In the second reading of today's liturgy, Hebrews 10: 5-10, St. Paul reminds us of when Jesus came into the world, God wanted obedience to His will, not sacrifices of thousands and thousands of animals to appease for sin. As explained by St. Paul to the Hebrews and to us about Jesus becoming human and what God wanted of him: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight. [Jesus' response:] Then I said, 'As is written of me in the scroll, behold, I come to do your will, O God.'....[Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings] are offered according to the law [and the law cannot save anyone]. Then he [Jesus] says, 'Behold, I come to do your will.'"
We cannot save ourselves. Only Jesus can! By His obedience to God's will we are saved and sanctified. The gift of salvation is freely given to us! As with Jesus, God does not want sacrifices from us. He wants our obedience to the Spirit's promptings to do good and avoid evil, to forgive those who hurt us and not hang on to resentments, to ask for pardon, to love and not hate, to act in justice and mercy and not out of revenge exacting demands, such as an eye for an eye.
In today's responsorial psalm, we pray: "Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved" from Satan's lies and the ways he lures us to turn away from You.
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