Wednesday 18th January 2023. Read Hebrews 7:1-3,15-17, Ps. 110:1-4, Mark 3:1-6
“King Melchizedek of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him; and to him, Abraham apportioned "one-tenth of everything.” (Hebrews 7:1-2)
One of the essential duties of a priest is to bless the people of God. When Melchizedek met Abraham, he blessed him and the blessings of Abraham were unequaled 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 neighbors 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 artifact 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 any 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; lift people up; 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 one rule – Do Good.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, use me to bless whoever I meet today and always. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Wednesday of week 2 in Ordinary Time, Bible Study: Hebrews 7:1-3,15-17, Ps. 110:1-4, Mark 3:1-6).
@Rev. Fr. Evaristus Abu
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