5th Sunday in Lent (B) 03-29-09

Scripture Readings
First Jeremiah 31:31-34
Second Hebrews 5:7-9
Gospel John 12:20-33

Prepared by: Fr. Allen B. Moran, O.P.

1. Subject Matter
• First Reading: God’s promise of a new covenant brings with it the promise of personal and
communal transformation. He promises to place His Law in their hearts and in the very
center of their being that He may be known and loved not as something abstract to be taught
and learned. Rather this new covenant will be known from the inside, and it will be founded
on God’s mercy, forgiveness, and his taking away of the people’s sins.
• Second Reading: Christ’s priestly sacrifice of self is one that involved real suffering and
agony, yet the suffering was not void of meaning and purpose. It manifested the extent of
God’s love for mankind and the lengths to which He goes to save us. The passion of Jesus
is the perfect sacrifice made in obedience to the Father, and He who is both priest and victim
is the source or cause of salvation for all who are obedient to Him.
• Gospel Reading: In the glorification of the Son of Man on the altar of the cross all people
(Jews and Gentiles) are drawn together and reconciled. Jesus offers his life for the life of the
world, and this full selfless gift of self unto death is the cause of eternal life. It is a sacrifice
that involves real suffering and the appearance of total loss. Contrary to the wisdom of the
world, however, true love for life is not manifest to clinging to things of this world but in
faithfulness to the One who can bestow all things, including eternal life. Faithfulness by
those who follow Jesus is demonstrated in this same sacrificial love and in the preferring
nothing in this world to the will and love of God, i.e. hating his life in this world. This
sacrificial priestly offering is an eternal one and the life of Eucharistic charity that it reveals is
the light by which all are to live.

2. Exegetical Notes
• The Septuagint Greek Old Testament translates the “inward part” of v. 33 as God giving
his Law to the mind. This, combined with the second half of the verse wherein God
places the Law in the heart, is a revelation that the New Covenant will be a restoration of
the damaged image of God in which the human person was created.
• The “Torah” or Law that is placed in the heart is also, according to rabbinic tradition, that
 by which God created. It is his wisdom as described in Prov. 8:22-36, and echoed in the
Prologue of the Gospel of John 1:1-18. It is the presence of this living Word in one’s
heart and “inward parts” that creates anew, restored the damaged image of God, and is
our forgiveness for sins through his priestly sacrifice of self. The sacrifice of the new
covenant differs in kind and effectiveness from that of the old.
• Psalm 22, taken by the early church as referring to Christ’s passion, offers a backdrop to
the “cries and tears” mentioned in Hebrews 10:5-7, as it emphasizes the “cry” of the
righteous sufferer. (Beale and Carson)
• The periscope of Hebrews 5:7-9 ends with v. 10, omitted in the lectionary reading:
“declared by God high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.” The point is that the
sacrifice being offered—Jesus’ own life on the cross—is being offered by a new
priesthood. Into this priesthood all Christians are baptized enabling them to offer spiritual
sacrifices in union with His, and through the ministerial participation in this new yet
ancient priesthood Christ’s one perfect offering is made present at the Holy Sacrifice of
the Mass.
• “The priesthood of Christ flows not from his Passion alone but from his Passion crowned
with his exaltation, for both belong to the heavenly sacrifice in which his priesthood was
perfected…Our Saviour, confronted with imminent suffering and death, but according to
Jn 12:27f, 32; 17:5; Ac 2:25-31 this deliverance from death went beyond deliverance from
tasting death to deliverance from the grip of death in resurrection and glorification.”
(Cody)
• The verb used in v. 9 “when he was made perfect,” teleioun, is the same verb used in the
LXX Greek translation of the Old Testament to refer to the conferring of priestly power.
Earlier, in Heb. 2:10, it was applied to suffering. Here it is applied to suffering crowned by
exaltation, and is practically equivalent to ‘being designated by God a (high) priest.’
Christ is presented as both “designated a high priest” in his Passion and exaltation and at
the same time ‘perfected’ so that he can ‘perfect’ others. (Cody)
• Commenting on the “when he was made perfect,” Aquinas notes that Jesus was already
made perfect with respect to the happiness of his soul from the moment of his conception
inasmuch as he was drawn to God. Yet his human nature was only capable of suffering
before its final glorification. After the Passion his glorified body, glorified human nature, is
no longer capable of suffering. A perfect thing is by its nature able of engendering others
like it, and as Christ’s perfection was brought about through the merits of obedience,
therefore He is the source of perfection and eternal life for all who are obedient to Him.
(St. Thomas Aquinas)
• John 12:20-22 refers to “some Greeks” who were going up to Jerusalem for the feast.
This may invoke the Isaianic notion of Gentiles flocking to God in the end times.
(Köstenberger)
• The request of the Gentiles/Greeks precipitates the first mention in the Gospel of John of
the imminent arrival of Jesus’ “hour.” “The reference to the glorification of the Son of Man
(12:23; cf. 1:51; 3:14; 8:28; 12:32-34) may well hark back to Isa. 52:13, where it is said
that the Servant of the Lord ‘will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted’…In pre-
Christian usage, the glory of the Son of Man and his function of uniting heaven and earth
are conceived in primarily apocalyptic terms (Dan. 7:13).” (Köstenberger)
• “Whoever serves me must follow me” The words “must follow me” carry with it a double
sense: peril and reward. The saying alludes to the disciples’ need for self-sacrifice, even
to the point of martyrdom, with the expectation of eternal reward.” (Köstenberger)
 • ‘Father glorify your name!’ is in keeping with both OT theology, in which the glory of God
is the ultimate goal of his salvific actions [cf. Ps. 79:9; Isa. 63:14; 66:5; Ezek. 38:23], and
the Fourth Evangelist’s depiction of Jesus’ motivation underlying his entire ministry. In
particular, God is glorified by the Son’s obedience and by his exercise of delegated
authority.” (Köstenberger)

3. References to the Catechism of the Catholic Church

• CCC 64 Through the prophets, God forms his people in the hope of salvation, in the
expectation of a new and everlasting Covenant intended for all, to be written on their hearts.
(Cf. Is 2:2-4; Jer 31:31-34; Heb 10:16)

• CCC 610 Jesus gave the supreme expression of his free offering of himself at the meal
shared with the twelve Apostles "on the night he was betrayed". (Roman Missal, EP III; cf. Mt 26:20; I
Cor 11:23.) On the eve of his Passion, while still free, Jesus transformed this Last Supper with
the apostles into the memorial of his voluntary offering to the Father for the salvation of men:
"This is my body which is given for you." "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured
out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Lk 22:19; Mt 26:28; cf. I5.7Cor 5:7).
• CCC 611 The Eucharist that Christ institutes at that moment will be the memorial of his
sacrifice. (1 Cor 11:25.) Jesus includes the apostles in his own offering and bids them perpetuate
it. (Cf. Lk 22:19.) By doing so, the Lord institutes his apostles as priests of the New Covenant:
"For their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth." (Jn 17:19; cf.
Council of Trent: DS 1752; 1764.)

• CCC 612 The cup of the New Covenant, which Jesus anticipated when he offered himself at
the Last Supper, is afterwards accepted by him from his Father's hands in his agony in the
garden at Gethsemani, (Cf. Mt 26:42 Lk 22:20.) making himself "obedient unto death". Jesus prays:
"My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. . ." (Phil 2:8; Mt 26:39; cf. Heb 5:7-8.) Thus he
expresses the horror that death represented for his human nature. Like ours, his human
nature is destined for eternal life; but unlike ours, it is perfectly exempt from sin, the cause of
death. (Cf. Rom 5:12; Heb 4:15.) Above all, his human nature has been assumed by the divine
person of the "Author of life", the "Living One". (Cf. Acts 3:15; Rev 1:17; Jn 1:4; 5:26.) By accepting in
his human will that the Father's will be done, he accepts his death as redemptive, for "he
himself bore our sins in his body on the tree." (2 Pt 224; cf. Mt 26:42.)
• CCC 613 Christ's death is both the Paschal sacrifice that accomplishes the definitive
redemption of men, through "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world", (Jn 1:29;
cf. 8:34-36; 1 Cor 5:7; 2 Pt 1:19.) and the sacrifice of the New Covenant, which restores man to
communion with God by reconciling him to God through the "blood of the covenant, which
was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins". (Mt 26:28; cf. Ex 24:8; Lev 16:15-16; 2 Cor 11:25.)
• CCC 614 This sacrifice of Christ is unique; it completes and surpasses all other sacrifices. (Cf.
Heb 10:10. First, it is a gift from God the Father himself, for the Father handed his Son over to
sinners in order to reconcile us with himself. At the same time it is the offering of the Son of
God made man, who in freedom and love offered his life to his Father through the Holy Spirit
in reparation for our disobedience. (Cf. Jn 10:17-18; 15:13; Heb 9:14; 1 Jn 4:10.)
• CCC 616 It is love "to the end" (Jn 13:1.) that confers on Christ's sacrifice its value as
 redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfaction. He knew and loved us all when
he offered his life. (Cf. Gal 2:20; Eph 5:2, 25.) Now "the love of Christ controls us, because we are
convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died." (2 Cor 5:14.) No man, not even the
holiest, was ever able to take on himself the sins of all men and offer himself as a sacrifice
for all. the existence in Christ of the divine person of the Son, who at once surpasses and
embraces all human persons, and constitutes himself as the Head of all mankind, makes
possible his redemptive sacrifice for all.
• CCC 617 The Council of Trent emphasizes the unique character of Christ's sacrifice as "the
source of eternal salvation" (Heb 5:9.) and teaches that "his most holy Passion on the wood of
the cross merited justification for us." (Council of Trent: DS 1529.) and the Church venerates his
cross as she sings: "Hail, O Cross, our only hope." (LH, Lent, Holy Week, Evening Prayer, Hymn Vexilla
Regis.)

