THE ONE SACRIFICE AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

Meditation for Wednesday of the 3^rd Week in Ordinary Time, Year B
(Heb 10:11-18; Mk 4:1—20)

Welcome back as we continue our meditations on the Letter the Hebrews. How often does Christ offer His sacrifice? The priests of Old offered daily sacrifices, which could not take sins away. But Jesus Christ offered for all time, a single sacrifice for sins; He paid the debt due to our sins. As our High Priest, He took His position “At the right hand of God”, dwelling in an ‘Eternal Tent’ from which His offering is accepted. The one sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, began in time but was completed in eternity; He died in time but rose in eternity. Yes, Jesus died in the flesh, but rose with a glorified body! Thus, there is no need to repeat the sacrifice since eternity is One, where there is neither succession nor repetition! Thus, the priesthood of Jesus is above all, “For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” How does this one sacrifice apply to us today?

“And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us.” Yes, the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts ‘activates’ the grace of the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us. By the working of the Holy Spirit, the priestly ministry of Jesus Christ is ‘activated’ in the Catholic Church, by which the merits of the one and eternal sacrifice is ‘re-enacted’ such that the Church ‘participates’ by sharing in the merits of the eternal offering. Here time ‘disappears’; space is ‘conquered’, and our hearts are lifted up, and our lives are ‘soaked’ in the grace of the resurrection! From here we ‘germinate’ and grow...

Nourished in the One Sacrifice of Jesus through the working of the Holy Spirit, we grow to bear fruits of righteousness like the seeds of the sower that fell on good soil. That is why we must not quench the fire of the Holy Spirit in us through immoral living. As we continue to meditate on the priesthood of Jesus Christ, let prepare our hearts for the Holy Spirit that we may participate worthily in the One Sacrifice, given to us in the Eucharist. Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Wednesday January 27^th, 2021.
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com