DAY 54: JAN 25

LEVITICUS 1-3

The Burnt Offering

1 The Lord summoned Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying: ² Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When any of you bring an offering of livestock to the Lord, you shall bring your offering from the herd or from the flock.

³ If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you shall offer a male without blemish; you shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, for acceptance in your behalf before the Lord. ⁴ You shall lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be acceptable in your behalf as atonement for you. ⁵ The bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall offer the blood, dashing the blood against all sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ⁶ The burnt offering shall be flayed and cut up into its parts. ⁷ The sons of the priest Aaron shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. ⁸ Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the parts, with the head and the suet, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar; ⁹ but its entrails and its legs shall be washed with water. Then the priest shall turn the whole into smoke on the altar as a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord.

¹⁰ If your gift for a burnt offering is from the flock, from the sheep or goats, your offering shall be a male without blemish. ¹¹ It shall be slaughtered on the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall dash its blood against all sides of the altar. ¹² It shall be cut up into its parts, with its head and its suet, and the priest shall arrange them on the wood that is on the fire on the altar; ¹³ but the entrails and the legs shall be washed with water. Then the priest shall offer the whole and turn it into smoke on the altar; it is a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord.

¹⁴ If your offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, you shall choose your offering from turtledoves or pigeons.¹⁵ The priest shall bring it to the altar and wring off its head, and turn it into smoke on the altar; and its blood shall be drained out against the side of the altar. ¹⁶ He shall remove its crop with its contents^[a] and throw it at the east side of the altar, in the place for ashes. ¹⁷ He shall tear it open by its wings without severing it. Then the priest shall turn it into smoke on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire; it is a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to theLord.

Grain Offerings

2 When anyone presents a grain offering to the Lord, the offering shall be of choice flour; the worshiper shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it, ² and bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. After taking from it a handful of the choice flour and oil, with all its frankincense, the priest shall turn this token portion into smoke on the altar, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord. ³ And what is left of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons, a most holy part of the offerings by fire to the Lord.

⁴ When you present a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be of choice flour: unleavened cakes mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers spread with oil. ⁵ If your offering is grain prepared on a griddle, it shall be of choice flour mixed with oil, unleavened; ⁶ break it in pieces, and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. ⁷ If your offering is grain prepared in a pan, it shall be made of choice flour in oil. ⁸ You shall bring to the Lord the grain offering that is prepared in any of these ways; and when it is presented to the priest, he shall take it to the altar. ⁹ The priest shall remove from the grain offering its token portion and turn this into smoke on the altar, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord.¹⁰ And what is left of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings by fire to the Lord.

¹¹ No grain offering that you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you must not turn any leaven or honey into smoke as an offering by fire to the Lord. ¹² You may bring them to the Lord as an offering of choice products, but they shall not be offered on the altar for a pleasing odor. ¹³ You shall not omit from your grain offerings the salt of the covenant with your God; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.

¹⁴ If you bring a grain offering of first fruits to the Lord, you shall bring as the grain offering of your first fruits coarse new grain from fresh ears, parched with fire. ¹⁵ You shall add oil to it and lay frankincense on it; it is a grain offering.¹⁶ And the priest shall turn a token portion of it into smoke—some of the coarse grain and oil with all its frankincense; it is an offering by fire to the Lord.

Offerings of Well-Being

3 If the offering is a sacrifice of well-being, if you offer an animal of the herd, whether male or female, you shall offer one without blemish before the Lord. ² You shall lay your hand on the head of the offering and slaughter it at the entrance of the tent of meeting; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall dash the blood against all sides of the altar. ³ You shall offer from the sacrifice of well-being, as an offering by fire to the Lord, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is around the entrails; ⁴ the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the appendage of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys. ⁵ Then Aaron’s sons shall turn these into smoke on the altar, with the burnt offering that is on the wood on the fire, as an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord.

⁶ If your offering for a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord is from the flock, male or female, you shall offer one without blemish. ⁷ If you present a sheep as your offering, you shall bring it before the Lord ⁸ and lay your hand on the head of the offering. It shall be slaughtered before the tent of meeting, and Aaron’s sons shall dash its blood against all sides of the altar. ⁹ You shall present its fat from the sacrifice of well-being, as an offering by fire to the Lord: the whole broad tail, which shall be removed close to the backbone, the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is around the entrails; ¹⁰ the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the appendage of the liver, which you shall remove with the kidneys. ¹¹ Then the priest shall turn these into smoke on the altar as a food offering by fire to the Lord.

