Daily Retreat 08/07/08
2008 Aug 7 Thu: Ordinary Weekday/ Sixtus II, pp, mt, & co., mts/ Cajetan, p
Jer 31: 31-34/ Ps 50(51): 12-13. 14-15. 18-19/ Mt 16: 13-23
From today’s readings: “The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.... Create a clean heart in me, O God.... I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.... ”
The New Covenant
Today’s first reading is so important, the whole passage occurs twice in the Bible! It was first written in the Old Testament Book of Jeremiah (beginning with chapter 31, verse 31), as we read today; later, in a reflection on Christ as the High Priest of the new covenant, all these verses were quoted in the New Testament letter to the Hebrews, starting with chapter 8, verse 8.
A covenant, you may recall, differs substantially from a contract, because a contract is merely a binding agreement for the exchange of goods or services, and it only remains in force until the completion of the terms. In contrast, a covenant consists of persons pledging their very selves as the basis for a new, permanent relationship - when a man and woman get married, for instance, they make a covenant: they unite their very persons to each other in a permanent bond. The permanency of a covenant is further reinforced in the original language: in Hebrew, “to make” a covenant is literally “to cut” a covenant, as in the act of engraving something permanently in stone.
So if a covenant is permanent, why was the old covenant superceded by the new covenant? The answer is found there in the letter to the Hebrews, which I’ll comment on another day, although of course you’re welcome to read it right now!
Jer 31: 31-34/ Ps 50(51): 12-13. 14-15. 18-19/ Mt 16: 13-23
From today’s readings: “The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.... Create a clean heart in me, O God.... I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.... ”
The New Covenant
Today’s first reading is so important, the whole passage occurs twice in the Bible! It was first written in the Old Testament Book of Jeremiah (beginning with chapter 31, verse 31), as we read today; later, in a reflection on Christ as the High Priest of the new covenant, all these verses were quoted in the New Testament letter to the Hebrews, starting with chapter 8, verse 8.
A covenant, you may recall, differs substantially from a contract, because a contract is merely a binding agreement for the exchange of goods or services, and it only remains in force until the completion of the terms. In contrast, a covenant consists of persons pledging their very selves as the basis for a new, permanent relationship - when a man and woman get married, for instance, they make a covenant: they unite their very persons to each other in a permanent bond. The permanency of a covenant is further reinforced in the original language: in Hebrew, “to make” a covenant is literally “to cut” a covenant, as in the act of engraving something permanently in stone.
So if a covenant is permanent, why was the old covenant superceded by the new covenant? The answer is found there in the letter to the Hebrews, which I’ll comment on another day, although of course you’re welcome to read it right now!
posted by FrPitstick | 8/06/2008
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