LEVITICUS
CHAPTER
6
1. The LORD spoke to Moses saying: When any of you sin and commit a trespass against the LORD by deceiving a neighbor in a matter of a deposit on a pledge, or by robbery, or if you have defrauded a neighbor, 3. or have found something lost and lied about it-if you swear falsely regarding any of the various things that one may do and sin thereby-4. when you have sinned and realize your guilt, and would restore what you took by robbery or by fraud or the deposit that was committed to you, or the lost thing that you found, 5. or anything else about which you have sworn falsely, you shall repay the principal amount and shall add one-fifth to it. You shall pay it to its owner when you realize your guilt.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 1 to 5)
Oh God You are so just and fair in the was that You deal with us. In order for Your people to start their relationship with You and each other You gave them this 'civil code' that would help them to control their behaviour in their daily interactions. You are so wise, that You know human nature so much that You addressed the issues of corruption and retribution for crimes or negative actions that we commit versus each others. I bless You for taking care of us so to the minutest of details. In our civil code, the Court issues a fine or multa and or even imprisonment, however it does not legislate that the stolen property be returned to its rightful owner as it should be. The court will benefit from the sum incurred by the offender, however the victim is not compensated which is totally unfair. Thanks for being so fair with humanity.
6. And you shall bring to the priest, as your guilt offering to the LORD, a ram without blemish from the flock, or its equivalent. for a guilt offering. 7. The priest shall make atonement on your behalf before the LORD, and you shall be forgiven for any of the things that one may do and incur guilt thereby
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 6 to 7)
Oh God thank You for giving the us the feeling of guilt, for if we do not feel guilty we can never experience the need of repentance. Therefore we would remain deep in our sins and would never be able to experience your loving forgiveness. I pray for your forgiveness because although I accept your forgiveness I still feel hurt by others such as my father and still cannot bring myself to forgive him. I pray to You oh God to grant me this forgiveness because I feel that I am blocked in this area. I feel a hypocrite in guiding others to forgive and then I still cannot forgive my father for having abused me emotionally and destroyed and important part of my life. However I have faith that although I cannot reverse time, I am convinced that You will have mercy on me and give me the needed healing and forgiveness at the proper time.
8. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 9. Command Aaron and his sons, saying: This is the ritual of the burnt offering.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 8 and 9)
God gave Moses particular instructions in order to ensure that the sacrificial offerings would be offered in a way that would be according to Your will. Following will oh God is a sacrifice in itself, because obeying You at times means going against our human nature. Therefore, this requires that we are disciplined in self-control, so that in time our sinful self starts obeying Your Will and you will give us the needed control over ourselves. However until then You have given us Your commandments and sacraments in order to guide us make sure that we stay in Your ways. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to confess our sins and be reunited with You again every time our sinful gets the better of us and we end up breaking some or all of your rules.
10. The priest shall put on his linen vestments after putting on his linen undergarments next to his body; and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has reduced the burnt offering on the altar, and place them beside the altar.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verse 10)
It seems that for this particular task the priest puts on special vestments. This shows oh God that the vestments worn by priests are special because they have been made for them to carry out special tasks. As members in the Roman Catholic Church and other churches we all have special tasks to fulfill. As the clothes are assigned to a particular function so are we assigned as special function that of by both words and our way of life proclaiming the good news of the Word of God to all in our circles and even beyond.
11. Then he shall take off his vestments and put on other garments, and carry the ashes out to a clean place outside the camp.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verse 11)
Oh God you respect us as a whole. Our life is a total sacrifice and You therefore respect us as one whole offering to You, so much that You ordained that even our ashes are treated in respect and not to dumped in any place, but in a clean place outside the camp. As humans our remains are also placed in a respectful place such as a cemetery and not in any place because even our remains are holy a remnant of who we were.
12. The fire on the altar shall be kept burning; it shall not go out. Every morning the priest shall add wood to it, lay out the burnt offering on it, and turn into smoke the fat pieces of the offerings of well-being. 13. A perpetual fire shall be kept burning on the altar; it shall not go out.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 12 to 13)
Oh God, the fire of our faith in our hearts is also never to go out. On the contrary we are to keep on adding fuel to the flame to keep it burning. Our fuel may consist of good deeds of love to others, loving those who are totally against us, offering our labours and heartbreaks and even offering in praise our thanksgivings to You my God.
