Both the reading from Hebrews and today’s Gospel deal with God’s judgment and the salvation of souls. In the first reading, we hear of Christ’s new covenant with mankind, that we no longer need to make yearly sacrifices to ensure our salvation. God, in His love for us, became man and offered His own blood for the eternal salvation of souls. In Christ’s new covenant we are able to share in His death and resurrection.
“Christ offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.”
Christ’s death allowed for hope to reign and, as in the Gospel acclamation “Our Savior, Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life to light through the Gospel”.
The resurrection is the Good News and it is through God’s love for His creation that we are able to share in that Good News!
Since January 28th is the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, I thought looking at his writings would help with today’s reflection.
Regarding blasphemy St. Thomas says in the Summa Theologiae: “Hence it seems that blasphemy pertains to unbelief” (II-II.13.1). He goes on to say that blasphemy is ultimately the denial of God’s goodness.
The scribes who see Christ casting out demons accuse Christ of being possessed by Satan thereby denying His goodness: “By the prince of demons he drives out demons”. Jesus’ rebuttal is pretty simple. He tells the Pharisees that it would not makes sense for Satan to drive out his own demons, all that would do is weaken Satan’s power for “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.”
That is applicable to not only Satan but to those who wish to enter the Kingdom of Heaven as well. What happens when we, the Body of Christ, are divided? What happens when we lack charity when we fail to love our brothers and sisters in Christ? We, both as individuals and as a society, begin to lose our faith in the Truth, we lose sight of what it is we are ultimately seeking: union with God, Heaven! We fall into the sin of unbelief; exactly what Christ is warning against in the Gospel.
The prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas is fitting for today.
Grant me, O Lord my God,
A mind to know you,
A heart to seek you,
Wisdom to find you,
Conduct pleasing to you,
Faithful perseverance in waiting for you,
And a hope of finally embracing you.
Amen.
Dakota currently lives in Denver, CO, is studying for her Master’s in Spanish, and loves her job as an elementary school librarian. She is engaged to the love of her life, Ralph. In her spare time she reads, goes to breweries, and watches baseball. Dakota’s favorite saints are St. John Paul II (how could it not be?) and St. José Luis Sánchez del Río. She is passionate about her faith and considers herself blessed at any opportunity to share that faith with others. Check out more of her writing at https://dakotaleonard16.blogspot.com.
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