The darling of Heaven, the Alpha and Omega, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ came for love of us as a living sacrifice once for all to save us from eternal death. Before leaving us to ascend to God our Heavenly Father He left us the gift of a new Heavenly reality, whereby earth unites with Heaven through the celebration of the Holy Eucharist at Holy Mass. We then receive Him body, blood, soul and divinity into our very being as we are united with through Him with the Holy Trinity in Communion.
Are we worthy then to call out and praise His Holy name? Or have we allowed sin to prevail in our lives such that it has deprived us of the privilege of worshipping and glorifying Him by singing His praises and witnessing to His love and joy in our lives. For evil ones can never pay Him proper homage or give credible witness to His promises fulfilled.
Guard my soul dear Jesus for into Your hands I commend my spirit. Amen
St Agnes Pray for us….
First reading
Hebrews 7:25-8:6
He has offered sacrifice once and for all by offering himself
The power of Jesus to save is utterly certain, since he is living for ever to intercede for all who come to God through him.
To suit us, the ideal high priest would have to be holy, innocent and uncontaminated, beyond the influence of sinners, and raised up above the heavens; one who would not need to offer sacrifices every day, as the other high priests do for their own sins and then for those of the people, because he has done this once and for all by offering himself. The Law appoints high priests who are men subject to weakness; but the promise on oath, which came after the Law, appointed the Son who is made perfect for ever.
The great point of all that we have said is that we have a high priest of exactly this kind. He has his place at the right of the throne of divine Majesty in the heavens, and he is the minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tent of Meeting which the Lord, and not any man, set up. It is the duty of every high priest to offer gifts and sacrifices, and so this one too must have something to offer. In fact, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are others who make the offerings laid down by the Law and these only maintain the service of a model or a reflection of the heavenly realities. For Moses, when he had the Tent to build, was warned by God who said: See that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
We have seen that he has been given a ministry of a far higher order, and to the same degree it is a better covenant of which he is the mediator, founded on better promises.
Gospel
Mark 3:7-12
He warned them not to make him known as the Son of God
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lakeside, and great crowds from Galilee followed him. From Judaea, Jerusalem, Idumaea, Transjordania and the region of Tyre and Sidon, great numbers who had heard of all he was doing came to him. And he asked his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, to keep him from being crushed. For he had cured so many that all who were afflicted in any way were crowding forward to touch him. And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, would fall down before him and shout, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he warned them strongly not to make him known.
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