Bible
Study: Hebrews 7, 1 to 17 and Mark 3, 1 to 6.
One of the
essential duties of a priest is to BLESS the people of God. When Melchizedek
met Abraham, he blessed him and the blessing of Abraham were unequalled in all
of history. Melchizedek is the symbol of the ideal priest having no father or
mother without beginning or end while Jesus Christ is the perfect realization
of everything that Melchizedek represents.
As Abraham
was blessed by Melchizedek, Jesus Christ blessed many even those he met on
Sabbath days. Blessing a person goes beyond uttering words over a person. You
cannot bless if you are not blessed yourself. The Pharisees were in charge of
blessing the people but they could not help the man with a withered hand. They forgot
their first duty was to lift the people up rather they were too concerned about
obeying rules.
A priest by
virtue of his ordination has the power to bless. He is able to exercise this
power because he stands in the place of Christ each time he performs his sacred
duties. That same power that flowed from Jesus Christ flows through every
priest. And the way and manner he exercises this power is always in imitation
of how Jesus himself acted.
In the
Church today, there are a lot of rules; rules about who to receive Holy Communion,
rules about marriage within or outside the church, rules about the sacraments
and so on. As beautiful as these rules may be, the priest never takes the
position of the Pharisees. Rather, like Jesus Christ, he always puts life before
any ecclesiastical rule. Jesus knew the Sabbath rule was not above the ultimate
rule which is to Love our neighbours as ourselves or put simply, to do good.
There is
an extent to which keeping the rules becomes outright wickedness. The story is
often told of a maid who mistakenly broke an expensive artefact one day while
cleaning the sitting room in a mansion. For this, she was given a strict rule
never to enter the sitting room on no account whatsoever; a rule she was so
determined to obey. One day, she was in the kitchen when she noticed smoke
coming out from the sitting room and she was the only one at home. Instead of
going to the sitting room to see how she can remedy the situation, she started
shouting and shouting. By the time she was able to get help, the whole
electronics in the sitting room had burnt down.
Whether we
are priests or not, let us remember that as Christians we all are called to
bless; to lift people up; to elevate others; to make life better for people. Let
it be that whoever comes in contact with you goes back uplifted, smiling and
more hopeful. All rules are aimed at uplifting life not making life more difficult
for anyone. In fact, there is only rule – Do Good.
Let us
Pray: Lord Jesus, use me to bless whoever I meet today and always. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith.
It is well with you. God bless you.
Fr. Abu.
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