Feb 5: The One, True Sacrifice

Andrei Rublev: The Old Testament Trinity
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, c. 1410

Memorial of Saint Agatha, virgin and martyr

Reading I: Heb 13:15-17, 20-21

Through Jesus, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God (NRSV, Heb 13:15-16).

Lord, the one and only true sacrifice is the giving and receiving of life and the sharing in love which is your being: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We your children, who participate in your life, by that very gift, accepted by us, are caught up in this one, true sacrifice. Through your Word, when we say “yes” to you, Lord, when we receive a share in your life, we are, by that very participation, caught up in your inner life. Through your same Word, we are thereby empowered with him, and in him and through him also to give to you, Father. The giving, receiving and sharing, Lord, which is your inner life, becomes, by participation, also our life. This has been true from the beginning.

Even when, through sin, we reject this sharing in your life, out of your great love for us, Lord, your Word remains ever present to us, inviting us to turn back, to accept your forgiveness, and to live your life once again.

How difficult it has been for us to understand, Lord, our sharing in your life. How difficult for us to understand the true meaning of sacrifice. We thought for so long and often continue to think that we can appease you by offering you gifts of all sorts, animals out of our flocks, the first fruits of the land, material things of every description, even sacred buildings erected in your honor, penitential practices strictly imposed upon ourselves, all to no avail. The only sacrifice you demand, Lord, is that we accept the one, true sacrifice, your life, into our own lives.

Sharing your life with us is not enough for you, Lord. You want as well to take upon yourself our life. Your Word has become visible among us, has taken upon himself a human body, has become a human being in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, the one true sacrifice, which is your life, becomes visible in our midst. Your giving, receiving and sharing in love becomes tangible for us and catches us up in that mystery, by which we live, which we cannot see. That mystery, made visible, remains visible for us even now in the Eucharist, by which we share visibly, here and now, your life among us by partaking of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ under the appearance of bread and wine.

Father, through your Word, truly one of us in the Lord Jesus, may we now and always by caught up in the one, true sacrifice that is your very life.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.