The Book of Leviticus foreshadows the Mass and the new life in grace that Catholics are supposed to enjoy. Many don't because they do not understand what they have been given.

Leviticus is the third book of the Pentateuch -- The first five books of Scripture known as the Five Books of Moses -- The Torah. The name "Leviticus" is derived from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of Scripture into Greek by seventy elders in Alexandria. Even though the book seems to be addressed to the priests (the Levitical order), the book is addressed to all Israelites while living in the wilderness.

This verse forms as it were the constitution of Israel. The call to holiness is at the heart of Leviticus and it is echoed in the gospels: "Be perfect for your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48) and "Be merciful for your heavenly Father is merciful" (Luke 6:36).

But Leviticus can be understood without the whole of Scripture. As Alfred Edersheim in his book "The Temple -- Its Ministry and Services" reminds us: "Moses must not be read independently of the Psalms, nor yet the Psalms independently of the Prophets. Theirs are not so many unconnected writings of different authorship and age, only held together by the boards of one volume. They form integral parts of one whole, the object of which is to point to the goal of all revelation in the appearance of the Christ. Accordingly, we recognize in the prophetic word, not a change nor a difference, but three well-marked progressive stages, leading up to the sufferings and the glory of Messiah. In the Proto-Evangel, as Genesis 3:15 has been called, and in what follows it, we have as yet only the grand general outlines of the figure. Thus we see a Person in the Seed of the woman; suffering, in the prediction that His heel would be bruised; and victory, in that He would bruise the serpent's head. These merely general outlines are wonderfully filled up in the Book of Psalms. The 'Person' is now 'the Son of David'; while alike the sufferings and the victory are sketched in vivid detail in such Psalms as 22, 35, 49, and 102; or else in Psalms 2, 72, 89, 110, and 118— to speak of other almost innumerable allusions."

Indeed, Leviticus begins where Exodus left off. There is a deep unity in Scripture that points to the unity of faith and the unity of the Liturgy for Leviticus is first and foremost a book on the Liturgy and Morality, and the sacrificial system it presents to us is a shadowy figure of the Mass. As we reflect on this book, we shall better understand the meaning of "Sacrifice" in our own lives. We will delve deeper into the Mass and realize the efficacy of the Lord's prayer in our lives. Leviticus is a window open on the holiness of the Lord. By contemplating its sacred verses we meditate on the great mystery of the one holy God who deigned walk in our midst and wished to be Emanuel -- God with us.

The Olah is the whole-burnt offering; an offering where the sacrificial victim is burnt whole as a pleasing odor to the Lord. It prefigures the death of Christ on the Cross.

In this bible study, we explore important elements of the Levitical sacrificial system. We begin by asking a simple question: Why sacrifices? Why is it that the Lord required Israel to offer different types of animal and cereal sacrifices? 

This question is even more pressing in our times. Calvin, in his commentary on the Book of Leviticus, wrote "In these [first] chapters Moses will treat generally of the sacrifices. But since we read of many things here, the use of which has passed away, and others, the grounds of which I do not understand, I intend to content myself with a brief summary.”  Is it true, as Calvin states that the sacrifices listed in the first seven chapters of Leviticus are things "the use of which has passed away?" Is the book of Leviticus is a reliquary of old things that have passed away because there is no need for sacrifices today?

The liturgy of the Catholic Church says otherwise. In this study, we reflect on the idea of sacrifice in the context of the Mass. Since Christ died for us, what should be our response? What should we be sacrificing and why?

The Olah, the holocaust, is a central element of the Mass; it is also a central element in our own lives. Find out how.

The Minha and the Zevah are the two other offerings that are not intended for the expiation of guilt. Together with the Olah, they are the prefiguration of the sacrificial offering of the Mass.

If the whole-burnt offering (Olah) is meant to make the offerer acceptable in the sight of God, then the Minhah, a most sacred offering, is a tribute to God, a sacrificial gift which is brought by the offerer who presents it to the priest. The priest then delivers it to the altar, much like the presentation of the gifts during the Mass. 

The Peace Offering (Zevah) is the third most holy offering in which sections of the sacrifice were shared by the priests and donors of the offering, but this sharing could only take place after God's share had been offered to him on the altar. Thus, the Zevah reminds us of the Consecration during Mass, where the priest and the congregation partake of the Eucharist after it has been offered. 

