Blood and Sacrificial Meal

 

I desire mercy, and not sacrifice

Reflection on Today’s Readings, Friday of 15th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, July 21st, 2023
Texts: Exodus 11:10-12:14; Psalm 116: 12-13.15-18; Matthew 12:1-8

God saved our forefathers in faith through the blood and eating of the lamb sacrificed to God. Blood and sacrificial meal become the means of salvation and freedom from slavery. God says, "The blood shall be a sign for you, upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt." 

God saved our ancestors in faith from slavery to Egypt and led them to the promised land. In Jesus Christ God saved us from slavery to sin and granted us the heavenly kingdom. Hence, today, Jesus says, "have you not read in the law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than, the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless."

He has rescued us from the power of darkness 

Apostle Paul also says, "He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son" (Col. 1:13). The blood of Christ and offering His body to God for us as meal save mankind from slavery to sin. It also purchased us the kingdom of God. Today, He says, "For the Son of man is lord of the Sabbath.”

Prayer

Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us and deliver us from sin. Amen 

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke