THE ANCHOR

Why do things do not happen the way we planned it to happen? We sometimes succumb to despair and let the disappointment and dismay get to us. We've got to accept the fact that not all people and circumstances that surround us will always agree with what we have in mind and no matter how hard we try it simply won't work. The only thing that will matter is how to always accept things as they come with a hopeful and cheerful disposition knowing that we have a God who plans ahead of us and go before us. Today’s 1st reading begins with a statement of faith. This letter to the Hebrews is addressed to a community that has been Christians for some time. They had been showing a love and concern for other Christians as well and something to be commended for. They have had faith and shown love and good work. Faith has to be maintained in its entirety. It’s not just about love and service but about everything in order to maintain a balance. Just like any other Christian community there is a problem that always come up when they lose zeal and go backwards. They need to be encouraged when they are feeling weak in the faith. In the earlier part of this letter it is written in Hebrews  5:13-14 “Everyone who lives on milk lacks experience of the word of righteousness, for he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties are trained by practice to discern good and evil.” They are being compared to babies who need milk instead of meat in the faith. They have fallen back and being reminded not to become sluggish, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, are inheriting the promises. They have lost their eagerness and are not showing the same zeal for the faith. In order to inherit the promise, faith and patience is necessary. For the most part there will be persecutions for the members of the Church. It is shown in the latter part of this letter to the Hebrews that Christians are harassed, their properties are confiscated and things get worse in the future. There’s a need to be more committed to the faith to obtain the promise. We can see written in Gen 22:16-17 "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son, I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing--all this because you obeyed my command.'' God swore by Himself and indeed blessed Abraham.  For when Abraham was asked to sacrifice His son he did as he was told despite the fact that Isaac, is the son of promise but is the one being asked to be sacrificed. He may ask God how is the promise to be fulfilled but he did not and obeyed. God saw his act of supreme faith. At this point God realized that he is a man that trusts God no matter what God asks for. If Abraham can do it, so can we.  Considering that our situation is not that bad yet, we can go ahead with faith and hope.  We saw the promise fulfilled, Isaac had 2 sons, Jacob and Esau, then the sons of Jacob and so on and so forth. They are very small people with small beginnings. We too, inherit the promise that God swears by Himself. Human beings swear with someone greater than himself like the Bible is greater than our own words. Once we’ve given our word we can’t negotiate anymore. God swears an oath and does so by Himself for no one is greater than God. There are 2 immutable things, first the promise that God gives and second the oath that He will do it. Amen. Hallelujah!

Hebrews 6:10-20

10 Brothers and sisters: God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones. 11 We earnestly desire each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, are inheriting the promises. 13 When God made the promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, “he swore by himself,” 14 and said, “I will indeed bless you and multiply you.” 15 And so, after patient waiting, he obtained the promise. 16 Human beings swear by someone greater than themselves; for them an oath serves as a guarantee and puts an end to all argument. 17 So when God wanted to give the heirs of his promise an even clearer demonstration of the immutability of his purpose, he intervened with an oath, 18 so that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to hold fast to the hope that lies before us. 19 This we have as an anchor of the soul, sure and firm, which reaches into the interior behind the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered on our behalf as forerunner, becoming high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

