From Isaac to Jesus...

Thursday, July 1, 2021 (Memorial of St. Junipero Serra, Priest of God)

First Reading of the Holy Mass

Meditation: Genesis 22:1-19

Abraham brought his son Isaac (and two servants who helped with the donkey [as when Jesus was carried through the town on a colt…the foal of a donkey; and eventually to the hill of Calvary]), to the mountain to sacrifice him to God. It was an agonizing thing for him to enact this since it was his very beloved son. Finally, on the third day of the trip when Abraham tied Isaac to the altar of sacrifice, he was about to carry it out when an angel of the Lord told him to stop. Abraham then saw a ram caught in a bush or bramble and used it in Isaac’s place…

As we well know, this story corresponds and prefigures what Jesus went through for us as he was placed on a cross after carrying it (as when Abraham placed the wood on his son’s shoulders); was tied to the Cross (as when Isaac was tied to the altar of sacrifice); and on the third day rose from the dead (as when Abraham stopped and spied the ram…it was a type of Resurrection for Isaac to continue to carry out God’s Covenant to the people). Jesus, after suffering and dying on the cross, rose from the dead on the third day after 3 years of ministry & 3 days of agony. Abraham’s beloved son was spared; God’s beloved Son was not!!!

…So the Israelites continued to use animals in sacrifice until Jesus came and fulfilled the Old Testament with the New, while instituting the Last Supper as a perpetual institution to the remembrance of God’s New Covenant…not just with Israel this time but with all people…Jesus suffered on the altar of sacrifice (the Cross) and rose again on the third day and ascended into Heaven, whereby the Holy Spirit was sent to guide the Apostles in building the Church…the Holy Roman Catholic Church led by Peter through the centuries…

…Let us continue to praise, worship, and serve God, loving him deeply and especially in our neighbors. They are truly the 2 commandments of the New Covenant that fulfill what God gave to Moses in the 10 Commandments.