14. This is the ritual of the grain offering: The sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD, in front of the altar. 15. They shall take from it a handful of the choice flour and oil of the grain offering, with all the frankincense that is on the offering, and they shall turn its memorial portion into smoke on the altar as a pleasing odor to the LORD.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 14 to 15)
Oh God how loving You are. In order to enable our understanding, You gave us details not only of the significance, but also of the methodology of how to carry out the action. Therefore it follows that You valued the theoretical aspect as much as the practical. In the course of our life You also gave us the theoretical, that is Your values transmitted through your commandments and then in order to help us apply them You gave us the New Testament which is the application of all that is mentioned in the Old Testament along with other updates.
16. Aaron and his sons shall eat what is left of it; it shall be eaten as unleavened cakes in a holy place; in the court of the tent of meeting they shall eat it.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verse 16)
As in the case of Aaron and his sons You oh God also invite us to consume our share of the sacrificial offering that is Your Body in the Eucharist. We also have our share in your loving kindness and in the chalice of our life, that we are to drink from it every day of our life in faith that only in You and with You do we ever have a chance of experiencing our salvation and unity with You.
17. It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of my offerings by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. 18. Every male among the descendants of Aaron shall eat of it, as their perpetual due throughout your generations, from the LORD's offerings by fire; anything that touches them shall become holy.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 17 to 18)
The same is to be said with reference to the Holy Eucharist. Any priest who comes into contact with the body of Christ partakes of that holiness. As the people of God we consume the Eucharist and so we also partake of that holiness which is the presence of God in us, however our sinful nature is always in conflict with Your presence oh God and at times we lose the power of Your presence in us due to our sins.
19. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 20. This is the offering that Aaron and his sons shall offer to the LORD on the day when he is anointed: one-tenth of an ephah of choice flour as a regular offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 19 to 20)
As Christians although we are not all ordained as priests oh God we all make part of the universal priesthood and therefore we are all an offering to You oh God. On reflecting I offer my work offline and even my prayers both morning and evening. May my prayers, the prayers of a sinner appear before you oh God and may you consume these prayers as in the case of the burnt offerings so that we may all benefit from your grace and intercessions. This morning I offer you a person who wishes to reunited with his loved one who happens to be of another status. Please break down these barriers so that love will conquer over all boundaries and unity will be possible. I also offer a prayer on my behalf, so that what I include in these posts will be always the fruit of prayer and not of rational thinking. May all who receive these posts make an experience of You in their hearts. I offer You oh God all followers on G+ Facebook and even Twitter as one big offering and entrust all in your care as one big offering at all times morning evening and the darkest hour of the night. May your blessings always surround them like a big shield or firewall against the forces of evil.
21. It shall be made with oil on a griddle; you shall bring it well soaked, as a grain offering of baked pieces, and you shall present it as a pleasing odor to the LORD.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verse 21)
Oh God and father may we always be soaked with your oil of consecration thus making us a worthy offering to be presented before You and offered to You in Your holy presence. On leaving this earth may we be anointed with Your blessings and not be totally immersed in our sins. May our lives be one great offering to You.
22. And so the priest, anointed from among Aaron's descendants as a successor, shall prepare it; it is the LORD'S-a perpetual due-to be turned entirely into smoke. 23. Every grain offering of a priest shall be wholly burned; it shall not be eaten.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 22 to 23)
As an anointed priests to you oh God, You have given them special tasks that only they can perform. Such tasks are the consecration of the Holy Eucharist during mass. Therefore we are to pray for more vocations because without such important people we would find it impossible to receive You in communion.
24. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 25. Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: This is the ritual of the sin offering. The sin offering shall be slaughtered before the LORD at the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered; it is most holy.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 24 to 25)
Oh God once something is confirmed by You and Your authority it becomes a rule in my life. The world proclaims many so called 'truths' however on reflecting there is not a grain of truth in many of these so called beliefs. The only real truth and reality is that even though we may make a career of ourselves, or even reach the peak of our lives, we are destined to die and leave behind us all these accomplishments and be reunited with God in heaven if it is Your will oh God!
