You've Got a Job To Do
Jan 20: Friday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
Most of today’s first reading is an extended quote from Jeremiah (31:31-34). I always find it interesting when the Bible quotes the Bible. It reminds me that it’s not one book, but a collection of books, written over thousands of years. This one is particularly notable, because the quote doesn’t match exactly what we have in our canonical Jeremiah.
Some might take this as evidence of the fallibility of the Bible. How could Hebrews misquote Jeremiah? Doesn’t that call into question every quote? Who’s right, our version of Jeremiah or the one Hebrews quotes?
I, however, take the opposite interpretation of the discrepancy: it’s a sign of honesty. The compilers of the Bible aren’t really sure why the author of Hebrews has a slightly different version of Jeremiah than the one we have. They could have edited the passage, to make them match. They could have easily erased all these questions before they were raised. But that wouldn’t honestly reflect the letter as it was handed down to us. Something got mixed up in the three hundred years between Jeremiah and Hebrews, or in the three hundred years between Hebrews and St. Jerome.
Basically, who knows? The perfection of the truth revealed in the Bible doesn’t come from following the AP style book on footnotes and block quotes.
Reading 1
Heb 8:6-13
Brothers and sisters: Now our high priest has obtained so much more excellent a ministry as he is mediator of a better covenant, enacted on better promises.
For if that first covenant had been faultless, no place would have been sought for a second one. But he finds fault with them and says:
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they did not stand by my covenant and I ignored them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and I will write them upon their hearts. I will be their God,
and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his fellow citizen and kin, saying, “Know the Lord,” for all shall know me, from least to greatest. For I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sins no more.
When he speaks of a “new” covenant, he declares the first one obsolete. And what has become obsolete and has grown old is close to disappearing.
God made a covenant with the Israelites, and gave them a the Law of Moses, but they didn’t keep it. So, He said He will establish a new covenant, through Jesus.
But don’t think we’re any better than the ancient Israelites. We might not be bowing down before a golden calf, but every generation has their own issues.
Thankfully, Jesus’ sacrifice is eternal, and we get to participate in it every week. He will remember our sins no more.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 85:8 and 10, 11-12, 13-14
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
Show us, O LORD, your mercy,
and grant us your salvation.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
God is all things, and so can contain seeming contradictions. “The truth hurts,” yet God is where truth meets kindness. Justice can mean violence and peace can mean settling for less than what’s right, yet God finds a way to make both.
That’s why we can simultaneously fear Him and give Him glory. He deserves both.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
“Us” refers to the inheritors of the apostolic tradition. So, us reading this.
Gospel
Mk 3:13-19
Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him. He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles, that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons: He appointed the Twelve: Simon, whom he named Peter; James, son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus; Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
Jesus was just one man, who would die some day.1 He needed others to not only spread the Word, but do good works in his stead.
That’s why he appointed apostles.2 (And changed their names, because that's a fun thing to do.) And those apostles appointed successors, and on and on, to this very day.
But, while they have a special job, the Good News doesn’t stop with them. Go back and re-read the passage (from Jeremiah) from Hebrews. Look at how inclusive it is: All shall know me, from least to greatest.
That work is incomplete; we still exist in time, and have to join in this succession ourselves. Yes, priests and bishops have their roles, but so do the laity. Jesus knows your name, too. Go up the mountain with him, and accept your appointment.
And rise, and then be taken into heaven, but the point is: he wasn’t going to remain on Earth forever.
Fun fact: whenever the apostles are listed, Simon-Peter always comes first. Even in the letters from Paul, and those two did not get along at all. So, if you’re wondering why we recognize the successors of Peter as having authority over the other bishops? That’s why.
Out of all the reflections I read this morning, yours was the most meaningful to me. Thank you.