Word to the Wise
Friday, July 17, 2015 - Friday in the 15th Week in Ordinary Time
[Exod 11:10—12:14 and Matt 12:1-8]"This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord, as a perpetual institution." [Exodus]
Each time we celebrate the Eucharist we follow the Lord's command to "do this in memory of me." But it is not simply the memory of Jesus alone that we celebrate. The Eucharist unites us with God's broader plan of salvation and the events of God's deliverance of the Chosen People from slavery. The first "passover" occurred in Egypt! Today's first scripture describes the fateful final plague that would trigger the release of the Israelites and how they would escape it as a result of their celebration: using the blood of a lamb to mark the doors of their homes. The sacrifice of a lamb became the principal act of the temple celebration of the Passover and scripture scholars have pointed out that Jesus was crucified at approximately the same time as the temple lambs were slaughtered. Thus the image of Jesus as the "Lamb of God" entered Christian understanding. His sacrifice delivered humanity from its sins.
This profound connection between our celebration of "Mass" and God's great plan of salvation is not easy to bear in mind each time we go to Mass. The scriptures that are read are meant to remind us of the reason we celebrate the Eucharist. The very word, "eucharist," comes from a Greek term meaning "thanksgiving." It is more than a personal act of "communion" with the Lord, it is a thanksgiving for all that God has done for us beginning from the dawn of creation. If all this seems too much to ask at an early Mass on a weekday or a Sunday Mass with all the challenges it presents to parents as well as kids and teens, I can only reply that our church still has a long way to go in helping us to take advantage of what the Lord is offering! AMEN
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