DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Deut. 6, 2-6; Hebrew 7,23-28; Mark 12, 28b-34, 31st Sunday of the Year B, 2018) The first reading contains what many consider to be the most significant prayer of the Israelite religion. It is a profession of faith in the one God to whom belongs Israel’s exclusive and undivided attention, commitment, and worship. This God is the patron deity of Israel, not a god attached to a shrine or identified with some natural occurrence. All of Israel’s history with God is contained in the phrase ‘our God’. This is the God who drew the people out of Egyptian bondage, led them through the perils of the wilderness, and brought them into the land of promise. The profession of faith is found within a summons to obedience. Twice Israel is called to hear, to listen, and to obey (vv. 3 and 4). It is obedience to this one and personal God that will ensure the blessings of long life and prosperity in the land. Although there are various statutes and commandments (v. 2), they can all be summarized under the rubric: Love the Lord, your God (v. 5). Just as the responsibility of obedience is handed down from generation to generation (v. 2), so they can be assured that the blessings promised will also endure from generation to generation. The love that is enjoined on them must be complete. Obedience cannot be simply external conformity to law. It must be total commitment to God, and all of their interior faculties must be involved in this commitment. This would include the heart, which was thought to be the seat of mind and will; the soul, which was considered the source of vitality; and all of their strength.
In the second reading three aspects of the extraordinary high priesthood of Jesus are celebrated, namely, its permanence, the holiness of Jesus the high priest, and the legitimacy of the high priesthood. This passage underscores the excellence of Jesus’ high office by contrasting its divine character with the very human character of the Levitical priesthood. Jesus is a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek (cf. Heb 5,6). The permanent nature of Jesus’s high priesthood enables him to intercede for others, as the high priests did, but without interruption. All can now come to God through him. There is no need constantly to reaffirm the efficacy of his mediatorial authority. This has been accomplished once and for all through his exaltation by God. The holiness of Jesus is the second characteristic that distinguishes his priesthood from the other. The four adjectives that describe him—holy, innocent, undefiled, and separated from what is sinful—recall the attributes that constitute Levitical purity. If these characteristics are understood as cultic requirements, it is clear that Jesus certainly possesses the qualifications necessary for the office of high priest. However, Jesus is further described as being higher than the heavens. This characteristic lifts the other four attributes out of the realm of cultic purity into one of moral rectitude and heavenly transcendence. It is because he is son that Jesus is holy, innocent, undefiled, and separated from what is sinful. This is why he has no need to offer sacrifice for his own sins, as do mere human beings. They may be members of a distinguished priesthood, but they are sinners nonetheless. Furthermore, the excellence of his own sacrificial offering has made additional sacrifices unnecessary. He has accomplished once and for all what even the continuous offerings of the Levitical priesthood could not accomplish. Finally, because Jesus’ high priesthood cannot be traced back to the religious institution established by God through Aaron, it had to be legitimated in another way. This was done by identifying Jesus with Melchizedek, whose priesthood was established by a divine oath (cf. Heb 7,20; Ps 110,4). The tradition that surrounded this enigmatic figure has here been reinterpreted in order to typify a particular aspect of the divine nature of this incomparable high priest.
In the gospel reading Jesus’ answer to the question of the scribe, which of the commandments is to be regarded as the first, is faithful to his own Jewish faith. He does not single out any particular statute but rather endorses the summons that constitutes the supremacy, the most significant prayer of the Israelite religion (cf. Deut. 6, 5; see first reading). To the injunction to love God with all one’s heart, soul, and strength, Jesus adds with all your mind, simply to emphasize the total engagement of the person, this is his way of saying that the love of God must occupy one’s entire being. Jesus is asked to identify one commandment, and he offers two. The second is a citation from the book of Leviticus (19,18). Twice Jesus has reached to the biblical law in order to answer the scribe’s question. By bringing these admonitions together as he does, he has shown that, though not identical, they are interrelated. Clearly commitment to God takes priority over everything else. The scribe, who is schooled in the religious tradition, recognizes Jesus’ response as both accurate and profound. He calls him Teacher, a title that has special significance coming from one who was himself an official interpreter of the law. His own development of Jesus’ pronouncement demonstrates his him as an interpreter. The controlling theme in the response is the character of God. There is no other God but this God! From thus flows the responsibility to love God with one’s entire being and to love one’s neighbor as oneself. It is the scribe who merges the two admonitions as if they were one. It is the scribe who further points out that love of God and of others far surpasses any kind of cultic obligation/sacrifice. He now sees through the complexity of the law and is able to discriminate between what is heavy and what is light. He is on the threshold of the reign of God.
In the first reading Israel was called to hear/listen. The call to hear, to be attentive comes from outside the one being called. Israel is called by God; God is the initiator. To what was Israel called? To what were the crowds who followed Jesus called? To what are we called? To a covenant relationship with the Lord, who is God, the one who is Lord alone. We have been invited into an intimate personal relationship of love with the creator of the universe, the one who, with infinite interest, has numbered the very hairs on our head (cf. Matt 10,30). We have heard this call so often that it may have become commonplace. It is well that once in a while we are shaken to our senses. Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone!
