Reflection from Friar Nicholas

SATURDAY, THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Heb 11:1-2,8-19; Lk 1:69-75; Mk 4:35-41 Faith sacrifices Everything for God The statement: the just man must live by faith; is the statement the author of the letter to the Hebrews used to sum up the requirement for us to go through the necessary sanctification before we possess God’s promise. Hope is closely related to faith as an outgrowth or offshoot; it is a theological virtue enabling us to trust in God to fulfill the promise he made to us. These two theological virtues are well-defined and illustrated in the eleventh chapter of the letter. We readjust the opening statements of the chapter to delineate the definitions of these two indispensable virtues in our Christian life. As the foundation of the Christian life, the following statement defines faith. Faith is the proof of the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen. These realities are heavenly realities. But faith is primarily the proof of the existence of God. It is...

SAINT JOHN BOSCO, PRIEST Heb 10:32-39; Ps 37:3-6,23-24,39-40; Mk 4:26-34 Endurance necessary for Our Sanctification The work of sanctification needs every grace we can get from God, for it is the purification and transformation of the sinful self into oneness with God. The transformation is chiefly in our wills, for that is the throne of sin. When we label ourselves sinful, it is mainly the will that is so characterised. Therefore, the purification and transformation start with our will. The will is the seat of our consecration to God. Just as we have internal and external sanctuaries where we offer sacrifices to God, God likewise employs internal and external means to bring about the purification and transformation of our wills to conform with his divine will. When it comes to the construction of the heavenly sanctuary within, whereby God comes to live in our wills, we must approach with faith and total trust in God, for he only knows the plan and does the work according to his ...

THURSDAY, THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Heb 10:19-25; Ps 24:1-6; Mk 4:21-25 Our Consecration and Sanctification We dig deeper into the mystery of our salvation following the letter to the Hebrews. As we have understood, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is his consecration to the will of the Father, consummated on the cross of Calvary. It is a perfect sacrifice that takes away the sins of men because it is a whole oblation of our human nature to the Father by the Eternal Word, through the Holy Spirit. The type of this sacrifice is the unblemished lamb offered at the Passover feast, whose blood redeemed the people of God from the angel of death by drawing from the pure sacrifice of the Lamb of God. As we have emphasised, this consecration or sacrifice of human nature to the Father’s will brings about forgiveness of sins and the perfection of all who profess faith in his name. It is the same consecration that destroys the stranglehold of evil on us. The same act which makes God forget ou...

WEDNESDAY, THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Heb 10:11-18; Ps 110:1-4; Mk 4:1-20 The Sanctification of the Perfect We proceed with the author of the letter to the Hebrews in his distinction between the Levitical priesthood and the priesthood of Jesus Christ. In his explanation, we also understand the reason for multiplying the instantiation of the priesthood of Jesus Christ, which is different from the reason for the multiplication of the Levitical priesthood. He had already thrown much light on the former. The additional input in today’s passage is that the Levitical priests perform their duty of offering their sacrifices daily, irrespective of their inability to take away sins. “All the priests stand at their duties every day, offering over and over again the same sacrifices which are quite incapable of taking sins away.” The weakness of the Levitical sacrifices to address the problem of sins is its inability to remove or correct the root cause of sin, namely, ignorance of God’s will...

SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS, PRIEST, DOCTOR Wis 7:7-10,15-16; Ps 119:9-14; Mk 23:8-12 Wisdom is Knowledge of Jesus Christ We celebrate the feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas as Dominicans, though the universal Church celebrates it as a memorial. Saint Thomas Aquinas is considered a unique person in the Order of Preachers and the whole Church because of his intellectual output. We consider him the founder of the intellectual tradition of the Order, for in him, we find the wonderful blend of human intelligence and the Christian faith. Thus, the Church holds him as a model for all Christian scholars. The first reading from Wisdom presents the ability that comes from the blend of human intelligence and the gift of faith as a gift from God. We call it wisdom, for it is a spiritual gift that enables us to know the value of every creature and order them to their ends. “May God grant me to speak as he would wish and express thoughts worthy of his gifts, since he himself is the guide of Wisdom, since...