26. The priest who offers it as a sin offering shall eat of it; it shall be eaten in a holy place in the court of the tent of meeting.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verse 26)
As in communion the priest consumes the sacrificial offering on the altar, which is a special place where You humble yourself oh God and appear in the presence of the Holy Eucharist.
27. Whatever touches its flesh shall become holy; and when any of its blood is spattered on a garment, you shall wash the bespattered part in a holy place.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verse 27)
On reflecting it follows that if a person who is dedicated to You oh God is so special, even the clothes worn in your presence also become holy because they have been exposed to your holy presence. Therefore even the worn garments are to be treated with special treatment in order to reflect the noble task that they are used to participate in. Moreover as a people of God we are also called to be holy. Although we may not wear special clothes, we are adorned with an immortal soul which also needs extra special care because it reflects the holy presence of God in us. At the point of creation You blew life into their nostrils, and therefore we also carry that breath of life in us and as, holy because it is Yours we are to be careful in how we treat it. If we abuse it by our transgressions we are to go for confession which is the means that brings the whiteness back to our souls.
28. An earthen vessel in which it was boiled shall be broken; but if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, that shall be scoured and rinsed in water.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verse 28)
When considering that the properties of bronze are more honourable than that of simple earth, it is more worthy to contain the holy garments of the priest, even though they are spattered by the blood of the victim of the sacrificial offering.
Oh God I have to confess that as a vessel I am also made of earthenware and not of bronze, the slightest bump may chip my shape and I may not be of worthy service to You anymore for although I pray on Your Word I am still a sinner and prone to error in all areas of my life. I therefore pray that You preserve and protect me from the forces of evil so that I will be able to serve You in this online ministry of sharing my prayers based on Your 'Good News' with others.
29. Every male among the among the priests shall eat of it; it is the most holy. 30. But no sin offering shall be eaten from which any blood is brought into the tent of meeting for atonement in the holy place; it shall be burned with fire.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 29 to 30)
Oh God You are the offering of all offerings, indeed you were offered as a sacrificial offering on our behalf. As sinners we were the ones to merit the harsh passion and crucifixion and not You because You are not a sinner but the means of the atonement of our sins.
I would like you all to join me in this song called 'We bring sacrifice of praise to the house of the LORD'
Song 'We bring sacrifice of Praise to the house of the LORD
I would like to end this chapter with the following prayer:-
Thank You for giving me the opportunity to receive You in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. I thank You for not reserving this great benefit only for priests and other holy people but also for me and ll the other sinners. Thank You for giving us the sacrament of confession an opportunity to offer our sins before You in the presence of the priest who represents You. Thanks for turning my sins into smoke. I would also like to thank You for loving me as a sinner and always offering me the opportunity of coming to You in repentance. I would like to thank You for taking the cross and accepting to be sentenced and put to death for my sins. Please help me to carry my cross every day of my life. Your are my love and consolation.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 6 to 7)
Oh God thank You for giving the us the feeling of guilt, for if we do not feel guilty we can never experience the need of repentance. Therefore we would remain deep in our sins and would never be able to experience your loving forgiveness. I pray for your forgiveness because although I accept your forgiveness I still feel hurt by others such as my father and still cannot bring myself to forgive him. I pray to You oh God to grant me this forgiveness because I feel that I am blocked in this area. I feel a hypocrite in guiding others to forgive and then I still cannot forgive my father for having abused me emotionally and destroyed and important part of my life. However I have faith that although I cannot reverse time, I am convinced that You will have mercy on me and give me the needed healing and forgiveness at the proper time.
8. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 9. Command Aaron and his sons, saying: This is the ritual of the burnt offering.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 8 and 9)
God gave Moses particular instructions in order to ensure that the sacrificial offerings would be offered in a way that would be according to Your will. Following will oh God is a sacrifice in itself, because obeying You at times means going against our human nature. Therefore, this requires that we are disciplined in self-control, so that in time our sinful self starts obeying Your Will and you will give us the needed control over ourselves. However until then You have given us Your commandments and sacraments in order to guide us make sure that we stay in Your ways. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to confess our sins and be reunited with You again every time our sinful gets the better of us and we end up breaking some or all of your rules.
