13 October. Thursday, Week 28

1st Reading: Ephesians 1:1-10

God chose us in Christ before the world began, to be holy in his sight

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Gospel: Luke 11:47-54

Jesus’ enemies are like those who killed the prophets of old

Jesus said, “Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors; for they killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation. Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”

When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile toward him and to cross-examine him about many things, lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

The redeeming blood of Christ

Many Old Testament theological ideas resonate in Paul’s writings, such as the justice of God, the glory of God, redemption by blood-sacrifice, divine favour, mystery, the fullness of time. There is an evocative reference to blood in both readings for today. We have been redeemed through his blood (Ephesians); and Christ’s blood joins that of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world (Luke). Clearly a positive life-giving meaning is assigned to the blood of Christ.

In the liturgical book of Leviticus, blood evokes a whole series of meanings and emotions, the most basic being that the very life of a living body is in its blood (Lev 17:11). It is as life, therefore, and not as the symbol of death, that the blood of Christ mysteriously unites us with God and each other. When the covenant of life was sealed between Yahweh and the Israelites (Exod 24:6-8) blood was sprinkled on the altar and on the people. Each of us is a living person when warm blood flows from heart to head and hands and feet uniting all the members.

Ephesians stresses the bond of unity established by blood, and extends this unity to “before the world began.” This gift of life in Christ Jesus is given because God planned to love us and give us life, before we even existed. This sweep of the eternal benevolence is strongly expressed in Ephesians. If only our love for others could be modelled upon it!

Jesus raises the theme of violent bloodshed in his controversy with a group of Pharisees and lawyers. When he condemns their erecting monuments over the graves of the prophets, it is surely not that he is opposed to honouring the prophets. How he wants  to honour the dead, is not by monuments over their buried bones, but by pursuing their life-goals and their concern for others, especially for poor people in desperate need; we too are meant to stand up for the cause of justice, for other people’s dignity and humanity.

Showered with grace, like the dewfall

Today’s first reading is from the letter to the Ephesians. We will be reading from that letter for the next two weeks. It is a very beautiful letter, with a great richness of language and message. Many scholars hold that it was not written by Paul himself, but written by one of his disciples in Paul’s name sometime after Paul died. If that is the case, it is a letter that is worthy of Paul. We have just heard the opening verses of the letter, which take the form of a prayer of blessing, ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…’ God is blessed because of all that God has done for us through Christ. The prayer blesses God because of the richness of God’s grace that has been showered on us through Christ. We know all about showers in this climate. The next time we are tempted to give out about yet another shower, we might think of that line from the letter to the Ephesians, ‘the richness of God’s grace which God has showered on us.’ According to that prayer, God has graced us because through the blood of Christ we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins. That is why, in the words of the prayer, we are moved ‘to praise the glory of God’s grace’, which is what we do every time we celebrate the Eucharist. Having been graced by God, we give God thanks and try to live graced lives. [MH]