An anchor is a great image for faith because it doesn’t move about, held down fast and makes firm our position. Hope with faith does not simply mean a subjective feeling of hope that depends on our own personal feelings. What are the things that we hope for? Our hope should be something objective. We should hope for what God has promised. It should be our hope that we’ll go to heaven. This is the hope that we should have in our mind, our motivation to keep and stir up our faith. It is an extremely important goal for us. We do not simply have hope in seeking for the pleasures of this world. This pleasure is tangible and something that we can get a hold of immediately. The idea of postponing the pleasure, like not resorting to drugs, pre marital sex, alcohol and not depend on what seems to be the sole pleasure in life like possessions and all sorts of material things and focus on a hope in the future. We postpone the pleasures in this life and have the hope that there is a pleasure that surpasses these pleasures of this world. We have to develop virtue or the strength on the inside. The word virtue means strength. Our interior strength comes from the fact that we lose heaven if we seek those pleasures and make them the goal in our lives. It is such a pity if it will be where the anchor of our hope lies. Our hope in the promises of God may seem to be veiled at the moment. We have to reach beyond the veil just like the veil in front of the holy tabernacle or the Holy of Holies. Essentially, it was shielding a holy God from sinful man. Whoever entered into the Holy of Holies was entering the very presence of God. In fact, anyone except the high priest who entered the Holy of Holies would die. Even the high priest, God’s chosen mediator with His people, could only pass through the veil and enter this sacred dwelling once a year, on a prescribed day called the Day of Atonement. The picture of the veil was that of a barrier between man and God, showing man that the holiness of God could not be trifled with. God’s eyes are too pure to look on evil and He can tolerate no sin (Habakkuk 1:13). The veil was a barrier to make sure that man could not carelessly and irreverently enter into God’s awesome presence. Even as the high priest entered the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, he had to make some meticulous preparations: He had to wash himself, put on special clothing, bring burning incense to let the smoke cover his eyes from a direct view of God, and bring blood with him to make atonement for sins.

“But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.” (Hebrews 9:7)

So the presence of God remained shielded from man behind a thick curtain during the history of Israel. However, Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross changed that. When He died, the curtain in the Jerusalem temple was torn in half, from the top to the bottom. Only God could have carried out such an incredible feat because the veil was too high for human hands to have reached it, and too thick to have torn it. Jesus a forerunner, high priest through His death and resurrection entered heaven. Thus we too are given this free access to enter heaven. If we know that we are standing on a firm and steady ground then we are confident that we are safe and secure. There is no doubt that the will of God will never take us where the grace of God will not protect us and will surely see us through for He is a truly reliable God. We have a God whom we can surely rely on. We've got to focus more on the bright and good side of life at all times because we have a great God who always works wonders in our lives. We can always rely on God at all times and be assured that the wisest thing that we can do for ourselves is to follow His precepts which are all truth and equity. There is nothing more we ought to do but live by it. In this movie about Moses it struck me how many times he kept on reminding the people of God's covenant. Every time God shows His signs, wonders and miracles the people are filled with faith but it doesn't last for each time they easily forget and not remember. Let us always remind ourselves of these signs, wonders and miracles that happened a long time ago even up to the present time for it remains true forever and ever. We have been declared through Jesus as God's own for He has made a covenant with us, the work of His hands. Let us not set this aside or neglect and put ourselves in our rightful place as His people.  God is always true and faithful to his covenant. We can count on Him to carry out and fulfill His part. It is our part of the covenant that we need to be concerned about. We've got to respond to God and fulfill our part of the bargain for our own good. This we need to be aware of and keep in mind always. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 111:1-2, 4-5, 9-10

R: The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.

1 I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart in the company and assembly of the just. 2 Great are the works of the LORD, exquisite in all their delights. (R) He has won renown for his wondrous deeds; gracious and merciful is the LORD. 5 He has given food to those who fear him; he will forever be mindful of his covenant.  (R) 9 He has sent deliverance to his people; he has ratified his covenant forever; holy and awesome is his name. 10 His praise endures forever.

Jesus is the anchor of hope that we can go to heaven because he enters as high priest not once a year and leave like in the temple of the Holy of Holies. Jesus remains in heaven to intercede for us. There is a rope that links to the anchor, our hope is the rope that links us to Jesus. Jesus is the anchor for our hope to spur us in our Christian life. In love we are created by God, in justice we are condemned but in His mercy we are redeemed through Jesus Christ. It is always best to read and study scriptures in order for us to be guided in our daily lives. Everything that scriptures say are true and lasts for all time. There is no doubt to the truth that every single thing about it should stay intact and unaltered. Heaven and earth will fade but God's words will remain. But in all of these things we must not overlook and forget that love should always be the motive and driving force of every word that comes from God. David is a man of God who based his actions first and foremost on the love God has planted in His heart that is why he was chosen King. There are times when we are too caught up in the legalities of our businesses we sometimes forget that God should be the center of everything we do and on top of all our priorities. Amen. Hallelujah!

Mark 2:23-28

As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. 24 At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” 25 He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? 26 How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” 27 Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. 28 That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”