It is not marvel enough that this mysterious God has created us; we have also been redeemed by the High Priest, Jesus Christ. As victim-priest Jesus has offered himself on our behalf. He is the sacrifice that sealed the covenant of relationship of love; his blood was the expiation for our sins; he is our rock, our fortress, our deliverer, our shield, our stronghold. He was willing to give himself for us. Only one thing is asked of us in return: that we open ourselves to him and cling to the covenant of love that we proclaim with all our hearts, The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! We are to love this God with all our heart and all our soul and all our strength; we are to love God and to love others. Love is as fundamental to human nature as the sun is to the earth, and yet it is so difficult. If only we could fall in love with God; if only we would see in each other the image that God loves so passionately. Then we too would be close to the reign of God. May the celebration of the Eucharist this Sunday bring us to close relationship with God the Father who created us and with Jesus Christ, the High Priest, who redeemed us and may the intimate encounter be a spring board of seeing the image of God in our every neighbor and of showing sacrificial love to him/her after the example of the High priest, Jesus Christ. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye
(Graphics by Chukwubike)
(Deut. 6, 2-6; Hebrew 7,23-28; Mark 12, 28b-34, 31st Sunday of the Year B, 2018) The first reading contains what many consider to be the most significant prayer of the Israelite religion. It is a profession of faith in the one God to whom belongs Israel’s exclusive and undivided attention, commitment, and worship. This God is the patron deity of Israel, not a god attached to a shrine or identified with some natural occurrence. All of Israel’s history with God is contained in the phrase ‘our God’. This is the God who drew the people out of Egyptian bondage, led them through the perils of the wilderness, and brought them into the land of promise. The profession of faith is found within a summons to obedience. Twice Israel is called to hear, to listen, and to obey (vv. 3 and 4). It is obedience to this one and personal God that will ensure the blessings of long life and prosperity in the land. Although there are various statutes and commandments (v. 2), they can all be summarized under the rubric: Love the Lord, your God (v. 5). Just as the responsibility of obedience is handed down from generation to generation (v. 2), so they can be assured that the blessings promised will also endure from generation to generation. The love that is enjoined on them must be complete. Obedience cannot be simply external conformity to law. It must be total commitment to God, and all of their interior faculties must be involved in this commitment. This would include the heart, which was thought to be the seat of mind and will; the soul, which was considered the source of vitality; and all of their strength.
In the second reading three aspects of the extraordinary high priesthood of Jesus are celebrated, namely, its permanence, the holiness of Jesus the high priest, and the legitimacy of the high priesthood. This passage underscores the excellence of Jesus’ high office by contrasting its divine character with the very human character of the Levitical priesthood. Jesus is a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek (cf. Heb 5,6). The permanent nature of Jesus’s high priesthood enables him to intercede for others, as the high priests did, but without interruption. All can now come to God through him. There is no need constantly to reaffirm the efficacy of his mediatorial authority. This has been accomplished once and for all through his exaltation by God. The holiness of Jesus is the second characteristic that distinguishes his priesthood from the other. The four adjectives that describe him—holy, innocent, undefiled, and separated from what is sinful—recall the attributes that constitute Levitical purity. If these characteristics are understood as cultic requirements, it is clear that Jesus certainly possesses the qualifications necessary for the office of high priest. However, Jesus is further described as being higher than the heavens. This characteristic lifts the other four attributes out of the realm of cultic purity into one of moral rectitude and heavenly transcendence. It is because he is son that Jesus is holy, innocent, undefiled, and separated from what is sinful. This is why he has no need to offer sacrifice for his own sins, as do mere human beings. They may be members of a distinguished priesthood, but they are sinners nonetheless. Furthermore, the excellence of his own sacrificial offering has made additional sacrifices unnecessary. He has accomplished once and for all what even the continuous offerings of the Levitical priesthood could not accomplish. Finally, because Jesus’ high priesthood cannot be traced back to the religious institution established by God through Aaron, it had to be legitimated in another way. This was done by identifying Jesus with Melchizedek, whose priesthood was established by a divine oath (cf. Heb 7,20; Ps 110,4). The tradition that surrounded this enigmatic figure has here been reinterpreted in order to typify a particular aspect of the divine nature of this incomparable high priest.
In the gospel reading Jesus’ answer to the question of the scribe, which of the commandments is to be regarded as the first, is faithful to his own Jewish faith. He does not single out any particular statute but rather endorses the summons that constitutes the supremacy, the most significant prayer of the Israelite religion (cf. Deut. 6, 5; see first reading). To the injunction to love God with all one’s heart, soul, and strength, Jesus adds with all your mind, simply to emphasize the total engagement of the person, this is his way of saying that the love of God must occupy one’s entire being. Jesus is asked to identify one commandment, and he offers two. The second is a citation from the book of Leviticus (19,18). Twice Jesus has reached to the biblical law in order to answer the scribe’s question. By bringing these admonitions together as he does, he has shown that, though not identical, they are interrelated. Clearly commitment to God takes priority over everything else. The scribe, who is schooled in the religious tradition, recognizes Jesus’ response as both accurate and profound. He calls him Teacher, a title that has special significance coming from one who was himself an official interpreter of the law. His own development of Jesus’ pronouncement demonstrates his him as an interpreter. The controlling theme in the response is the character of God. There is no other God but this God! From thus flows the responsibility to love God with one’s entire being and to love one’s neighbor as oneself. It is the scribe who merges the two admonitions as if they were one. It is the scribe who further points out that love of God and of others far surpasses any kind of cultic obligation/sacrifice. He now sees through the complexity of the law and is able to discriminate between what is heavy and what is light. He is on the threshold of the reign of God.
In the first reading Israel was called to hear/listen. The call to hear, to be attentive comes from outside the one being called. Israel is called by God; God is the initiator. To what was Israel called? To what were the crowds who followed Jesus called? To what are we called? To a covenant relationship with the Lord, who is God, the one who is Lord alone. We have been invited into an intimate personal relationship of love with the creator of the universe, the one who, with infinite interest, has numbered the very hairs on our head (cf. Matt 10,30). We have heard this call so often that it may have become commonplace. It is well that once in a while we are shaken to our senses. Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone!
(Graphics by Chukwubike)
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