Fifth Sunday of the Great Fast: Our Venerable Mother, Mary of Egypt, Tone 1; Our Venerable Father and Confessor James, Bishop of Catania (813-20)
Great Fast Day 35
Hebrews 9:11-14; Galatians 3:23-29; Mark 10:32-45; Luke 7:36-50
The Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great is celebrated today.
Read Hebrews 9:11-14
Medical science has come a long way in understanding just how critical blood is to life and maintaining a healthy body. Our bodies contain approximately 60,000 miles of blood vessels, and our blood provides everything our cells need to live, while at the same time transporting away waste products that would kill us. If the number of red blood cells a typical adult produces over a lifetime were lined up in a row, they would reach to the sun and back five times! This understanding of life and blood was already described centuries earlier in the Old Covenant, where our Lord forbade His chosen people Israel to eat meat with the blood still in it as “the life of every creature is its blood” (Lev. 17:14). Blood was always used in sacrifices to wash away sins in Temple worship with the sacrifices of animals.
Those of us who have required blood transfusions understand how needed blood is. Sharing blood is sharing life. In the New Covenant, Christ does not offer the blood of animals, but His own blood. He gives us a blood transfusion in the Eucharist which gives us not temporary, but eternal life. The shedding of His blood for us takes away our sin, but approaching without discerning this blood, or in other words, approaching the Eucharist with a spirit of flippancy, irreverence or entitlement makes us guilty of that very blood. Our Lord’s forgiveness is always available to us and far surpasses our ability to sin, but we must admit that we have sinned and ask His forgiveness if we are to receive His eternal medicine.
As this season of Lent comes to a close and we prepare for Holy Week and the Lord’s Pascha, make some time for an examination of conscience. Ask yourself how you approach the Eucharist. Ask the Lord to give you eyes to see the incredible gift that He is offering you. Also, make time to meet Him in Confession to prepare to celebrate His triumphant Resurrection!