Once, St. Teresa was overwhelmed with God's Goodness and asked Our Lord "How can I thank you?" Our Lord replied, "ATTEND ONE MASS."

The Olah is Christ, who offered himself as a whole burnt offering for our sake. It is also Baptism, where we die to be born to a new life. The Minhah has become the presentation of the gifts and the Shelamim the Eucharistic meal. Thus, Leviticus was and is still is the promise of better things to come, the symbol of the Liturgy, the greatest act of love and worship we can offer the Trinity.

So says Christ in the Letters to the Hebrews. But if God did not desire sacrifices and offerings, why then the sacrificial code of Leviticus?

In this lecture, we reflect on the Laws of Leviticus as seen through the Light of Christ. We begin by considering the Olah that Noah offered at the end of the flood and the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham as a whole burnt offering. We move on to Psalm 50 where God tells Israel that he has no need of their sacrifices and where he asks for three things: 

1. A sacrifice of Thanksgiving
2. Offering the requisite tribute to God, and
3. To call on His Name in the days of trouble. 

Next, we consider various passages in the New Testaments where Jesus is contending with the Pharisees on the true meaning of sacrifice and worship and we close with a return to the beginning, to Adam in the Garden, before Eve was created. 

And all the while, we keep on asking this simple question: If God did not desire sacrifices and offerings, why institute the sacrificial code of Leviticus? What's the point?

Art in logo by Master of the Gathering of the Manna

The sacrifices recorded in chapters five and six of Leviticus are meant to expiate offenses committed unwittingly or by inadvertence; they cannot substitute to the punishment due to premeditated crimes. But if not premeditated, why do we have to expiate them?

We look down on venial sins. We consider them of little significance, as a minor scratch on the surface of a shining car or a small abrasion in soft leather seats. We do not think twice about them and, as long as our sins are not mortal, we may not set foot in the confessional.

Why then does the Lord instruct Moses in the minutia of offering sacrifices for offenses committed out of ignorance or forgetfulness? Why is it necessary to make reparation for guilt we did not incur out of malice? Could it be that every act that violates the ten commandments or the commandments of the Church is offensive to God?

Picture a great artist who has just finished his masterpiece after toiling over it for ten years. Picture now a small child who walks by and playfully grabs a paint gun and fires at the painting. Will this act offend the artist? Will he be pained? Of course. Was the child guilty? No, because he did not know what he was doing. Still, his action, objectively, is an offense to the artist because it destroyed a beautiful painting.

Unwitting acts of malice are similar to the action of that child -- albeit not as innocent. They offend our Lord. This lecture will help you deepen your appreciation of God's holiness; the danger venial sins represent and the necessity of frequent confessions.

Art in logo by By Jules Jenny from Lincoln, UK - Detail of East Window, Lincoln Cathedral

What conduct must we have in the presence of the Lord? How should we behave when presenting an offering at the gate of the tent? What role does the officiating priest play? Can we be forgiven without the priesthood?

These are the questions that Leviticus 6 covers. The Lord tells Moses to "Command Aaron and his sons..." that is the priestly line. They are to officiate at the tent following the Torah -- instructions -- that God lays down for them. But to dwell on the formal sets of rules without considering that these formal rules are meant to express God's mercy is to miss the entire point. Indeed, the Israelites had to avoid two opposite temptations: tampering with the law to suit their needs and on the opposite pole, adhering to the law with their lips but not with their hearts.

God is merciful and kind, and because he is merciful and kind, he provided for the Israelites. He cared for their well-being, their physical need, and their spiritual food. The Torah is the expression of his mercy. Indeed, his mercy unveils in the details of the Law. It would be a grave mistake to believe that God is so above us that he does not care about the trifles of the Law; in fact, he cares all too deeply about them because their observance should flow from a loving heart. 

When we love someone, we wish to please him the way he wants to be pleased and in this Chapter, God begins to reveal to Israel how they ought to conduct themselves when they worship him, so that his blessings may come upon them.

What is the point of the Sin Offering if it does not cleanse the soul? Why would an Israelite who had inadvertently broken the law confess his action and offer a sacrifice if there is no redemption? Because, as the pious Jews discovered: the secret is in obedience.

Leviticus can come across as a boring read; a book of irrelevant regulations about ancient sacrifices. A book about things that have passed away and are of no concern to us. But the book is not everything as any Catholic who takes his faith seriously would attest: the bible is not everything; It is just the beginning. 

