u00a0And they were pressing so hard on him that he was concerned about being crushed. \u00a0And we hear that many of these people were cured. Now when we hear stories of specific people being cured elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus is always quoted as saying that “Your Faith has saved you”. \u00a0And we can surmise that this was the case for those who were cured in this large crowd as well.<\/p>\n
So, we need Faith, real faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, not sacrifices of animals. \u00a0And we need a corresponding commitment to Jesus and his way of life. \u00a0That’s how we develop a relationship with Jesus. \u00a0When we have such a relationship with him, then when we pray, he can and will intercede to the Father for us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time St. Francis de Sales Heb 7: 25b – 8:6; Mark 3: 7-12 Dc. Larry Brockman It is something that we just don’t understand. \u00a0We just can’t relate to it- this business of sacrificing animals to God. \u00a0But in the Old Testament days, that is how people approached […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[190,189],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=284"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":285,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284\/revisions\/285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}