Psalm Reflection: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ - Cycle C

“You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.” - Psalms 110

Anna May Robertson Moses was born on September 7, 1860 in Greenwich, New York as the third of ten children to a farming family who also ran a mill. When she was 12, she left home and performed farm chores for wealthy neighboring families and continued to do so for 15 years until she married. She continued to work on local farms with her husband until they earned enough to buy their own farm. They had ten children, five of whom survived infancy, and when her husband died at 67 she never remarried. She moved in with one of her daughters and earned the affectionate nickname of Grandma Moses. She lived a terribly ordinary life.

Her free time was spent making hobby art, primarily through embroidering, as a way to adorn her home and make gifts for others. However, when she turned 76 she developed arthritis and could no longer embroider, so her sister recommended she take up painting. She began creating works of art as gifts for others, usually of landscapes, and her unique folk style started to catch the eyes of others.

She initially charged $3 to $5 for a painting, depending upon its size, but as her fame increased her works were sold for $8,000 to $10,000. She created over 1,500 canvases over the span of 25 years and died at 101 years old, 8 years after she appeared on the cover of Time Magazine in 1953. Despite starting so late in her life, her art gained national recognition and, in 2006, one of her paintings sold for $1.2 million.

She had a gift that had been unknown, dormant, and undiscovered most of her life, but when it was unleashed it changed everything.

The same is true for you. You have a gift, a calling, a mission that may be dormant, but when you understand it and live from it, it will change everything.

This week’s Psalm talks about the priestly line of Melchizedek, a mysterious figure in the book of Genesis who officiates a thanksgiving offering of bread and wine to God, and then is never seen again.

Jesus is not a Levite or a son of Aaron, and yet he is our high priest and institutes a new priesthood in the line of Melchizedek.

"Everything that the priesthood of the Old Covenant prefigured finds its fulfillment in Christ Jesus, the 'one mediator between God and men.' The Christian tradition considers Melchizedek, 'priest of God Most High,' as a prefiguration of the priesthood of Christ, the unique 'high priest according to the order of Melchizedek'; 'holy, blameless, unstained,' 'by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified,' that is, by the unique sacrifice of the cross." - CCC 1544

Jesus, as the eternal High Priest, fulfills and surpasses the Old Covenant priesthood. CCC 1546 states that Christ has made the Church "a kingdom, priests for his God and Father." This means that through His unique priesthood, all believers are drawn into a shared participation in His mission.
Through Baptism, every Christian is consecrated into what the Church calls the "common priesthood of the faithful" (CCC 1547). This is distinct from the ministerial priesthood conferred through Holy Orders, but it is no less significant. The common priesthood calls all believers to offer spiritual sacrifices, live holy lives, and proclaim the Gospel in their daily lives.

In essence, you have a hidden priesthood, not the priesthood that administers the Sacraments, but one that brings the Good News, peace, joy, and grace of God to a world that is lost, broken, and desperately in need. 

Maybe you did not know you had this calling, or maybe you did and you have resisted it out of fear. No matter the reason, your age, experience, or background, God can and will use you to change the world.

Will you let Him? 

Do not let what God has given you remain hidden. 

Do not let your gifts and talents stay dormant. 

Do not wait to allow the Lord to use you.

It is never too late, just look at Grandma Moses.

I am praying for you, please pray for me and my family, and I will see you in the Eucharist.

Matt

This reflection is based on the Responsorial Psalm for this Sunday, June 22nd, 2025, The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ - Cycle C: Psalms 110:1, 2, 3, 4.