As we enter “Ordinary Time” in the Church calendar, Mother Church gives us four weeks of first readings from the book of Hebrews. Hebrews ties together the Old and New Testaments. It is a well-loved and very important book, but it can be confusing. So I’d like to begin today’s reflection with some basic information about Hebrews before looking more prayerfully at today’s Gospel.
We do not know who wrote the book of Hebrews. Its logic is congruent with the teachings of St. Paul, but it is written in a very different style. Most scholars do not see St. Paul as the author. The audience is clearly Christians with a Jewish heritage. Because it speaks of sacrifices in the temple in the present tense, it is generally dated before 70 AD. It is not a letter. It is more an essay or treatise. Scholars see Christians in Jerusalem as the most likely audience, though I have read a good case that it was written for Jewish Christians in Rome.
There are some real similarities in underlying issues between Hebrews and 1 John, which we just completed. Early Christians were wrestling with what the Incarnation means. While resurrection of the dead was widely (though not universally) accepted within Jewish thought, it was seen as something that would happen at the end of time. Resurrection of the dead was also something that people couldn’t do. Resurrection of the dead was the province of God.
So Jesus’ resurrection was seen as proof of his divinity.
But what of Jesus’ humanity? And how could both divinity and humanity be present in one man? Was Jesus human as well as divine? Or was he the divine who entered a human body—like angels sometimes did.
References to angels appear frequently in Hebrews. Those references are a part of what used to really confuse me about Hebrews. I couldn’t see how they fit with the dominant references throughout the Old Testament that tie Jesus to the Messiah promised by the prophets. But apparently some in the community addressed by Hebrews thought Jesus was divine (at an angel level) who appeared as human—like Gabriel when he spoke to Zechariah and to Mary. So the fact that Jesus was not an angel is an essential concept in Hebrews, just as Jesus’ fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures, prophets, and hopes.
The book begins with a discussion of Jesus’ relationship to angels. The author is clear: Jesus is Son and the angels are to worship him:
For to which of the angels did God ever say:
You are my Son; this day I have begotten you?
Or again:
I will be a father to him, and he shall be a
Son to me?
And again, when he leads the first born into the world, he says:
Let all the angels of God worship him.
As you encounter other references to angels as we read and pray Hebrews, it may help you to keep in mind that angels were a part of early Christian thought and questions about what the Incarnation fully meant.
In Every Age
In every age, the culture of the day gives Christians issues that question faith. I’ve never had a conversation with someone who debated Jesus was an angel instead of God. That is not a contemporary question. But I’ve had plenty of conversations that questioned Jesus’ divinity. As evangelist to our age, Bishop Robert Barron, points out, our Christian-formed culture forgets our history through the ages in which Christianity taught us to care for the sick, educate the young, treat each other with justice, and respond to those in need with mercy. Today people in our culture can see such things as the work of humans. So, they see the substance and example of Jesus as the substance and example of a “good, wise man.” That makes it an easy jump to say, “There is no God.”
In many ways the work of Bishop Barron and many others (including A Catholic Moment’s) is to work to equip Christians to counter the questions and doubts of our age, just as Hebrews was written to help Christians in the first century to speak to the questions and doubts of their time.
In every age there are questions and doubts. Yet in every age, Jesus has the same message he has in today’s Gospel:
“This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”
And Today, in Our Age….
I attended a meeting on Saturday as part of a team preparing to lead a retreat in our parish during Lent. As the leadership team came together, we talked about what we had gained from our own retreats last year. The repetitive themes were: “I realized that God really loves ME,” “I gained confidence because I realized I have been forgiven,” and “I became bolder. I realized I have a story to tell.” “I realized discipleship is real and a real call to me.”
Today’s Gospel talks about how Jesus “picked up” some of his first disciples.
As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Then they left their nets and followed him.
It sounds pretty simple when Jesus does it, doesn’t it? “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
He will.
And in Our Lives.
As we were thinking about who we might specifically ask to go on retreat this year, I noticed a friend sitting next to me had a couple of the same people in mind that I had. We talked about both of us asking them. She laughed and said, “Somebody might say, ‘TWO people asked me to go on this retreat, maybe God wants me to do it.’”
Maybe he does. And that might be all it takes to get them there.
When has Jesus passed by you and said, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men?” When did you realize you have been forgiven? When is the last time you relished awareness of how much God really loves you?
Do you think of yourself as called to be a fisher of men?
When was the last time you went on retreat?
Maybe this is a good time to see when there is a retreat near you–to attend or to learn to lead.
Prayer:
Lord, from time to time, all my life, you’ve passed by and said, “Repent and believe in the Gospel” or “Come after me, and I will make you a fisher of men.” Every time I’ve answered your call, I’ve come closer to you. Where and how are you calling me today? Help me to listen…and to follow.
