The New and Everlasting Covenant

Throughout the history of the chosen people, God made covenants with his people.  These covenants dealt with God’s loving care for the people he had chosen to be his own.  As we read about these covenants in the Hebrew Scripture we realize that God always took the initiative.  Every covenant was a call to the people to remember all the great things God had done for them.  Every covenant contained the promise and guarantee that God would be faithful no matter what happened.  Every covenant placed before the people the blessing and the curse.  So often people forgot the God who created, saved and protected them in all their comings and goings.  All the covenants were surrounded with signs and wonders…a burning bush…a rainbow.  (Genesis 9:9-11, Exodus 19:5, Jeremiah 31:31)  This was the way God signed the dotted line.  The chosen people signed the dotted line by offering animal sacrifices and the sprinkling of blood.  The great sin of the chosen people was to forget their side of the bargain – that they would keep their commitments to their God. 

Jesus knew the history of his people.  He knew that the covenants in the Old Testament were pointing to a new and eternal covenant.  The Old Testament covenants, and the sacrifices by which they were sealed, had power only in the light of the supreme sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, who became the Paschal Lamb!  The night before he died, Jesus established a New Covenant with all people:  “This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant; it will be shed for you and for all, so that sins may be forgiven.  Do this in memory of me.”  (Luke 22:15-21)  In the Epistle to the Hebrews it states that” “Jesus is the Mediator of a New Covenant.” (Hebrews 9:15)  Jesus sealed that covenant by his Death on the Cross.

Now we are the people of the New Covenant.  In every Mass the sacrifice of Calvary under the appearances of bread and wine is made present.  We are reminded of God’s great love for us.  Not only is the Mass our sacrifice, it is also our communion.  In every Mass we not only are reminded of God’s commitment to his creatures – but our need to live out our commitments.   In every communion we are united with Christ and with all his brothers and sisters.  Our “Amen” is not just to the presence of Jesus under the appearances of bread and wine – but is our commitment to care for all who come our way in life.  We who are blessed with the Mass and Holy Communion are called to share these blessings with all our brothers and sisters.

When we say “Amen” to the host and the cup, we are also taking on all of Christ – his attitudes, values, his vision of life.  The Holy Communion we receive transforms us into the likeness of Christ.  It opens our eyes to see Christ in the poor, the strange, the sick, the prisoner, the hungry.  C.S. Lewis once wrote: “Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.”  Christ’s body is as hidden in the least of us as it is under the appearances of bread and wine.  Both require us to see as Jesus saw, to find him in those around us in any sort of need.  In every Holy Communion, we take on the task of keeping our part of the covenant, by recommitting ourselves to say “Amen” to Jesus, his vision, his values, his attitudes!  What a challenge!