Saturday in the Second Week of Ordinary Time, January 23, 2021

Hebrews 9:2-3, 11-14

A tabernacle was constructed, the outer one, in which were the lamp stand, the table, and the bread of offering; this is called the Holy Place. Behind the second veil was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies. But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own Blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, how much more will the Blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.

We have another description of the scene of the Lord Jesus entering the heavenly Holy of Holies in Revelation 5, 6: “And I saw: and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the ancients, a Lamb standing, as it were slain, having seven horns and seven eyes.”  The Lamb of God, who is at once Priest and Victim, stands before the throne of the Father, surrounded by the Church in the form of the ancients and the four living creatures.  He presents himself to the Father with his mortal wounds, and the Church cries out in jubilation at his intercession: “You were slain and have redeemed us to God in your Blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us to our God a kingdom and priests, and we shall reign on the earth!” (Revelation 5, 9-10).  Under the Old Law, the Jewish high priest offered bread in the Holy Place, and on the Day of Atonement, in the Holy of Holies, he would offer a bull for himself and a goat for the people, sprinkling the blood.  This sign of the true Sacrifice of the Son of God is fulfilled by the Lord offering his Body and Blood on Golgotha.  This is signified by the tearing of the veil or curtain that separated the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, at the same time showing that the time of the sacrifices of the Old Law was finished.  In the verses cited from Revelation, we see that the Lamb is not alone with God, for the ancients and the four living creatures, signifying the Church, are present as well: with the veil torn, those who share in his Priesthood through their baptism, may now enter into this most sacred place with him.  There they offer their worship, singing, “To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb, benediction and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” (Revelation 5, 13).  

“For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, how much more will the Blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.”  These verses, among others, show that the Temple worship was very much continuing at the time this Letter was written.  At least some of the Jewish Christians to whom St. Paul was writing may have still been worshipping there, as well as insisting on circumcision and the following of the Jewish law by the Gentile Christians.  While Paul reacts with great vehemence when he hears that some of the Gentile Christians are adopting these practices, as in his Letter to the Galatians, here he explains calmly to the Jewish Christians how the Sacrifice of Jesus has put an end to the works of the Old Law.  Paul emphasizes this by saying that these are “dead” works since they are to be performed no more.  But they are also transformed into the new works of the New Covenant: Baptism, the Eucharist, and the other Sacraments.  Through our reception of these Sacraments now, we begin to learn to sing the eternal praises of God with the Saints in heaven.