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Thursday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Father Joe

[326] 1 Heb 12:18-19, 21-24 / Ps 48 / Mk 6:7-13

St. Paul distinguishes between the encounter of God through Moses with that which is made manifest in Jesus Christ. While the promise was given for God’s favor and a land of their own; Jesus gives us true freedom and a share in the heavenly Jerusalem. One vision is earthbound, the other is spiritual and about a royal kingdom that will never end. God surprised and frightened his Chosen People, and they listened because they were “terrified.” But Jesus does not hide the face of God behind “blazing fire” and “trumpet blast” but reveals him with a human face and behind something as ordinary and mundane as bread and wine. Christ offers us a share in his life. We are made citizens of the heavenly kingdom. The promise of old is fulfilled in Christ and his blood. He is the Mediator between heaven and earth. The responsorial carries this theme forward and, of course, we understand that the old Jerusalem is only a figure for the New Zion, the heavenly kingdom of God. That kingdom breaks into our world first through the person of Christ and now through the Church.

Just as in our Gospel, our Lord makes us heralds of his kingdom, preaching repentance, driving out demons, and anointing and curing the sick. The old world and the old ways must pass away and make room for the new. Empowered and moved by divine grace, the Church is still dedicated to the ministry of reconciliation and healing. She still seeks to root out evil and supplant it with the goodness of God.

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