Hebrews 12:22-24 ©If I were to re-write the paragraph, this is how it would read:
What you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and been placed with spirits of the saints who have been made perfect; and to Jesus, the mediator who brings a new covenant and a blood for purification which pleads more insistently than Abel’s. [1]
You have come to the city of the living God where countless angels have gathered for the Festival of All Saints, with the whole Church in which everyone who loves without condition is a "first-born" child and a citizen of Heaven. You have come to God, the Supreme Judge, and been placed with "the spirits of the just made perfect" [2]; and to Jesus, the Mediator Who brings a new covenant and a blood for purification which pleads for the forgiveness of sins with immediacy; and to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God Who prays and intercedes constantly for the salvation of souls.
I re-wrote it in that way because God's covenant with the original chosen people has been broken and Christ, the Son of God, replaced it with a "new and everlasting covenant." [3], [4]. This new and everlasting covenant is for everyone everywhere, not just for the original chosen people and not only on Mount Zion and in the city of Jerusalem, and because today is the Feast of All Saints (in my mind all true saints only excluding ones canonized by popes for political reasons and for the sake of evangelical expediency), so I took the liberty to apply the verse specifically to the Festival of All Saints even though it is a verse that applies generally to a "festal gathering." [5]
Even as quoted, the image and concept expressed by the words "where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and been placed with spirits of the saints who have been made perfect; and to Jesus, the mediator who brings a new covenant and a blood for purification, including these very words, were, I believe, divinely inspired.
Imagine that we are all in Heaven, all children of God, gathered together with all the angels and true saints before God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrating the saintliness of those sinners who lived (and are living) among us, separated only by earthly time and distance, fully vulnerable to the many variations of Sin yet resolutely strong, strong enough to turn away from Satan, leaving behind its tantalizing offers and gestures.
[1] Universalis, "Vespers (Evening Prayer)," Universalis.com, http://universalis.com/-700/vespers.htm (accessed October 31, 2013) Note: This quoted paragraph may not appear on the Universalis link because Universalis.com updates daily.
[2] Hebrews 12:23. The Catholic Study Bible: The New American Bible, Donald Senior, gen. ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. Print.
[3] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mk+14:22-24
Mark 14:22-24[4] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26%3A26-28&version=NIV
22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”New International Version (NIV)
23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
24 “This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them.Footnotes:
- Mark 14:24 Some manuscripts the new
[5] Hebrews 12:22. The Catholic Study Bible: The New American Bible, Donald Senior, gen. ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. Print.
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