Jesus Christ asks us to receive and rejoice in the New Covenant that comes to us only through Him...
Reflections on the readings for the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 28, 2022): SIR 3:17-18,20,28-29; PS 68:4-5,6-7,10-11; HEB 12:18-19,22-24; LK 14:1,7-14
MISSIO offers “Mission In Scripture” to nurture a missionary heart, providing reflections on the missionary themes in the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
In His life, death and resurrection is life everlasting for all who believe in and follow Him.
In addition to considering the virtue of humility and it’s essential place in the life of every Christian, we are asked today to think about the incomparable gift that Jesus has offered us in Himself. We know that through His Crucifixion and Resurrection, He opened the gates of heaven to those who believe in Him. In His sacrifice is a New Covenant between Almighty God and His people. While God loved and cared for His people through the Old Covenant, there was still a distance between them. And it could only be bridged in the person of our Savior, the Son of God. There is no longer blazing fire or gloomy darkness and storm separating the human and the Divine. “You have approached Mt. Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:22-24). For love of His Father and His people, Jesus brings us together in His own Being. He embodies the New Covenant.
When Abel was killed by his brother, his blood, the blood of the first victim of murder, cried out and God punished Cain. But when Jesus hung on the cross, He forgave those who caused His death. In Christ we are asked to be people of peace, of mercy, of hope. Jesus humbly took on Himself the sin and suffering of all humankind. And we are all called to imitate our Lord, to look at the world and one another with His eyes. He wants every single one of us to celebrate with Him in eternity. If we trust and follow our Redeemer, we will meet Him and one another in heaven.
Suggested missionary action: Let us take some time this week to contemplate Jesus’ incredible sacrifice of Himself for us, His beloved children. Too often we take this gift for granted. So let us ask Him to help us imitate His profound generosity and humility. We can also make a habit of saying the brief, beautiful prayer: “Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like Yours.”