Sacrifice and Oblation I seek not

Sacrifice and Oblation I seek not 

Jesus’ main reason for becoming man was to search and find those who were in need of healing.  “Those who are well don't need a physician, but the sick do.  Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”  (Mt.9: 13).  From the footnotes; “If mercy is superior to the temple sacrifices, how much more to the laws of ritual impurity.”  

“For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than holocausts.”  (Hos. 6:6).  The very verse Matthew uses as Jesus speaks responding to the Pharisees after he was at table in the tax collector’s house.  

It appears that the Pharisees were always concerned about the law and could not fathom the idea of healing sin becoming the prime example of Jesus’ mission.

“Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of the offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat?”  “I say to you something greater than the temple is here.”  “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”  (Mt. 12: 3 -4, 6 - 7).  

We have grown up with the idea of sacrifice, especially at Lent, is the manner to reach into our own sinfulness and remember the sins Jesus died for belong to each of us.  However, here again the term Sacrifice and Oblation I seek not, but mercy.  Could we for just one moment place ourselves within that thought and do something that promotes mercy for others which goes beyond giving something up.  When we forgo candy, movies, or indulging in wasteless activities for a sacrifice, try finding a person who is lonely or hungry and attend to their needs.  Remember Mt. 31, “Judgment of the Nations”  I was hungry and you fed me, I was lonely and you visited me.  Regardless of what someone tells you that sacrifice is essential, tell them to read that part of Matthew’s Gospel.  It fits all year, not just Lent.

Ralph B. Hathaway