In this lecture, we continue our study of the praxis of the Israelite faith, focusing mostly on the role of the priest in the sin offering. How would a pious and God-fearing Levite priest respond to the penitent at the door of the tent? Would he shrug his shoulders, grab the animal to be sacrificed and move on, like a bored butcher doing his job? He would if he were corrupt, but Leviticus is not a book of instruction destined to corrupt priests; it is a book of instruction -- a Torah -- written to the priests who loved God, feared him, and cared for the good of Israel.

Such a priest would have conversed with the penitent. He would have heard his confession, assessed his repentance, and carefully examined the sacrificial offering to make sure it was without blemish -- a measure of the purity of the offerer's repentance. 

In this interaction, we Catholics, have much to learn and ponder. Indeed, Leviticus is a mirror of the Catholic ceremonial, a mirror that reflects God's concerns for the liturgy and his love for holiness.

The Guilt Offering (or more precisely the Purification Offering) had to be eaten within the sacred precinct by the priest the same day of the offering or, in some cases, the following day, but never the third day. If this were to happen, the sacrifice was considered null and void, the guilt remained and the one who broke the law would have committed an abomination before the Lord.

Those of us who take our faith seriously understand the reality of sin all too well. We know we are sinners, and this knowledge is essential for our salvation. Jesus told us he had come for those in need of healing and not for those who are well (a statement laced with a terrible irony for no one is well since no one is good but God).

What we may fail to realize is that our consciousness of our own sinfulness is not complete until we realize that we must offer sacrifices as often as we sin. 

When we count the sacrifice of praise (Thanksgiving offering) we realize that, no, not as often as we sin, but twice that much.

God is not keeping tab; he is not interested in numbers but in intentions. To sacrifice is to destroy a thing we consider a good, something we are attached to, for the benefit or the praise of another. Therefore, a sacrifice has all the ingredients we need to counter sin. It is the way of the Cross.

If the first seven chapters of Leviticus serve to introduce the sacrificial system, chapters 8 and 9 focus on the Levitical priestly order without which the entire sacrificial system of Israel collapses. If God took great care in instituting this priestly order, it is not surprising that he spilled his blood to establish the priestly order of the Catholic Church.

The Levitical order of priesthood was essential to the entire sacrificial system of Israel and, in a deeper sense, to the life of Israel itself as a nation and as a kingdom. God, in Exodus, told Israel they will be a Kingdom of Priests (Exodus 19:5-6) and in Malachi, he reminds them that their kingdom was to be the "Covenant of life and peace" (Malachi 2:5).

Moses, the priest-maker consecrates Aaron and his sons, and to do so, Ibn Ezra, the great Jewish commentator tells us that Moses washed the hands and feet of the men to be ordained as priests. This reality overshadows Holy Thursday when Jesus, the new and everlasting priest-maker washes the hands and feet of his apostles thereby instituting a new and everlasting priesthood with which to extend his kingdom, the Catholic Church, to the ends of the Earth.

The consecration of the men and of the altar, their clothing, and the purity with which they are to serve the Lord is a very good study in the importance of the Priesthood to the heart of the Savior. Indeed, when Jesus came, he did not abolish the old order but completed it. He did not leave us alone but gave us, through this priesthood, men to act in his person so that the one and only sacrifice of the Cross may be represented in time and space until the end of the world.

Following the consecration of Aaron and his sons, we come face-to-face with the strange death of two priests: Nadab and Abihu; Aaron's sons.

Scripture is unremitting when it comes to the Holiness of God and His Sanctuary. No sooner had Aaron and his sons been consecrated, that Nadab and Abihu went before the altar of incense and used a "strange fire." What that fire was, the Bible does not tell us, presumably because its origin is of less importance than its use: to use any fire but the fire burning on the altar of sacrifices is a capital offense.

This incident is of great relevance for us, modern readers of the Bible on two fronts. First, it reminds us of the importance God attaches to the Liturgy (the Mass): the priest should not neglect the slightest detail, nor omit any part required by the Church, otherwise, Saint Augustine points out, he shall suffer great torments.

