Today, 21st of January, we celebrate
Saint Agnes
Brothers and sisters:
Every high priest is taken from among men
and made their representative before God,
to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring,
for he himself is beset by weakness
and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself
as well as for the people.
No one takes this honor upon himself
but only when called by God,
just as Aaron was.
In the same way,
it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest,
but rather the one who said to him:
You are my Son:
this day I have begotten you;
just as he says in another place,
You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.
In the days when he was in the Flesh,
he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears
to the one who was able to save him from death,
and he was heard because of his reverence.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;
and when he was made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
R./ You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand
till I make your enemies your footstool."
R./ You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The scepter of your power the Lord will stretch forth from Zion:
"Rule in the midst of your enemies."
R./ You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
"Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor;
before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you."
R./ You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The Lord has sworn, and he will not repent:
"You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek."
R./ You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast.
People came to Jesus and objected,
"Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not fast?"
Jesus answered them,
"Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast on that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins."
Some people, including Christian believers, insist on making faith in Jesus something sad, difficult, and sacrificial. There are even believers who live as though they are constantly under threat from God. It’s as if eternal condemnation is always looming, ready to strike. It’s as if God, the Father-Abba of Jesus, is playing a game with us—always watching, waiting to catch us in the smallest mistake to punish and condemn us.
People who live their relationship with God this way feel the need to continuously offer sacrifices, fasting, and penance. Who knows how many errors they might have committed without realizing it—offenses that could anger God? And we’ve been told that this God does not forgive easily unless appeased with endless sacrifices, acts of penance, and countless Hail Marys, Our Fathers, rosaries, and devotions.
It seems to me that the Pharisees and John’s disciples mentioned in today’s Gospel belong to this mindset. But that’s not how Jesus sees things. His ways are different. Jesus is proclaiming the Kingdom, and the Kingdom is a Kingdom of life. The Abba of Jesus, the Father of all, is not a judge or a policeman. He is not that ever-watchful eye monitoring everything we do (as He is so often depicted in our churches and imagined in our minds). The Abba of Jesus is a Father who wants to gather His children around the table of fellowship. He is a Father always ready to forgive, to welcome, to open the doors of hope, and to give us the opportunity for a fresh start.
This is why fasting and penance don’t hold much meaning among Christians. The best fasting and the best penance are to open your hands to your brothers and sisters, to practice reconciliation, forgiveness, and mercy. That makes far more sense than striking your back with a discipline or abstaining from this or that food. Jesus is with us, and that is something to celebrate. And there’s no better way to celebrate than to throw a feast with your brothers and sisters, making sure no one is left out. Because in the Kingdom, everyone is invited.
Fernando Torres, cmfThis very well known passage of Hebrews evokes the central place in our faith of the passion and glorification of Christ. Jewish priests had to first offer sacrifices for their own sins. Christ replaced the “I will not serve” with the service of obedience to the will of the Father.
You know from experience that change is always a problem to us. It calls us away from the security of our ingrained habits and our certainties. And it forces us to go unfamiliar ways. That is why, as if by nature, we resist change. It is an inherent law of Christianity to be always open to renewal and conversion. The trouble is that the old and the new are usually intolerant of one another.
Unchanging and ever-new God,
you want us to be your pilgrim people
on the march with Jesus, your Son,
toward a new future of justice and love.
Do not allow us to be suffocated in being contented
with old habits and sluggish ways.
Help us to accept the pain
of leaving the familiar behind us
and open us to the challenge of the Gospel
to become more like your Son
who guides our faltering steps,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.
– For the Church, that the People of God and its leaders may follow the promptings of the creative Spirit, to speak to the people of today in the language of today, the ever-new message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we pray:
– For artists, poets and inventors, that they may reveal to us the splendour of creation and the riches of life beyond its apparent drabness, we pray:
– For our communities, that we may not be afraid of authentic change and draw from Christ the courage to start the renewal of the world and of the Church with the renewal of ourselves, we pray:
Lord, our God,
with bread and wine, we celebrate
the covenant you renew with us
in the blood of Jesus Christ.
Make us indeed your new faithful people
bound to you in an everlasting union of love.
Renew our hearts;
make us your new wine of hope and joy,
that we may rebuild this earth today
and march forward with your Son
toward a new heaven,
where you will be our God forever.
God of hope,
you have given us Jesus, your Son,
as our companion on the road
for understanding the old familiar things
with a new and young heart
and for renewing ourselves and the world.
Let him prod us on
when we try to compromise
by merely patching up the old here and there;
let him curb our impatience
when we try to rush people
beyond their capacity for growth.
Lead us ever forward through our trusted guide,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Yes, it is not easy to change ourselves, our Church, our world. But life is growth. We have to grow up to the size and the stature of Christ. We have to become mature Christians in mature communities, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