• CCC 618 The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the "one mediator between God and
men". (1 Tim 2:5.) But because in his incarnate divine person he has in some way united
himself to every man, "the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the
paschal mystery" is offered to all men. (GS 22 # 5; cf. # 2.) He calls his disciples to "take up [their]
cross and follow (him)", (Mt 16:24.) for "Christ also suffered for (us), leaving (us) an example so
that (we) should follow in his steps." (I Pt 2:21.) In fact Jesus desires to associate with his
redeeming sacrifice those who were to be its first beneficiaries. (Cf Mk 10:39; Jn 21:18-19; Col 1:24.)
This is achieved supremely in the case of his mother, who was associated more intimately
than any other person in the mystery of his redemptive suffering. (Cf. Lk 2:35.) Apart from the
cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven. (St. Rose of Lima: cf. P. Hansen, Vita
mirabilis (Louvain, 1668).)

• CCC 662 “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” (Jn 12:32.); I,
The lifting up of Jesus on the cross signifies and announces his lifting up by his Ascension
into heaven, and indeed begins it. Jesus Christ, the one priest of the new and eternal
covenant, “entered, not into a sanctuary made by human hands…but into heaven itself, now
to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.” (Heb. 9:24.) There Christ permanently exercises
his priesthood, for he "always lives to make intercession" for "those who draw near to God
through him". (Heb 7:25.) As "high priest of the good things to come" he is the centre and the
principal actor of the liturgy that honours the Father in heaven. (Heb 9:11; cf. Rev 4:6-11.)
• CCC 1088 “"To accomplish so great a work" - the dispensation or communication of his work
of salvation - "Christ is always present in his Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations.
He is present in the Sacrifice of the Mass not only in the person of his minister, 'the same
now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered himself on the cross,' but
especially in the Eucharistic species."'(SC 7.)
• CCC 1182 The altar of the New Covenant is the Lord's Cross, (Cf. Heb 13:10.) from which the
sacraments of the Paschal mystery flow. On the altar, which is the center of the church, the
sacrifice of the Cross is made present under sacramental signs. The altar is also the table of
the Lord, to which the People of God are invited. (Cf. GIRM 259.) In certain Eastern liturgies, the
altar is also the symbol of the tomb (Christ truly died and is truly risen).
• CCC 1323 "At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the
Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of
the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved
Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of
 unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet 'in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled
with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.'"(SC 47.)
• CCC 1330 The memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection. The Holy Sacrifice,
because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Savior and includes the Church's
offering. The terms holy sacrifice of the Mass, "sacrifice of praise," spiritual sacrifice, pure
and holy sacrifice are also used, (Heb 13:15; cf. 1 Pet 25; Ps 116:13, 17; Mal 1:11.) since it completes and
surpasses all the sacrifices of the Old Covenant.

• CCC 1367 The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice:
"The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who
then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different." "In this divine
sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a
bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner."
(Council of Trent (1562): DS 1743; cf. Heb 9:14, 27.)

