Christ, our Mediator at the Father's Right Hand

In today’s first reading, Hebrews 9: 15, 24-28, St. Paul speaks about Christ, the “mediator of a new covenant.”  Jesus, once and for all, shed His blood for the remission of sin. In Paul’s words:   “… now once for all he has appeared at the end of the ages to take away sin by his sacrifice.”    On the cross, Jesus was made sin for us.   He sacrificed His life in obedience to the Father to fully atone for the sin of disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, and subsequently by all of us. We have all sinned. And we all are redeemed by the blood of Christ, the unblemished Lamb of God.

Following His death , Jesus entered the sanctuary, not made by human hands like the sanctuary where the blood of unblemished animals were sacrificed over and over again, but the sanctuary of heaven. There at God’s right hand, Jesus intercedes for us day and night, 365 days a year.  “ Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, so also 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.”  Though we do not know the time of Jesus’ second coming, we wait upon the Lord with courage.

The Lord will not disappoint! The Lord keeps His promises forever unlike no other!  And, so, in the liturgy’s responsorial psalm, Psalm 98, we “[s]ing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wondrous deeds; His right hand has won victory for Him, His holy arm. The Lord has made His salvation known: in the sight of the nations He has revealed His justice, He has remembered His kindness and His faithfulness toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands, break into song; sing praise.”