MAKE AN OFFERING…

1 John 5:5-13

5 Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?6 This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood.
7 And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth.8 There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree.9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has borne witness to his Son.
10 He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne to his Son.
11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12 He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son of God has not life.
13 I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

Luke 5:12-16

12 While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and besought him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”13 And he stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him.
14 And he charged him to tell no one; but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.”15 But so much the more the report went abroad concerning him; and great multitudes gathered to hear and to be healed of their infirmities.16 But he withdrew to the wilderness and prayed.  

MEDITATION

St JOHN Reflect upon that fateful and yet salvific event which he witnessed, when blood and water gushed forth from the side of Christ after He was pierced by a sword. We recall the occasion, a typological event when God instructed Moses to strike the water of the Nile with his rod, that saw the water turning into blood, which ultimately brought about the submission of Pharoah who under pressure allowed Moses and his people to be freed for ‘three days,’ out of sight of the Egyptians, to make a sacrificial offering to God. Exo 7:17; 8:25ff Herein we also typologically observe the death and ressurection of Christ.

St LUKES ACCOUNT of the healing miracle of the man who suffered from leprosy points to two required actions; mans bodily healing and the remission of sin. Jesus’ instruct the leper to present Himself to the temple priest with a sacrificial offering that would see the blood of the animal being poured out and spread on the altar, afterwhich the blood of the animal is washed away with water that flowed from the holy of holies under the threshold of the temple where it exit the temple into the ‘Red Sea’ from whence it moves to the clean waters of the Jordan.

In preparation of our gifts of bread and wine on the altar, the deacon or priest mix a few drops of water with the wine offering, which reflects the escape of God’s people through and from the Red Sea. The bread offering reflects the daily sustaining of the Hebrew people with manna also known as the bread of the Presense. Num 4:7 Each time when we participate in the Sacrifice of the Mass, the truine God testify and expend mercy and grace through the holy priest, whereupon we receive the transformed gifts of healing, deliverance and the cleansing of our non deadly venial (1Jn 5:17) sins! Mt 26:26-28,

Catec 766 The Church is born primarily of Christ’s total self-giving for our salvation, anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross. “The origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus.”

LET US PRAY: Psalms 147:12-15,19-20

12 Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! 13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your sons within you.14 He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat.15 He sends forth his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
19 He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances. Praise the LORD!

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.