• CCC 1368 The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of the Church. The Church which is the Body of
Christ participates in the offering of her Head. With him, she herself is offered whole and
entire. She unites herself to his intercession with the Father for all men. In the Eucharist the
sacrifice of Christ becomes also the sacrifice of the members of his Body. The lives of the
faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer, and work, are united with those of Christ and with his
total offering, and so acquire a new value. Christ's sacrifice present on the altar makes it
possible for all generations of Christians to be united with his offering.
• CCC 1369 The whole Church is united with the offering and intercession of Christ. Since he
has the ministry of Peter in the Church, the Pope is associated with every celebration of the
Eucharist, wherein he is named as the sign and servant of the unity of the universal Church.
The bishop of the place is always responsible for the Eucharist, even when a priest presides.
Through the ministry of priests the spiritual sacrifice of the faithful is completed in union with
the sacrifice of Christ the only Mediator, which in the Eucharist is offered through the priests'
hands in the name of the whole Church in an unbloody and sacramental manner until the
Lord himself comes. (PO 2 # 4.)
• CCC 1372 St. Augustine admirably summed up this doctrine that moves us to an ever more
complete participation in our Redeemer's sacrifice which we celebrate in the Eucharist: This
wholly redeemed city, the assembly and society of the saints, is offered to God as a universal
sacrifice by the high priest who in the form of a slave went so far as to offer himself for us in
his Passion, to make us the Body of so great a head.... Such is the sacrifice of Christians:
"we who are many are one Body in Christ" the Church continues to reproduce this sacrifice in
the sacrament of the altar so well-known to believers wherein it is evident to them that in
what she offers she herself is offered. (St. Augustine, De civ Dei, 10, 6: PL 41, 283; cf. Rom 12:5.)
• CCC 1566 "It is in the Eucharistic cult or in the Eucharistic assembly of the faithful (synaxis)
that they exercise in a supreme degree their sacred office; there, acting in the person of
Christ and proclaiming his mystery, they unite the votive offerings of the faithful to the
sacrifice of Christ their head, and in the sacrifice of the Mass they make present again and
apply, until the coming of the Lord, the unique sacrifice of the New Testament, that namely of
Christ offering himself once for all a spotless victim to the Father." (LG 28; cf. 1 Cor 11:26.) From
this unique sacrifice their whole priestly ministry draws its strength. (Cf. PO 2.)
• CCC 2031 The moral life is spiritual worship. We "present (our) bodies as a living sacrifice,
 holy and acceptable to God," (Rom 12:1) within the Body of Christ that we form and in
communion with the offering of his Eucharist. In the liturgy and the celebration of the
sacraments, prayer and teaching are conjoined with the grace of Christ to enlighten and
nourish Christian activity. As does the whole of the Christian life, the moral life finds its
source and summit in the Eucharistic sacrifice.