MONDAY, THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Heb 9:15,24-28; Ps 98:1-6; Mk 3:22-30 The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ in Us Following the author of the letter to the Hebrews, we gain a more detailed explanation of the new covenant Jesus Christ brings and mediates for each of us. As already made clear, Christ is the covenant himself because he realised in his body the coming together of the two natures, human and divine natures. We refer to this unique union as a hypostatic union, for it is the communion of the two natures in the Person of the Eternal Word without confusion or diminution of either of them. Each nature lovingly lays claim to the properties or qualities of the other because of the covenant. The human nature of the Saviour confidently lays down its mortal life because it shares the immortality of the Eternal Word, and the divine nature puts down its immortality to assume human frailty, which gives it the feel of human conditions and miseries. “Christ brings a new covenant, as the ...

SUNDAY, THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Neh 8:2-6,8-10; Ps 19:8-10,15; 1 Cor 12:12-30; Lk 1:1-4,4:14-21 The Good Work of God There is no other way for man to abound in good works less than by doing the will of God the Father. Hence, as we celebrate the Sunday of the word of God, the Church prays to God to direct our actions to be pleasing to him so that we may bear fruits in good works in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. God answers the prayer only by leading us to rediscover the scriptures, which contain the expressions of his holy will. The discovery of the Law of God was a happy incident that caused the people to celebrate during the time of the priest Ezra and Nehemiah, the High Commissioner. They discovered the Book of the Law of Moses as they reconstructed the Temple of Jerusalem, which was destroyed by the Babylonian soldiers when they carried the people into exile in Babylon. The discovery of the Law was for the people a sign of God's approval of the restorati...

THE CONVERSION SAINT PAUL, APOSTLE Acts 22:3-16; Ps 117; Mk 16:15-18 Proclamation of the Gospel of the New Covenant Celebrating the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul brings us to a deeper reflection on the meaning and implication of the new covenant in Jesus Christ. As Paul himself narrated in the first reading to his people in Jerusalem, he was so zealous in the practice of Judaism, the religion of his fathers, that his eyes were closed to the new realities and relations God had brought into existence. Though these new realities and relations were prophesied by the prophets and the Law pointed to them, Paul and many of his contemporaries were blind to them. His words are: “I am a Jew and was born at Tarsus in Cilicia. I was brought up here in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was taught the exact observance of the Law of our ancestors. In fact, I was as full of duty towards God as you are today.” These words of Paul testify that zeal without the knowledge of the will o...

SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES, BISHOP, DOCTOR Heb 8:6-13; Ps 85:10-14; Mk 3:13-19 A New and Better Covenant The letter to the Hebrews has established the superiority of the priesthood of Jesus Christ, which rests on the two unalterable things that situate his ministry right before the heavenly throne of God and the Temple made by God. The total and unique access he has to God the Father places him above every earthly priest and ministry in earthly and man-made temples. Since the author is comparing Christianity to Judaism, established through the covenant God made with his people on their way to the Promised Land, he compares that covenant to the new covenant that established the Christian religion. Moses, who led the people of Israel from Egypt, mediated the old covenant. In contrast, Jesus Christ—the new Moses—who leads the Christian people to heaven, established the new covenant. The superiority of the Son to the steward of the House of God already points to the fact that the new cov...

THURSDAY, SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Heb 7:25-8:6; Ps 40:7-10,17; Mk 3:7-12 Offering the Perfect Sacrifice to God The text for today opens with the profound and immediate implication of the two unalterable things upon which the Christian faith and hope hinge. “The power of Jesus to save is utterly certain, since he is living for ever to intercede for all who come to God through him.” We must remember that the reference here is to the Son of Man, Jesus Christ our Lord; he is the Eternal Word made man for our salvation. Thus, the reference is not to his eternal existence with the Father but to his assumption of our human nature for the sake of saving us sinners. It is in the human nature he took that the Father acclaimed him to be his Son and established him on oath as our High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek. Based on these two unalterable things he saved us and continues to intercede for us before the throne of God as our High Priest. The certainty of our salvation through h...

