"Left nothing not subject to Him" (Hebrews 2: 5-11)

In today's first reading, Hebrews 2: 5-12, St. Paul reminds us that God "left nothing not 'subject to him [Jesus]. Yet at present we do not see 'all things subject to him,' but we do see Jesus 'crowned with glory and honor' because he suffered death, he who 'for a little while' was made  'lower than the angels,' that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone."

The author of the Entrance Antiphon for today's liturgy says to us: "Upon a lofty throne  I saw a man seated, whom a host of angels adore, singing in unison: Behold, the name of whose empire is eternal."  That man is the son of man to whom God "left nothing not 'subject to  him'" and whom God "made...for a little while lower than the angels; [God] crowned him with glory and honor, subjecting all things under his feet"(Psalm 8).

It is this son of man whose "fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee" (today's Gospel, Mark 1: 21-28), following his miracles: his casting out Satan from possessed individuals, his healing of the sick and the lame, his raising the dead to life, his restoring lepers to wholeness, and his forgiveness of sins.  This son of God transformed bread and wine into His body and blood at the Last Supper before He died and continues doing so on every altar during the Catholic Mass and says to us: "Take and eat--this is my body given up for you; take and drink--this is my blood poured out for you"  (Luke 22: 19-20). It is this son of man who died upon the cross,  rose again, and ascended into heaven, from whence He sends the Holy Spirit as our Advocate throughout our life here on earth. It is that Spirit who opens our minds and hearts to all that Jesus taught in the Gospels, who transforms us into the person God intends us to be and cleanses us from all of our sins in the sacraments of the Catholic Church!

The Risen Jesus never leaves us and brings to completion what God has begun in us in our baptisms! At the end of our lives, it is Jesus who comes back to us and takes us where He is, that is to the "empire [that] is eternal," where "a host of angels adore" Him, the Son of God made man!

Triumph over Evil

In today's first reading, Daniel 7:2-14,  Daniel shares a vision he has throughout the night:  ...the four winds stirred up the great sea, from which emerged four immense beasts, each different from the others": A lion with eagle's wings, a bear with three tusks in its mouth, a leopard with four wings and four heads, and a fourth beast with ten horns looking more terrible than all the others.  All of these beasts lost their dominion, their power and their strength, as the "Ancient One took his throne," and as "[t]he court was convened" and "One like a son of man coming on the clouds of heaven...reached the Ancient One."  This son of man was given "dominion, glory and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed."

All of creation is subject to the Lord. All humankind belongs to God: all nations, all peoples, all nationalities, all races belong to God. Evil, in any form--arrogance, pride, prejudice, jealousy, deceitfulness, lust, slothfulness, violence, and other forms of rebellion against God and others--will be destroyed.  "Dominion, glory and kingship" belong only to Jesus, not to us!