4. Patristic Commentary
• “A cutting from the vine planted in the ground bears fruit in its season, or a kernel of wheat
falling into the earth and becoming decomposed rises and is multiplied by the Spirit of God,
who contains all things. And then, through the wisdom of God, it serves for our use when,
after receiving the Word of God, it becomes the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of
Christ. In the same way our bodies, being nourished by it, and deposited in the earth and
suffering decomposition there, shall rise at their appointed time.” (St. Irenaeus)
• “Christ became like one of us. He sprang from the holy Virgin like a stalk of wheat from the
ground. Indeed, he spoke of himself as a grain of wheat when he said, “I tell you truly,
unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains as it was, a single grain, but
if it dies its yield is very great.’ And so like a sheaf of grain, the firstfruits, as it were of the
earth, he offered himself to the Father for our sake…The stalks have to be gathered into a
bundle before they can be used, and this is the key to the mystery they represent, the
mystery of Christ, who though one, appears in the image of a sheaf to be made up of many,
as in fact he is. Spiritually, he contains in himself all believers.” (St. Cyril of Alexandria)
• “The beauty of an object is admired…as long as there is nothing more beautiful to be seen.
But when something better comes along, the earlier object loses its luster…The one who
loves his life in this world loses it by indulging its inordinate desires…The one who hates it
resists them. The one who hates it resists them. Notice, it does not say ‘who does not yield
to’ but ‘who hates.’ For as we cannot bear to hear the voice or see the face of those whom
we hate, so when the soul invites us to things contrary to God, we should turn it away from
them with all our might.” (St. John Chrysostom)
• “You yourselves should also serve Christ in your own way by good lives, by giving to the
poor, by preaching his name and doctrine the best as you can too. Every father [or mother]
…too will be filling an ecclesiastical and Episcopal kind of office by serving Christ in their own
homes when they serve their families so that they too may be with him forever.” (St.
Augustine)
• “You have heard, as if addressed to yourself, the voice of my strength. Now hear in me the
voice of your infirmity. I supply strength when you need to run without slowing you down, but
I take on myself whatever makes you afraid, paving the way for you to continue your march.
Lord, I acknowledge your mercy! You, who are great, allowed yourself to be troubled in
order to console all of those in your body who are troubled by the continual experience of
their own weakness—keeping them from perishing utterly in despair.” (St. Augustine)
• “Only the death of the Savior could bring an end to death, and it is the same for each of the
other sufferings of the flesh too. Unless he had felt dread, human nature could not have
become free from dread. Unless he had experienced grief, there could have never been any
deliverance from grief. Unless he was troubled and alarmed, there would have been no
escape from these feelings.” (St. Cyril of Alexandria)
• “His acceptance of suffering for the good of others is a sign of extraordinary compassion and
the highest degree of glory. The glorification of the Son also took place in another way.
Through his victory over death we recognize him to be life and the Son of the living God.
The Father is glorified in then when he is shown to have such a Son begotten from himself
and with the same attributes as himself.” (St. Cyril of Alexandria)
• “For it was only on the cross that a man dies with his hands spread out. And so it was fitting
for the Lord to bear this also and to spread out his hands, that with the one he might draw the
ancient people and with the other those from the Gentiles and unite both in himself. For this
is what he himself has said, signifying by what manner of death he was to ransom all: ‘I,
when I am lifted up,’ he says, ‘shall draw all unto me.’” (St. Athanasius)
5. Examples from the Saints and Other Exemplars
• In his plea to the Christians at Rome not to obstruct his martyrdom, he writes, “I am God’s
wheat, ground fine by the lion’s teeth to make purest bread of Christ.” (St. Ignatius of Antioch,
Epistle to the Romans)
• In the second-century martyrdom of St. Polycarp, the witness describes the scene as the
flames engulf his body of the aged bishop. “And he appeared within not like flesh which is
burnt, but as bread that is baked, or as gold and silver glowing in a furnace. Moreover, we
perceived such a sweet odor [coming from the pile], as if frankincense or some such precious
spices had been smoking there.” The connection between Polycarp’s martyrdom and the
Eucharist is unmistakable. The servant imitates the master, and the sacrifice is “sweet
smelling” in the presence of God. (The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp)
• “The Consecration, then, is no bare, sterile repetition of the words of the Last Supper; it is an
action, a reenactment, another Passion in me. ‘Here, dear Jesus, is my body; take it. Here
is my blood; take it. I care not if the ‘species’ of my life remains—my particular duties in
school, parish or office; these are only the ‘appearances’. But what I am in my intellect, my
will—take, possess, divinize, so that I may die with Thee on the altar. Then the Heavenly
Father, looking down, will say to Thee and to me in Thee: ‘Thou art my beloved son; in thee I
am well pleased.” (Fulton Sheen, The Priest Is Not His Own)