10. The priest shall put on his linen vestments after putting on his linen undergarments next to his body; and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has reduced the burnt offering on the altar, and place them beside the altar.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verse 10)
It seems that for this particular task the priest puts on special vestments. This shows oh God that the vestments worn by priests are special because they have been made for them to carry out special tasks. As members in the Roman Catholic Church and other churches we all have special tasks to fulfill. As the clothes are assigned to a particular function so are we assigned as special function that of by both words and our way of life proclaiming the good news of the Word of God to all in our circles and even beyond.
11. Then he shall take off his vestments and put on other garments, and carry the ashes out to a clean place outside the camp.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verse 11)
Oh God you respect us as a whole. Our life is a total sacrifice and You therefore respect us as one whole offering to You, so much that You ordained that even our ashes are treated in respect and not to dumped in any place, but in a clean place outside the camp. As humans our remains are also placed in a respectful place such as a cemetery and not in any place because even our remains are holy a remnant of who we were.
12. The fire on the altar shall be kept burning; it shall not go out. Every morning the priest shall add wood to it, lay out the burnt offering on it, and turn into smoke the fat pieces of the offerings of well-being. 13. A perpetual fire shall be kept burning on the altar; it shall not go out.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 12 to 13)
Oh God, the fire of our faith in our hearts is also never to go out. On the contrary we are to keep on adding fuel to the flame to keep it burning. Our fuel may consist of good deeds of love to others, loving those who are totally against us, offering our labours and heartbreaks and even offering in praise our thanksgivings to You my God.
14. This is the ritual of the grain offering: The sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD, in front of the altar. 15. They shall take from it a handful of the choice flour and oil of the grain offering, with all the frankincense that is on the offering, and they shall turn its memorial portion into smoke on the altar as a pleasing odor to the LORD.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 14 to 15)
Oh God how loving You are. In order to enable our understanding, You gave us details not only of the significance, but also of the methodology of how to carry out the action. Therefore it follows that You valued the theoretical aspect as much as the practical. In the course of our life You also gave us the theoretical, that is Your values transmitted through your commandments and then in order to help us apply them You gave us the New Testament which is the application of all that is mentioned in the Old Testament along with other updates.
16. Aaron and his sons shall eat what is left of it; it shall be eaten as unleavened cakes in a holy place; in the court of the tent of meeting they shall eat it.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verse 16)
As in the case of Aaron and his sons You oh God also invite us to consume our share of the sacrificial offering that is Your Body in the Eucharist. We also have our share in your loving kindness and in the chalice of our life, that we are to drink from it every day of our life in faith that only in You and with You do we ever have a chance of experiencing our salvation and unity with You.
17. It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of my offerings by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. 18. Every male among the descendants of Aaron shall eat of it, as their perpetual due throughout your generations, from the LORD's offerings by fire; anything that touches them shall become holy.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 17 to 18)
The same is to be said with reference to the Holy Eucharist. Any priest who comes into contact with the body of Christ partakes of that holiness. As the people of God we consume the Eucharist and so we also partake of that holiness which is the presence of God in us, however our sinful nature is always in conflict with Your presence oh God and at times we lose the power of Your presence in us due to our sins.
19. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 20. This is the offering that Aaron and his sons shall offer to the LORD on the day when he is anointed: one-tenth of an ephah of choice flour as a regular offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 19 to 20)
As Christians although we are not all ordained as priests oh God we all make part of the universal priesthood and therefore we are all an offering to You oh God. On reflecting I offer my work offline and even my prayers both morning and evening. May my prayers, the prayers of a sinner appear before you oh God and may you consume these prayers as in the case of the burnt offerings so that we may all benefit from your grace and intercessions. This morning I offer you a person who wishes to reunited with his loved one who happens to be of another status. Please break down these barriers so that love will conquer over all boundaries and unity will be possible. I also offer a prayer on my behalf, so that what I include in these posts will be always the fruit of prayer and not of rational thinking. May all who receive these posts make an experience of You in their hearts. I offer You oh God all followers on G+ Facebook and even Twitter as one big offering and entrust all in your care as one big offering at all times morning evening and the darkest hour of the night. May your blessings always surround them like a big shield or firewall against the forces of evil.
