Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

No, you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.

Jesus’ body and blood speak eloquently to all of us of what it means to be a good and faithful servant. It means being willing to give up everything in order to know, love, and serve God and all His children. We might be intimidated by this radical call of self-sacrifice, but it is a vocation none of us can ignore if we want to be a part of God’s Kingdom. We cannot deny what God is asking of us and share in the inheritance He offers us. If we accept His adoption, then we must accept the sufferings that come with becoming His heirs. The only way we can become enrolled in Heaven is to sprinkle ourselves with the blood of sacrifice.

Are we willing to be sprinkled with the blood of suffering and sacrifice in this life so we might join in the feast of the next one? What sacrifices are we being asked to make in order to fulfill God’s Will? What are we doing to prepare ourselves to be God’s good and faithful servants?

O Lord, sprinkle us with your blood.

Amen.