WEDNESDAY, SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Heb 7:1-3,15-17; Ps 110:1-4; Mk 3:1-6 Sameness of the Word and the Oath As we correctly inferred in the reflection of yesterday, the two unalterable things referred to by the author are: first, the word of the Father proclaiming Jesus Christ as the only Begotten Son of God, even in his human nature; second, the divine oath which established him as a priest in the order of Melchizedek. The Church puts the scriptural text containing these two unalterable things for our reflection in confirmation of our inference. Psalm 110 has these two as follows. “A prince from the day of your birth on the holy mountains; from the womb before the dawn I begot you. The Lord has sworn an oath he will not change. ‘You are a priest forever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.’” The author has treated the divine Sonship of our Lord Jesus Christ in his humanity in the preceding chapters of the letter. The letter itself starts on that very note when he writes: “In m...

SAINT AGNES, VIRGIN, MARTYR Heb 6:10-20; Ps 111:1-2,4-5,9-10; Mk 2:23-28 God’s Unchangeable Purpose and Plan We recall again the situation that prompted the letter to the Hebrews, the context of which makes the passage before us meaningful. The Jews outlawed these Hebrew Christians from worshipping in the Jerusalem Temple, where the Levitical priesthood functioned within Judaism as a religion. Cast out from the earthly communion of God’s people, they wanted to know what hope their Christian faith held for them as the end of their religious practices. He assured them that their faithful and charitable services to the saints were not meaningless because God would reward them. “God would not be so unjust as to forget all you have done, the love that you have for his name or the services you have done and are still doing, for the saints.” He argues that they fulfilled God’s promise on oath to Abraham to grant him many descendants according to faith, not according to the flesh, throug...

BLESSED CYPRIAN MICHAEL IMENE TANSI, PRIEST Phil 2:1-11; Isa 12; Mt 13:44-46 The Joy of the Redeemed The passage of Isaiah we read yesterday says that Yahweh will delight in the new Jerusalem he will construct from among the peoples and nations and rejoice over her as the bridegroom rejoices in his bride. The joy of the Lord over his new people would induce exceeding gladness and joy in the citizens of the new Jerusalem. When Yahweh rejoices over them as a bridegroom over his bride, the joy of his people would equal that of a newly wedded bride. Saint Paul evokes this joy of the redeemed people of God for the Christian community at Philippi in these words. “If our life in Christ means anything to you, if love can persuade at all, or the Spirit that we have in common, or any tenderness and sympathy, then be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind.” These are the elements constituting the Christian source of joy. First is the life...

SUNDAY, SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Isa 62:1-5; Ps 96:1-3,7-10; 1 Cor 12:4-11; Jn 2:1-11 Building up the Bride of the Lamb The dwelling of the Messiah among his people is comparable to the relationship between the groom and bride. John the Baptist referred to the Lamb as the groom, the coming of whom the bride awaits. He saw himself as a friend of the groom who was happy hearing his voice. Today's readings bring this wedding image to our minds again, leading us to consider the love of God for his people as comparable to the love between a groom and his bride. The prophet Isaiah foretells Yahweh’s restoration of Jerusalem and betrothal. The reading is about the wonder of God’s love that he would reveal in the Messianic era—the outpouring of God’s love, which would make his people dance for joy in his presence. Yahweh will come and reveal his glory over Jerusalem and make her attract the admiration of all nations. “The nations then will see your integrity, all the kings your g...

SATURDAY, FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Heb 4:12-16; Ps 19:8-10,15; Mk 2:13-17 The Healing Power of the Word We concluded yesterday in our reflection that the Son of Man is the new Moses guiding us to the rest God promised his people, and he is the way leading to the rest and the promised rest. Because the rest is a spiritual state God achieves in us through his word, a relationship between God and us existing in our souls, Hebrews explains the power of God to accomplish this in us. The basis of this power is the identity between God and his word. The word carries the creative and life-giving power of God into us. Thus, a constant inlet of the word of God with faith gradually drives away shadows of evil within us and exposes us to the healing power of God. “The word of God is something alive and active: it cuts like any double-edged sword but more finely: it can slip through the place where the soul is divided from the spirit or joints from the marrow; it can judge the secret emoti...