21. It shall be made with oil on a griddle; you shall bring it well soaked, as a grain offering of baked pieces, and you shall present it as a pleasing odor to the LORD.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verse 21)
Oh God and father may we always be soaked with your oil of consecration thus making us a worthy offering to be presented before You and offered to You in Your holy presence. On leaving this earth may we be anointed with Your blessings and not be totally immersed in our sins. May our lives be one great offering to You.
22. And so the priest, anointed from among Aaron's descendants as a successor, shall prepare it; it is the LORD'S-a perpetual due-to be turned entirely into smoke. 23. Every grain offering of a priest shall be wholly burned; it shall not be eaten.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 22 to 23)
As an anointed priests to you oh God, You have given them special tasks that only they can perform. Such tasks are the consecration of the Holy Eucharist during mass. Therefore we are to pray for more vocations because without such important people we would find it impossible to receive You in communion.
24. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 25. Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: This is the ritual of the sin offering. The sin offering shall be slaughtered before the LORD at the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered; it is most holy.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 24 to 25)
Oh God once something is confirmed by You and Your authority it becomes a rule in my life. The world proclaims many so called 'truths' however on reflecting there is not a grain of truth in many of these so called beliefs. The only real truth and reality is that even though we may make a career of ourselves, or even reach the peak of our lives, we are destined to die and leave behind us all these accomplishments and be reunited with God in heaven if it is Your will oh God!
26. The priest who offers it as a sin offering shall eat of it; it shall be eaten in a holy place in the court of the tent of meeting.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verse 26)
As in communion the priest consumes the sacrificial offering on the altar, which is a special place where You humble yourself oh God and appear in the presence of the Holy Eucharist.
27. Whatever touches its flesh shall become holy; and when any of its blood is spattered on a garment, you shall wash the bespattered part in a holy place.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verse 27)
On reflecting it follows that if a person who is dedicated to You oh God is so special, even the clothes worn in your presence also become holy because they have been exposed to your holy presence. Therefore even the worn garments are to be treated with special treatment in order to reflect the noble task that they are used to participate in. Moreover as a people of God we are also called to be holy. Although we may not wear special clothes, we are adorned with an immortal soul which also needs extra special care because it reflects the holy presence of God in us. At the point of creation You blew life into their nostrils, and therefore we also carry that breath of life in us and as, holy because it is Yours we are to be careful in how we treat it. If we abuse it by our transgressions we are to go for confession which is the means that brings the whiteness back to our souls.
28. An earthen vessel in which it was boiled shall be broken; but if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, that shall be scoured and rinsed in water.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verse 28)
When considering that the properties of bronze are more honourable than that of simple earth, it is more worthy to contain the holy garments of the priest, even though they are spattered by the blood of the victim of the sacrificial offering.
Oh God I have to confess that as a vessel I am also made of earthenware and not of bronze, the slightest bump may chip my shape and I may not be of worthy service to You anymore for although I pray on Your Word I am still a sinner and prone to error in all areas of my life. I therefore pray that You preserve and protect me from the forces of evil so that I will be able to serve You in this online ministry of sharing my prayers based on Your 'Good News' with others.
29. Every male among the among the priests shall eat of it; it is the most holy. 30. But no sin offering shall be eaten from which any blood is brought into the tent of meeting for atonement in the holy place; it shall be burned with fire.
(Leviticus chapter 6 verses 29 to 30)
Oh God You are the offering of all offerings, indeed you were offered as a sacrificial offering on our behalf. As sinners we were the ones to merit the harsh passion and crucifixion and not You because You are not a sinner but the means of the atonement of our sins.
I would like you all to join me in this song called 'We bring sacrifice of praise to the house of the LORD'
Song 'We bring sacrifice of Praise to the house of the LORD
I would like to end this chapter with the following prayer:-
Thank You for giving me the opportunity to receive You in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. I thank You for not reserving this great benefit only for priests and other holy people but also for me and ll the other sinners. Thank You for giving us the sacrament of confession an opportunity to offer our sins before You in the presence of the priest who represents You. Thanks for turning my sins into smoke. I would also like to thank You for loving me as a sinner and always offering me the opportunity of coming to You in repentance. I would like to thank You for taking the cross and accepting to be sentenced and put to death for my sins. Please help me to carry my cross every day of my life. Your are my love and consolation.
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