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Lent with the Book of Exodus (Ch 28)

March 12, 2024

Fr. John Colacino C.PP.S.

Exodus 28 (Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent)

“Bring Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, near to you from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office: Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. You shall speak to all who are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. These are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a fitted tunic, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. They shall use the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the fine linen.

“They shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the skillful workman. It shall have two shoulder straps joined to the two ends of it, that it may be joined together. The skillfully woven band, which is on it, shall be like its work and of the same piece; of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel. Six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the six that remain on the other stone, in the order of their birth. With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones, according to the names of the children of Israel. You shall make them to be enclosed in settings of gold. You shall put the two stones on the shoulder straps of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel. Aaron shall bear their names before Yahweh on his two shoulders for a memorial. You shall make settings of gold, and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them like cords of braided work. You shall put the braided chains on the settings.

“You shall make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the skillful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, you shall make it. It shall be square and folded double; a span shall be its length, and a span its width. You shall set in it settings of stones, four rows of stones: a row of ruby, topaz, and beryl shall be the first row; and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald; and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be enclosed in gold in their settings. The stones shall be according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, everyone according to his name, they shall be for the twelve tribes. You shall make on the breastplate chains like cords, of braided work of pure gold. You shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. You shall put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate. The other two ends of the two braided chains you shall put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in its forepart. You shall make two rings of gold, and you shall put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its edge, which is toward the side of the ephod inward. You shall make two rings of gold, and shall put them on the two shoulder straps of the ephod underneath, in its forepart, close by its coupling, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. They shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate may not swing out from the ephod. Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment on his heart, when he goes in to the holy place, for a memorial before Yahweh continually. You shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before Yahweh. Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel on his heart before Yahweh continually.

“You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. It shall have a hole for the head in the middle of it. It shall have a binding of woven work around its hole, as it were the hole of a coat of mail, that it not be torn. On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, all around its hem; with bells of gold between and around them: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. It shall be on Aaron to minister: and its sound shall be heard when he goes in to the holy place before Yahweh, and when he comes out, that he not die.

“You shall make a plate of pure gold, and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘HOLY TO YAHWEH.’ You shall put it on a lace of blue, and it shall be on the sash. It shall be on the front of the sash. It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall make holy in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always on his forehead, that they may be accepted before Yahweh. You shall weave the tunic with fine linen. You shall make a turban of fine linen. You shall make a sash, the work of the embroiderer.

“You shall make tunics for Aaron’s sons. You shall make sashes for them. You shall make headbands for them, for glory and for beauty. You shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. You shall make them linen pants to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the waist even to the thighs. They shall be on Aaron and on his sons, when they go in to the Tent of Meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place, that they don’t bear iniquity, and die. This shall be a statute forever to him and to his offspring after him.

Commentary

Our Lord was the good physician who bore our infirmities and cured our ills; yet he did not arrogate to himself the glory of becoming high priest; this was conferred on him by the Father when he said: You are my Son, today 1 have begotten you. He also says elsewhere: You are a priest for ever in the order of Melchizedek. Since as a priest he was to be the model of all priests, he became one of us, so that during his earthly life he might offer up prayer and entreaty, with loud cries and tears, to God his Father; and, Son though he was, he might learn obedience through suffering. This obedience was his lesson to us; in this way he became the source of salvation for us all. When at last he had reached the full measure of his sufferings and his obedience had been perfected, he healed us and took away our sins. In the same way, it was God himself who chose Aaron to be the high priest making it clear that the choice would not depend on the will of man but on the favour of God. None was to propose himself for the priesthood or take it upon himself: it was to be a heavenly vocation. The one who was to offer sacrifice for sins would be someone capable of sympathizing with sinners, aware, as Scripture says, that he too was beset by weakness. No one may confer the honour of the priesthood on himself; it is for the one called to it by God, as Aaron was. Even Christ did not arrogate the priesthood to himself; it was conferred on him. Since succession in the office of high priest was reckoned by descent from Aaron, those who were descended from him did not necessarily inherit his holiness. This is why Christ came as the fulfilment of what was foreshadowed in Melchizedek, the true king of peace; his very name means true king of holiness. He has no father, no mother, no genealogy; his years have no beginning, his life no end. All of this applies to the Son of God, who had no mother in his divine generation, no father when born of the Virgin Mary; begotten of the Father alone before time began, born of a virgin alone when he entered this world of time. Since there can be no doubt that he who is from eternity had no beginning, how can there be any ending for him who gives its being to everything that exists? He is truly the beginning and end of all things. These words also point to the ideal for every priest, namely, that he should be, as it were, without father or mother; that is, chosen not by reason of his aristocratic birth, but because of his moral integrity and outstanding virtue. (Ambrose of Milan)

Musical Selection

Great high priest we view thee stooping
With our names upon thy breast;
In the garden groaning, drooping,
To the ground, with sorrow pressed.

Weeping angels stood confounded,
To behold their maker thus:
And can we remain unwounded,
When we know ’twas all for us?

On the cross thy body broken,
Cancels every penal tie,
Tempted souls produce the token,
All demands to satisfy.

All is finished, do not doubt it,
But believe your dying Lord,
Never reason more about it,
Only take him at his word.

Lord we fain would trust thee solely,
‘Twas for us thy blood was spilt;
Praised bridegroom, take us wholly,
Take and make us what thou wilt.

Thou hast borne the bitter sentence
Past on man’s devoted race;
True belief and true repentance,
Are thy gifts, thou God of grace.

Collect

As your people faithfully observe
the Lenten duties of prayer and self-denial,
prepare our hearts, Lord God,
that we may readily embrace the paschal mystery
and proclaim with joy your message of salvation.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever. Amen.

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