I WILL PASS OVER YOU…

Exodus 11:10; 12:1-14

10 Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you.
3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they shall take every man a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household;
4 and if the household is too small for a lamb, then a man and his neighbor next to his house shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old; you shall take it from the sheep or from the goats; 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs in the evening. 7 Then they shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat them. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.
9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled with water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts.10 And you shall let none of it remain until the morning, anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.11 In this manner you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s passover.
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.
13 The blood shall be a sign for you, upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 14 “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as an ordinance for ever.

Matthew 12:1-8

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him:
4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law how on the sabbath the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath.”

 
MEDITATION

THE BOOK OF EXODUS: Pharaohs hatred and pertinacious refusal to set the Israelites free sets in motion God’s response to protect His people from the harmful actions of their enemies. Moses and Aaron are presented as priestly leaders who are called to introduce sacrificial rituals and measures in a liturgical format that followed a lunar calendar. The Sacrificial offering predominate the worshiped ritual whereby the blood of the lamb and water from a wellspring are applied to set aside, purify, mark and protect the people and their dwellings against Pharaohs soothsayers who seek to do harm with their evil practices!

The liturgical structure in the OT was indeed the blueprint that transitioned into a new sacrifice that Christ Jesus inacted and renamed as a New Covenant! The Holy Sacrifice is a liturgical celebration with worship rituals whereby Christs death, ressurection and deliverance of the people follows a similar lunar calendar as practiced by the ancient Hebrew people.

  
THE GOSPEL READING: The Pharisees present themselves as being strict in their application of the mosaic Traditions to the extent that they call out Christ for not disciplining his desciples. Our Lord counter their criticism by pointing to current and historical occasions when temple priests and David were allowed to ‘depart’ from the norms because of their status as priests. Moreover these incidents were not in contravention of the law, because no punishment were imposed on the priests.

The Pharisees blindness prevented them from recognizing that Jesus was indeed the Divine temple,the bread of life who was about to perfect and supplant the old covenant sacrificial offerings whereby God’s people will once and for all time be nourished with His flesh and blood by His priestly Apostles. Today’s readings should give us comfort that Christ is still with us and available to us each day of the year. Let us pray that our Church leaders will reclaim our right to receive our Lord each day of the year. It is indeed a sacrilege to imply that Holy Water has become a dangerous substance! May the Sacramentals be reinstated so that the Lord may Passover us and protect us from any evil or plagues! 

LET US PRAY: Psalms 116:12-13,15-18

12 What shall I render to the LORD for all his bounty to me? 13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD, 15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. 16 O LORD, I am thy servant; I am thy servant, the son of thy handmaid. Thou hast loosed my bonds.17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.18 I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people,

Author. Henry R SYLVESTER Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days.