What about us, the lay folks? Are we exempt? Saint Peter reminds us that we too are priests, prophets, and kings in that we have a share with Christ. While this share is not sacerdotal in nature, it is nonetheless valid. When confronted with the punishment meted to Nadab and Abihu, we may be inclined to side with them, thinking their fate was unjust because, somehow, using incense from a strange fire and being burned by fire seems disproportionate to our own self-centered sense of justice.

In studying this part of the Book of Leviticus, we will reflect on this theme in particular and come to understand why the judgment of God was just in that case and what it means for us when we celebrate Mass.

How are priests to conduct themselves? What of their marital life? Who should they mourn? Who should they bury? 

Chapters 21 and 22 of Leviticus complete the study we have begun with the consecration of Aaron and his sons. The Lord wishes his priests to follow a specific law of purity, beginning with marital commandments and finishing with burial instructions.

The code given here concerns priests and the High Priest who must follow even more stringent rules than his brethren. 

As we study these laws, we must not lose track that their primary objective is not, as one might think, the purity and holiness of the priests. The purity of the priests is necessary to protect the sanctuary from contamination. This notion is strange to our ears, particularly Catholic ears because we take it for granted that nothing we do or the priest does could contaminate the Tabernacle. 

True, and this is a stark difference between the liturgy of the Old Covenant and the New. The Old Covenant did not carry the necessary graces to cure leprosy or raise the dead: there, anyone who touches a leper becomes unclean but with the coming of Jesus all that changed: for Our Lord touched lepers and he did not become unclean: they were healed by the flow of actual grace.

So why do these instructions to the priests matter still? Because they are foreshadowing a code of interior holiness and by studying them we get a deeper understanding of what the Lord expects of us and of his priests today.

Before spelling out the laws of conduct for families and, by extension, the lay society, the Lord begins by defining what the family is and is not.

Chapter 18 of the Book of Leviticus has the most complete treatment of incest and forbidden sexual unions in the Old Testament. This may strike us as odd; after all, why not speak of other sinful behavior such as those related to food, or money, or abuse of power, why start with sexuality?

The simple, and straightforward answer is, that sexuality is integral to the definition of the family, and, the family, when seen from the Cross, is the greatest natural sacrament for the Holy Trinity and the Kingdom of God.

Indeed, the Lord has written three bibles, not just one: the cosmos, the family, and the sacred scriptures. The family is an image of the Trinity and must reflect that image so that society at large can be prepared to receive the Good News and nurture it. If the family is broken or worse disfigured, then the image of God is disfigured, preventing his children from recognizing him.

This is why the Lord begins, in this chapter, by establishing the boundaries of the family, and he does this within the confines of the Old Testament when polygamy was tolerated ("for their hardens of hearts" the Lord will explain later).

By studying this chapter, we gain critical insight into the way the Lord views the family and the importance it plays in the salvation of mankind, an insight that leads us into the heart of the Church who is the one and only Bride of Christ

What is the real purpose of the Law?

What did God intend when he gave the Israelites the law?

It is tempting to read Leviticus as a litany of obscure tribal laws that may have made sense in antiquity but are as irrelevant to our daily lives as Hammurabi's Laws ...

Unlike the Babylonian legal code, Leviticus is inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit who is its ultimate author. As such, Leviticus holds an image of the Word of God, the Alpha, and the Omega and, as such, Leviticus is not about a series of laws but about Love.

Love is a word and is dead if it remains a word. It is alive in deeds, hidden and visible. Therefore any Israelite sincerely seeking the Lord will find Him in Leviticus.

Chapter 19 of Leviticus is about the Practice of Holiness. Now that the Law is given, what are the fruits that demonstrate it is alive in the hearts of the believer?

Suddenly, Leviticus, and in particular Chapter 19, is no longer a boring list of obscure laws, but God revealing to his children how they should act in his presence if they Love him. Indeed, Chapter 19 is directed to believers who long to see the face of God, and while the text of Leviticus does not speak to the experience of faith; it assumes it the reader to be reading scripture with one goal in mind: Lord I believe, strength my unbelief."

It is not enough to know the law; one must live by it.

But what does it mean to "live by the law?"

Chapter 20 of the Book of Leviticus presented pious Israelite with a mode of living acceptable to God. Recall that the thrust of the Levitical law is to make the presence of the Israelite (and by extension any other human being) tolerable before God. The sacrificial system was instituted by the Lord to help his chosen people learn who He is and who they are. In that same vein, Chapter 20 continues the study we began in Chapter 18 by providing specific penalties, often of a capital nature to each offense that was mentioned in Chapter 18.

