Hope in desperate situations (Heb 10,19-23)

The letter to the Hebrews is intended for a community that suffers persecution to instill hope and their message:

Jesus came to this world to participate in the suffrage of humanity and to open up for us a path of hope to reach the Kingdom of God, because through his passion, death and resurrection offered the Father the most solidary sacrifice, becoming a High Priest, who, when he shed his blood, sympathizes with us and invites us to come closer to the grace of God, the place where we will find the mercy and help we need.

This message frees us from our slavery and makes us live in freedom:

1. The solidarity of Jesus in our pilgrimage.

The theme of “movement” in the letter to the Hebrews consists of:

• In following the steps of Jesus, we have to overcome sin (selfishness, debts, insolidarity, revenge… and overcome with faith the difficulties that we encounter along the path of life.
• It is also a change of attitudes to live in a different way, leaving everything that does not bring us peace, since the realities of this world and its powers bring with them wealth and suffering and make us slaves.

To free ourselves from all this, we need the solidarity of Someone who is stronger than the powers of this world, and this cannot be other than Jesus Christ, who comes to be our brother and who out of solidarity with humanity shed all his blood to bring us to God, who does not fall indifferent to our weaknesses, because He experienced them all except sin.

2. Christ, you are the great High Priest

The saving action of Jesus, freed us from sin, because his power surpasses all the rituals of the Temple. His death on the cross is the last sacrifice and with it the New Alliance is inaugurated

If Christ, to erase our sins, offered his own blood because he wanted to be in solidarity with those who were under sin and felt trapped by fear and death; To say the least, Christ wanted to walk with those who suffer because God has chosen as an address the poor, the marginalized, the anguished and all those who suffer for whatever reason.

3. Christ crucified on the outskirts of the city

The animals, offered as a sacrifice, left the temple grounds, Jesus purified us of our sins, left Jerusalem.

Being expelled from the community meant being expelled from the city gates, which indicated that the expelled person was a criminal, a thief, an undesirable person, not a person and in need of protection; This Jesus accepted him for our redemption, to indicate that the redemption succeeds on the planes of humanity, on the Cross, the place where we find God.

4. Solidarity and hope

The letter to the Hebrews refers to the struggle of a pueblo threatened by the loss of trust in the promises of God, because it seems that they have forgotten them.

Jesus, our high priest, through his precious blood, has given us back confidence against all the powers of the world, sealing the new alliance with God assuring us that, even though we have to suffer hardships, He is there to carry us in His arms.

Commitments

• Having devotion to the blood of Christ, is fighting, without being discouraged, against the powers of the world (selfishness, violence, any kind of war, power…) because our strength is found on the cross of Jesus, High Priest.
• Don't be afraid of suffering, because Jesus Christ will open us up on the path with his solidarity on the cross.
• Being solidary with others, not with a simple “charity or limos”, but suffering, suffering with those who suffer and suffer so that their suffering is a source of hope and strength.
• We have to be artisans of peace, being peaceful people without seeking confrontation in confrontation, and that which unites and strengthens the Community and the Family.
• We strive to make God's home visible in our small world every day: with poverty, humility, senescence and accepting suffering as a redeemer.
• Don't wait for salvation in the greatness of the world like beauty, grandeur, the tener and poser, the appearance of what we don't have, like the crucified Christ.

Jesus Christ crucified left the city calls us to commit ourselves to those who Christ has committed to this pilgrimage of fighting against the powers of evil and changing his attitudes to live a different life: more free, more joyful, more solidary and less selfish and violent.

(Fr. Paulino CPPS)