The New Temple and New Sacrifice

03-07-2021Weekly ReflectionFr. Bing Colasito

The first reading talks about the Law. Following the Law constitutes true worship of God. The second reading and the Gospel are more or less related: Christ’s death on the cross, the temple of the body is destroyed but will rise again. Because the cross is the symbol of the mystery of Salvation, it made Christianity a religion of the cross. For the Jews of His time, death on the cross was a scandal of the highest level. For the pagan Greeks, it was utter foolishness. But to believers, those called: the death of Christ was part of the Divine Plan of Salvation, foretold by the prophets long ago. In an effort to offset and lessen the impact of this scandal, some of the teachings in the New Testament consist of trying to remove or transcend the scandal of the cross. Especially in the minds and the hearts of the converts.

For this reason, the Gospel of the cross proclaimed is not just about Christ crucified; but by His crucifixion, He saved humanity. Jesus Christ died, His body, the temple destroyed, and in three days will be restored. He will rise again. While His death remains a scandal and foolishness for many unbelievers, it is the best expression of the Father’s love for man. The gift of life eternal. For dying He destroyed death. Rising He restored life. Lord Jesus, come in Glory.

Some people perceive the Church and its leaders as harsh and judgmental. That the Church does nothing but to burden their followers with Laws and condemns sinners. They prefer a “God of Love” who will always accept and understand them, not judge them, A God who will look the other way and not expect them to follow all the rules. This mindset reduces God to a mere figure subject to man’s preferences and whims. The problem with this kind of image of God reduces the true and living God with manmade substitutes like human idols that violate the first commandment. I am the Lord your God. You shall not have other gods besides me.

Jesus came to purify and save us. He is a God of love, the way He loves us is by purification of the very temple of our body. Jesus drove away the money changers and other merchants who are turning it into a marketplace, thus defiling the Temple. Jesus wants to purify whatever defiles the temple of our hearts. Lent is the time to examine our interior life, our hearts and allow Jesus to purify it from within.

The new sacrifice came about through the death of Jesus on the cross. His death makes the new sacrifice timelessly present in every Mass. Whereas, the High Priest in Jesus’ time makes the sacrifice by entering the Holy of Holies once a year to sprinkle blood in atonement for sins, and the ritual repeated yearly. (Lev. 16:11-14) Jesus Christ is the new sacrifice: He is the victim who entered the sanctuary of the heavens once and for all, by His death on the cross (Heb. 9:11-23). By this action, He becomes the Temple and the new sacrifice. But He makes the sacrifice once and for all, and forever. The sacrifice of the Mass is not a new sacrifice. But in the Mass, the sacrifice of Christ at the cross; timeless, becomes present in the presence of the Father in Heaven.

Because we are redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection, this death, and its fruits are made present to us in the sacrifice of the Mass; and makes Christianity a religion of the cross. Making present the sacrifice of Christ on the cross in the Mass is the participation in the eternal banquet with the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Are we open to the purification of the temple of our hearts by Jesus? Do we invite Jesus to work within the temple of our hearts?