Shadows of perfection

It is sometimes easy to be discouraged about our faith, as individuals and as a Church. Sometimes there seems to be no end to scandals, from the congregation around the corner to church leaders of national stature, and no denomination is immune. As for ourselves as individuals, in our heart of hearts we are often painfully aware of how far we fall short of the perfection to which Christ calls us.

But if we continue to be faithful to Christ and to our journey towards perfection in him, I think we have a hopeful parallel in today's first reading (Hebrews 7:25-8:6).

The ancient Jews worshipped God and sought forgiveness through the gory rituals of animal sacrifice in a temple building that was not always available (and does not exist today). A rather erratic and barbaric path to God, it would seem to our minds, yet even this was "a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary."

But Christ "has obtained
so much more excellent a ministry
as he is mediator of a better covenant,
enacted on better promises."

How much more so, if we are faithful to Christ, should our frail strivings be efficacious reflections of perfection, in and through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

You and I and some of our leaders may be bumblers (some better, some worse), but through faith in Christ, we have superabundant hope, for we have

...such a high priest:
holy, innocent,
undefiled, separated from sinners,
higher than the heavens....
who has taken his seat
at the right hand of the throne
of the Majesty in heaven...