¹² If your offering is a goat, you shall bring it before the Lord ¹³ and lay your hand on its head; it shall be slaughtered before the tent of meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall dash its blood against all sides of the altar. ¹⁴ You shall present as your offering from it, as an offering by fire to the Lord, the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is around the entrails; ¹⁵ the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the appendage of the liver, which you shall remove with the kidneys. ¹⁶ Then the priest shall turn these into smoke on the altar as a food offering by fire for a pleasing odor.

All fat is the Lord’s. ¹⁷ It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, in all your settlements: you must not eat any fat or any blood.

PSALM 56

Trust in God under Persecution

To the leader: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. Of David. A Miktam, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

¹ Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me;
    all day long foes oppress me;
² my enemies trample on me all day long,
    for many fight against me.
O Most High, ³ when I am afraid,
    I put my trust in you.
⁴ In God, whose word I praise,
    in God I trust; I am not afraid;
    what can flesh do to me?

⁵ All day long they seek to injure my cause;
    all their thoughts are against me for evil.
⁶ They stir up strife, they lurk,
    they watch my steps.
As they hoped to have my life,
⁷     so repay^[a] them for their crime;
    in wrath cast down the peoples, O God!

⁸ You have kept count of my tossings;
    put my tears in your bottle.
    Are they not in your record?
⁹ Then my enemies will retreat
    in the day when I call.
    This I know, that^[b] God is for me.
¹⁰ In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise,
¹¹ in God I trust; I am not afraid.
    What can a mere mortal do to me?

¹² My vows to you I must perform, O God;
    I will render thank offerings to you.
¹³ For you have delivered my soul from death,
    and my feet from falling,
so that I may walk before God
    in the light of life.

MATTHEW 27: 51-66

⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. ⁵² The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. ⁵³ After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. ⁵⁴ Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”^[a]

⁵⁵ Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. ⁵⁶ Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

The Burial of Jesus

⁵⁷ When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸ He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. ⁵⁹ So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth ⁶⁰ and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. ⁶¹ Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb

⁶² The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate ⁶³ and said, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ ⁶⁴ Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.” ⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, “You have a guard^[b] of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.”^[c] 66 So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

CATECHISM 430-435

ARTICLE 2

"AND IN JESUS CHRIST, HIS ONLY SON, OUR LORD"

I. Jesus

430 Jesus means in Hebrew: "God saves." At the annunciation, the angel Gabriel gave him the name Jesus as his proper name, which expresses both his identity and his mission.¹⁸ Since God alone can forgive sins, it is God who, in Jesus his eternal Son made man, "will save his people from their sins".¹⁹ in Jesus, God recapitulates all of his history of salvation on behalf of men.

431 In the history of salvation God was not content to deliver Israel "out of the house of bondage"²⁰ by bringing them out of Egypt. He also saves them from their sin. Because sin is always an offence against God, only he can forgive it.²¹ For this reason Israel, becoming more and more aware of the universality of sin, will no longer be able to seek salvation except by invoking the name of the Redeemer God.²²

432 The name "Jesus" signifies that the very name of God is present in the person of his Son, made man for the universal and definitive redemption from sins. It is the divine name that alone brings salvation, and henceforth all can invoke his name, for Jesus united himself to all men through his Incarnation,²³ so that "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."²⁴

433 The name of the Saviour God was invoked only once in the year by the high priest in atonement for the sins of Israel, after he had sprinkled the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies with the sacrificial blood. the mercy seat was the place of God's presence.²⁵ When St. Paul speaks of Jesus whom "God put forward as an expiation by his blood", he means that in Christ's humanity "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself."²⁶

434 Jesus' Resurrection glorifies the name of the Saviour God, for from that time on it is the name of Jesus that fully manifests the supreme power of the "name which is above every name".²⁷ The evil spirits fear his name; in his name his disciples perform miracles, for the Father grants all they ask in this name.²⁸

435 The name of Jesus is at the heart of Christian prayer. All liturgical prayers conclude with the words "through our Lord Jesus Christ". the Hail Mary reaches its high point in the words "blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." the Eastern prayer of the heart, the Jesus Prayer, says: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Many Christians, such as St. Joan of Arc, have died with the one word "Jesus" on their lips.