Unforgettable

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, June 2nd, 2024:
Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

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Exodus
24.3-8
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Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.”

And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and set up twelve pillars, corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed oxen as offerings of well-being to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he dashed against the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people, and said, “See the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

It doesn’t take much time in Ignatian imaginative prayer to get hung up on the blood. Particularly, Moses sprinkling the blood on the assembled people. As far as I know, this ratification ritual of the first covenant is the only time the sacrificial blood is divided up this way – typically it was only poured on the altar.

The sprinkling on the people is an anointing – a way of sealing them as God’s chosen ones. In my imagination, the assembled people who are blood-flecked are – in the moment – transfixed in the utter immensity of God’s saving power.

But after, their clothes are stained. 

And it’s not like the Israelites had spare outfits at hand. I’m imagining these folks going on about the business of daily life, but in garments streaked in brown bloodstains. Women and children seeing them around the encampments, never able to forget the real, visceral, and often messy covenant with God.

Which is why I was intrigued to learn something about how Jesus speaks about blood. In Matthew 23:35, He speaks of “all the righteous blood that has been shed.” When He says “shed,” the ancient Greek word is “ekcheo.” According to a reader of ancient Greek, “ekcheo” means “to pour out,” and it also means “to be forgotten.” As if in this passage, Jesus is accusing the Pharisees of having forgotten righteousness.

At the last supper, Jesus uses this word again as He proclaims His blood to be that of the new covenant— “‘Ekcheo-ed’ for you and for many.” (I assume that’s how one would say it in ancient Greek!)

And then, of course, He commands “Do this in remembrance of me.”

To me, it’s as if Jesus is asking us to let His Precious Blood stain us. In His humanity, He knows we forget. But when we let His blood stain, we can’t forget. He will ekcheo from the Cross, but it won’t be ekcheo-ed by those who say “Amen.”

We don’t like stains, usually. They are imperfections, lasting reminders of mistakes and mishaps. But the stains of Christ’s blood are perfections, lasting reminders of glory and victory. Stains don’t let us forget – whether we like it or not. Let them become our proud badges of remembrance of Him.




Kate Mosher

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