January 20-22, 2011
Lectionary
Heb 9:2-3, 11-14
A tabernacle was constructed, the outer one, in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of offering; this is called the Holy Place. Behind the second veil was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies. But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own Blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, how much more will the Blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.
Reflection
“When God forgives, he forgets. To forget something does not imply ignorance of it, because one cannot forget what one has never known. Forgetting is in this sense not the opposite of remembering, but of fearing. When a sin is remembered, we fear the consequence; when a sin is forgotten, that fear disappears. Thus through forgetting, fear turns to hope — hope in God’s mercy and love. When God forgets our sin he puts the process of creation into reverse: we have created the sin; he turns the sin back into nothing. In the same way we must forgive one another, by forgetting each other’s sins, blotting them out, erasing them.” — Soren Kierkegaard
Prayer
God of justice and mercy,
Make our eyes bright in darkness,
Make our feet quick towards need,
Make our our hands strong for labor,
Make our hearts beat for peace.
Amen.