Word to the Wise
Saturday, July 28, 2007 - Sixteenth Saturday in Ordinary Time
[Exodus 24:3-8 and Matthew 13:24-30]Moses took half of the blood and put it in large bowls; the other half he splashed on the altar. Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people, who answered, "All that the Lord has said, we will heed and do." Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words of his
The subject of blood is one that catches my attention since I have to see a hematologist (blood doctor) from time to time. One becomes perhaps more aware than usual of the importance and role of blood in the health of the body. Some interesting notions about this led to the centuries old practice of bleeding sick persons in the belief that bad blood was the cause of much illness. In fact, in medieval times, it is known that Dominican friars (and we weren't alone in this) were required to be bled from time to time in the belief that this could keep them healthy! We may be glad that modern medicine has by and large changed the practice, but we still have to give blood as a routine part of medical checkups. In short, blood is connected primordially with life itself. This explains the rather vivid picture in the scripture today about Moses pouring a bowl of blood on the altar and sprinkling the rest on the people. We can be glad that liturgy has changed too! The ancient world associated blood with the very life force of a living being. The law of Moses forbade the consumption of blood, which explains the kosher slaughtering practices required by observant Jews. Hence the last words of the above quote should ring a bell. We hear an echo of these in the words of Jesus at the Last Supper when he said (as is said at every celebration of the Eucharist), "This is the cup of my blood; the blood of the new and everlasting covenant..." Jesus' gift of himself includes the very physical life force of his being. We can be grateful that the early church realized that the Lord did not require that we use real blood in remembering him. The bloody sacrifices of the temple came to an end in 70AD in the Roman suppression of the First Jewish Revolt. The Letter to the Hebrews makes it clear that Jesus' shedding of his own blood was a one-time thing. Our faith tells us that the consecrated wine at Mass becomes the equivalent of that sacrifice. It certainly makes the Eucharist easier to consume even as it reminds us of the completeness of Jesus' gift to us! AMEN
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