6. Jesus and consecration: the captivating model
STAGE 4: Towards the Likeness of Jesus Christ
JESUS AND CONSECRATION
THE CAPTIVATING MODEL
Introductory Prayer: Prayer to Jesus (Just click or tap)
CALL
Aim: To know and love Jesus in his way of consecrating himself both to God and to his mission.
Readings
I have come to do your will (Heb 10:5-10): When Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’ (in the scroll of the book it is written of me)”. When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “See, I have come to do your will”. He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Anointed to bring good news to the poor (Lk 4:16-21): When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour”. And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”.
Comment
Jesus lived his Consecration to God fully and wholeheartedly. According to the letter to the Hebrews, at the time of the Incarnation, he said: “O God, you took no pleasure in holocausts or sacrifices for sin; then I said, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will’” (Heb 10:5-7).
To his parents, who showed surprise and worry when they found him in the Temple, among the doctors of the Law, he said: “Did you not know that I must be busy with my Father’s affairs?” (Lk 2:49).
To the disciples who urged him to eat, he replied: “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to complete God’s work” (Jn 4:34).
Jesus’ consecration to God’s plan was deeply rooted both in his mind and in his heart; hence, the strong sense of self-appropriation of his call: “He rolled up the scroll and began to say, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing’” (Lk 4:21).
Also, we admire in Jesus his determination, whenever he had to make important decisions. When the disciples found him in prayer and informed him about people searching for him, he said: “Let us go on to the neighbouring towns so that I may proclaim the message there too; for that is what I came out to do” (Mk 1:38). Luke reports that “when the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up”, i.e., to fulfil the work of redemption, “he set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Lk 9:51). In the garden of Gethsemane, he prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done” (Lk 22:42).
In his so-called “priestly prayer”, he affirmed his consecration as a reality that he lived through to the end: “Father, I have glorified you on earth and finished the work that you gave me to do” (Jn 17:4). He reiterated the same from the cross, when he uttered his last words, “It is accomplished” (Jn 19:30).
Personal Reflection and Sharing
What qualities of Jesus’ consecration inspire me most?
What do I need to do to improve the quality of my own baptismal consecration?
[4-6] CALL RESPONSE COMMITMENT PRAYER