6. Quotes

• “The author of the Letter to the Hebrews finds the key to the heart of the mystery of Jesus in
the agony on the Mount of Olives (cf. Heb 5:7). Basing himself on this glimpse into Jesus’
soul, he uses Psalm 40 to interpret the mystery. He reads the Psalm thus: ‘Sacrifices and
offerings thou hast not desired, but a body hast thou prepared for me….Then I said, ‘Yes, I
have come to do thy will, O God,’ as it is written of me in the roll of the book’ (Heb 10:5ff; cf.
Ps 40:7-9). Jesus’ whose existence is summed up in the words ‘Yes, I have come to do thy
will.’ It is only against this background that we fully understand what he means when he
says, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me’ (John 4:34).” (Benedict XVI, Jesus of
Nazareth)
• “Jesus pronounces it [the key to the bread of life discourse] on Palm Sunday as he looks
ahead to the universal Church that will embrace Jews and Greeks—all the peoples of the
world: ‘Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it
bears much fruit’ (Jn 12:24). What we call ‘bread’ contains the mystery of the Passion.
 Before there can be bread, the seed—the grain of wheat—first has to be placed in the earth,
it has to ‘die,’ and then the new ear can grow out of this death. Earthly bread can become
the bearer of Christ’s presence because it contains in itself the mystery of the Passion,
because it unites in itself death and resurrection.” (Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth)
• “When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, the memorial of her Lord’s death and
resurrection, this central event of salvation becomes really present and ‘the work of our
redemption is carried out.’ This sacrifice is so decisive for the salvation of the human race
that Jesus Christ offered it and returned to the Father only after he had left us a means of
sharing in it as if we had been present there. Each member of the faithful can thus take part
in it and inexhaustibly gain its fruits.” (John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia)
• “By virtue of its close relationship to the sacrifice of Golgotha, the Eucharist is a sacrifice in
the strict sense, and not only in a general way, as if it were simply a matter of Christ’s
offering himself to the faithful as their spiritual food…In giving his sacrifice to the Church,
Christ has also made his own the spiritual sacrifice of the Church, which is called to offer
herself in union with the sacrifice of Christ. This is the teaching of the Second Vatican
Council concerning all the faithful: ‘Taking part in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which is the
source and summit of the whole Christian life, they offer the divine victim to God, and offer
themselves along with it’ (LG 11).” (John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia)

7. Other Considerations
• “Knowledge is of two sorts: the first is that of simple recognition, according to which the
objection [that Christ did not in fact “learn”] is valid, because He was not ignorant of anything.
But there is also the knowledge gained by experience, according to which He learned
obedience; hence, he says, He learned obedience through what he suffered, i.e.,
experienced. And the Apostle speaks thus, because one who learns something comes
voluntarily to learn it. But Christ accepted our weakness voluntarily; consequently, he says
that ‘he learned obedience’, i.e., how difficult it is to obey, because He obeyed in the most
difficult matters, even to the death of the cross (Phil. 2:8). This shows how difficult the good
of obedience is, because those who have not experienced obedience and have not learned it
in difficult matters, believe that obedience is very easy. But in order to know what obedience
is, one must learn to obey in difficult matters, and one who has not learned to subject himself
by obeying does not know how to rule others well.” (St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on
the Epistle to the Hebrews).
• At the “Orate fratres” the celebrant says, “Pray brethren that our sacrifice may be acceptable
to God the Almighty Father.” Hidden behind this poor translation is this teaching of the
Sacrifice of Christ the head and the sacrifice of the mystical body of Christ offered in union
with that of the head so that it may be received by the Father as that one perfect sacrifice in
the Eucharistic Sacrifice. This may also be an avenue to give a heads up to the changes to
the English translations of the liturgy that will be at our doorstep in a couple years or perhaps
sooner. “Pray brethren that your sacrifice [i.e. the sufferings, trials, as well as joys that you
bring to Mass with you today—the sacrifice of the mystical body of Christ] and mine [the
sacrifice of Christ offered by the priest acting in persona Christi capitis] may be acceptable to
God the Almighty Father,” better reflects the typical Latin text and is a way of awakening in
the faithful a truly “active” participation in the Eucharist.
Recommended Resources
Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews. Fabian R. Larcher, O.P. trans.,
unpublished.
Beale, G.K. and D.A. Carson, eds. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old
Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007.
Cameron, O.P., Peter John. To Praise, to Bless, To Preach: Spiritual Reflections on the Sunday
Gospels, Cycle B. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 1999.
Elowsky, Joel C. ed. John 11-21. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. Downers Grove,
IL: IVP, 2007.
Friends of Henry Ashworth, eds. Christ Our Light: Readings on Gospel Themes. Vol. I. Ambler,
PA: Exordium Books, 1985.
Köstenberger, John. Baker Exegetical Commentary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids:
Baker, 2004.
Sheen, Fulton. The Priest Is Not His Own. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2005.
Toal, M.F. ed. The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers. Vol. II. San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 2000.
Von Balthazar, Hans Urns. Light of the Word. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1993.
Cody, O.S.B., Dom Aelred. “Hebrews” in A New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture.
Reginald Fuller, Leonard Johnston, Conleth Kearns, O.P. eds. Nashville: Nelson, 1975.