GOD'S PROMISES AND FULFILMENTS


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, through their faith in Christ.

The author presents Jesus Christ to them as not only a new Moses but also a new Aaron. He is the founder or builder of a new Jerusalem and the High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek. Jesus Christ is the real leader of the people of God, defined by their faith in God, which makes them the true descendants of Abraham promised on oath to him. “When God made the promise to Abraham, he swore by his own self, since it was impossible for him to swear by anyone greater: I will shower blessings on you and give you many descendants.” The solidity of the promise depends on two unalterable things: the word of God that is alive and active and God’s oath. An oath by men is a reliable basis for settling disputes and evoking confidence; one by God is unquestionable and infinitely trustworthy. “In the same way, when God wanted to make the heirs to the promise thoroughly realise that his purpose was unalterable, he conveyed this by an oath; so that there would be two unalterable things in which it was impossible for God to be lying, and so that we, now we have found safety, should have strong encouragement to take a firm grip on the hope that is held out to us.” The author refers to the oath establishing Jesus Christ as the Eternal High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek and the word proclaiming him as the begotten Son of God.

The Christians are, therefore, heirs to the promise God made to those who believe in the name of the Son and hope in inheriting eternal life in him. The interpretation of the scriptures and explanation here present Christianity as a deep, mystical, and heavenly religion, which is not as restrictive and restricted as Judaism practiced then. The Psalmist invites us to reflect on these deep mysteries and praise God for them. “I will thank the Lord with all my heart in the meeting of the just and their assembly. Great are the works of the Lord, to be pondered by all who love them.” The encounter between Jesus Christ and the Pharisees illustrates the difference between the two religions. While walking through a cornfield with his disciples on a Sabbath, they began to pick ears of corn. The Pharisees objected to this as breaking the Sabbath law. Our Lord used a story of what David did with his men in the house of God with the loaves of presence to instruct them that men who worship God in spirit and truth do not apply the law to restrict man but to show forth God's love and goodness. “And he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; the Son of Man is master even of the sabbath.’” Jesus Christ is the High Priest of this heavenly religion. Saint Agnes was an early Christian girl who lived and worshiped God in truth and spirit. She was killed in 304 AD at the age of 12, filled with the love of God. We do not know much about her except that she vowed herself to God in celibacy and embraced the opportunity for martyrdom at the time of persecution of Christians.

Let us pray:  Almighty ever-living God, who choose what is weak in the world to confound the strong, mercifully grant, that we, who celebrate the heavenly birthday of your Martyr Saint Agnes, may follow her constancy in the faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. 


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