AGNES, Virgin and Martyr
Introduction
Few saints have been as popular in Rome as the twelve or thirteen-year old girl martyr St. Agnes. At a time of massive defections from the faith, in 305 she endured the torture with idealism and patient faithfulness. Even the young can make hard decisions. As her name comes either from Gr. agnos (pure) or from L. agnus (lamb), she is celebrated today by the pope blessing unblemished lambs from whose wool the pallium (liturgical vestment of archbishops) will be woven.
Heb 9:2-3, 11-14
A large outer tent was set up. The lampstand, the table, and “the bread of presence” were placed in it. This was called “the Holy Place.” Then a curtain was stretched, and behind it a smaller, inside tent set up. This was called “the Holy of Holies.” In it were placed the gold incense altar and the gold-covered ark of the covenant containing the gold urn of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, the covenant tablets, and the angel-wing-shadowed mercy seat. But we don’t have time to comment on these now.
But when the Messiah arrived, high priest of the superior things of this new covenant, he bypassed the old tent and its trappings in this created world and went straight into heaven’s “tent”—the true Holy Place—once and for all. He also bypassed the sacrifices consisting of goat and calf blood, instead using his own blood as the price to set us free once and for all. If that animal blood and the other rituals of purification were effective in cleaning up certain matters of our religion and behavior, think how much more the blood of Christ cleans up our whole lives, inside and out. Through the Spirit, Christ offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice, freeing us from all those dead-end efforts to make ourselves respectable, so that we can live all out for God.
Mk 3:20-21
Jesus came home and, as usual, a crowd gathered—so many making demands on him that there wasn’t even time to eat. His friends heard what was going on and went to rescue him, by force if necessary. They suspected he was believing his own press.
Prayer
God our Father,
youth and innocence are no obstacle
to understand the message of your Son
and to follow him with courage.
Let the quiet strength of St. Agnes inspire us
not to be ashamed of your Son
and of his message of life and freedom
even in the face of contradiction.
As we bear the name of your Son,
help us to be ever faithful to him,
for he is our Lord for ever.
Reflection:
21 January 2023
Hebrews 9:2-3, 11-14
St Agnes was martyred at the end of the persecution of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, probably in the early years of the 4th century. She is thought to have been between 12 and 15 years of age. The name ‘Agnes’ comes from the Latin word for ‘lamb’ (agna). she was very young when she gave her life to preserve her integrity. St Ambrose says she was just 12 when suffered martyrdom.
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews gives a comparison between the Arc of the Covenant – the tabernacle and sacrifices of the Old Testament, and the new tabernacle and the new sacrifice of Jesus. During their years of wandering in the desert, the Israelites had a special tent serving as God’s sanctuary in their midst, until King Solomon built the first Temple.
Holy of Holies in the temple, was accessible to the High Priest only once a year, on the feast of Yom Kippur, the Feast of Atonement. The Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant, in which they placed Aaron’s rod which had miraculously blossomed, and the Tablets of the Law. Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies, once a year and could sprinkle the blood of the sacrificial animal over the seat of mercy for the atonement of sins of himself and of the people. Ordinary people were never allowed to go anywhere near the sanctuary.
But, when Jesus came, he entered the “Holy Place”, the inner sanctuary of God himself. Jesusbrought with him not the sacrificial blood of any animal but his own blood. Jesus offers all of us without any exception access to this sanctuary.
There is no real comparison between the two. The Blood of Christ, who offered himself to theFather, will purify and liberate us. We are now freed from the slavery of “dead works” or merely external observance of laws and rituals.
The author tells his community not to go back on a ritualistic religion, but instead to realise that it is through Spirit that we approach the new tabernacle. And that Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, our Risen Lord. The only requirement to approach this New Tabernacle is to love one another even by giving one’s life for one’s friends.