God's intent for us is to reach Heaven. But he wishes to make it amply clear that the road to Heaven is the Cross in complete fidelity to his Son and to the Church His Son established. This lesson is already inscribed in Chapter 20 of the Book of Leviticus and the warnings and admonitions this chapter contains are very much applicable to our own day and age.

Leviticus 23 is structured as a calendar identifying

1. The occasions for festivals
2. The times assigned for them
3. The liturgies to be followed.

God, as the Lord of the Covenant, establishes the time of meeting through the holy days and festivals of the year.

The people had to respond by sanctifying themselves in order to complete the process. So sanctifying the time is a combination of divine instruction and human response.

Time is Holy. Time, with all its liturgical demarcations, belongs to God, and Time starts with the Sabbath.

The Sabbath is the sign of the covenant; it is the primordial day before the fall. It is a sign of complete dependence on God for it is "the Sabbath to the Lord. Indeed, Jesus fulfilled the promises of the Sabbath when he told us “Come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28). The Long-expected eschatological rest that was promised in the new covenant.

This lecture explores in detail what it means to "enter into the rest of the Lord," so we may be able to live life and live it to the full.

Art in Logo by By Alexander Johnston (1815–1891) Public Domain

In Leviticus 23:4 God instructs the people to keep the feasts at their appointed time. Therefore, the people had to preserve their spiritual heritage and pass it on.

1. Passover came in the Spring, the month of Nissan (March-April) at the time of the Barley harvest.
2. It was immediately followed by the seven days Feast of Unleavened Bread and the beginning of the feast of First Fruits in the same week.
3. Fifty days later (Pentecost), the Israelite commemorated the Feast of Weeks (Shabuoth), right at the time of the early summer wheat harvest.
4. Three more festivals came together in the fall during the harvest of summer fruits and olives:
5. New Year’s (Rosh Hashannah) on Tishri 1,
6. Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement (Tishri 10), and
7. The Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth) or In gathering beginning on Tishri 15.

Thus the entire liturgical cycle of Israel was one of remembrance, renewal, thanksgiving for the things to come, and thanksgiving for the things given.

If God took care to instruct the Jews on their liturgical year, how much does He care to see us today follow the Liturgical year with all its appointed feast days?

Is there true joy apart from the liturgical year?

Leviticus 26:3-13 tells the Israelites that if they walk in the Lord's statutes and observe his commandments then the Lord will bless them. What is the extent of these blessings and what do they mean today for us?

This same truth is taught in the New Testament albeit in a different way. In addition to the teaching on the last judgment in Matthew 25:31-46, the Lord tells us that the name of the elect will be entered into the Book of Life (Rev 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12). Indeed, the consequences of what man does during his earthly life will follow him beyond the grave (Rev 14:13).

In this lecture, we begin by asking a simple question: What is a blessing? What does it mean to bless and what does it mean when God blesses us? Next, we consider the blessings listed in this chapter and map them back to various areas of our lives. What emerges is an all-encompassing movement of grace from God to man when Man is faithful to the Covenant. Indeed, God is not content to bless us partially, but he wishes to bless us so that we may attain everlasting life.

Therefore, no matter how far or deep we may move from the Lord, no matter the depth of our sins, he is always ready to bless us, provided we are willing to repent with sincerity and humility. And this is a great blessing we received from the Cross.

Chapter 26:14-46 must be taken seriously by anyone who wishes to take God seriously. It presents a sobering account of the extent to which God is prepared to go in order to save us. Ultimately, though, for those who like pharaoh harden their hearts and refuse his mercy, there remains one ultimate and eternal outcome: hell.

Curses are the counterpart of blessings. But God is a loving God and his desire is for all mankind to be saved. When faced with the prospect of an eternity in hell, the worst temporal curse is an act of mercy. God's love is complete and unending, and therefore the curses in this Chapter should not be seen as a sign of a hateful God, but rather as an expression of his love when he is speaking to a wayward, obstinate, rebellious child.

In this lecture, we cover the curses of Leviticus Chapter 26. We will see that these curses are all-encompassing, that they are comprehensive, covering every aspect of our lives.

God wants us to understand that there is not one aspect of our lives that escapes his scrutiny, his judgment, and his love