THE POWER OF THE MYSTERIES TO SAVE


FRIDAY, FIFTH WEEK OF EASTER

Act 15:22-31; Ps 57:8-12; Jn 15:12-17

Salvific Power in the Mysteries of Christ

The resolutions from the first Council of the Church held in Jerusalem reaffirmed the truth of the Christian faith proclaimed by the apostles and received by the Jews and Gentiles alike. The Council excluded additions coming from lack of focus, misinformation, and misunderstanding of some Jewish Christians. As we have noted in the previous reflections, the misinformation originated from the lack of focus of some Jewish Christians on the mysteries of the Son of Man. Their tradition and incomplete attention on the Law of Moses removed or reduced their attention on the One who has established his presence among us as the Son of Man. The origin of the misinformation is their love for the traditions of their fathers more than their actual paying attention to the Law of Moses, which is a pointer and a guide to the Saviour, Jesus Christ. Thus, their attention was more to the words of men and their practice than to the word of God that leads us to the Son of Man. The Lord pointed to this when he corrected the Pharisees and scribes that they pour over the scriptures, thinking that they will have salvation in them while refusing the Son of Man to whom the scriptures testify. We must guard ourselves against similar misunderstandings and misinformation with an attitude of openness to the word of God and the teaching of the Church of Christ, whose duty it is to interpret the scriptures correctly.

Her faith in the Son of Man makes the Church the interpreter of the sacred scriptures. For this reason, faith in the risen Lord makes us members of the Church. With our eyes focused on the Son of Man, meditating on his mysteries and celebrating them as the Church, we have well-enlightened spiritual eyes to understand the mind of God and where the Holy Spirit is leading us. So, the Fathers of the Council of Jerusalem, the apostles and elders of the Church write: “It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to saddle you with any burden beyond these essentials: you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols; from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication. Avoid these, and you will do what is right. Farewell.” The communal confession of faith in the mysteries of Jesus Christ is essential for the unity of our faith, for we have to witness our faith first to one another in the community to sharpen the blunt personal edges for effective witnessing of the Gospel to outsiders. In other words, the proclamation of the Gospel originates from and belongs to the Church as a faith community. The preaching of the Gospel is not an individual affair as such. Paul and Barnabas illustrate this essential truth for us. They went forth from the Church at Antioch and came back to the same Church to give a report.

Our Lord teaches the same lesson in the Gospel when he gives the commandment of love to the community of his disciples. “This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you. A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you.” As we explained in yesterday’s reflection, the commandment is his passion and death, by which he demonstrates his love for us. Love is the greatest commandment, impelling us to respond to the command of our loving Saviour. According to our Lord, the greatest love is the one that pours out the lifeblood for the beloved. Hence, the Council forbids the Christians from eating animals sacrificed to idols, from blood, and strangled animals, the blood of which was not poured out in thanksgiving to God, the Creator of all things. These were forbidden because of their consecration to God through the blood of the Lamb of God. Therefore, the Eucharist is the celebration of his sacrificial love and the commandment of the new Law. By eating his body and drinking his blood, we become the sacrifice offered to God the Father through Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit resident in our souls. We eat the Son of Man, who offered himself to God the Father for us and become sacrifices to God the Father with him. We must remember that the Eucharist is the commandment of love and a call to praise God’s love. “I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples, among the nations I will praise you for your love reaches to the heavens and your truth to the skies.”

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, we pray, that, being rightly conformed to the paschal mysteries, what we celebrate in joy may protect and save us with perpetual power. 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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