Our Covenant with God
by Fr. Gus Carter
5/29/05

At every Mass Jesus invites us to enter "the new and everlasting covenant." We might ask ourselves, "What does covenant mean to me?"

The Book of Deuteronomy, used in the first reading today, has been described as discourses by Moses. These sermons present the theme of covenant renewal in a liturgical framework. The author presents Moses as talking to the people at a worship service. In a way, they were doing then what we are doing now. First, we hear the word of God. In Scripture we are always being invited to participate in the life of God. Secondly, we have the ritual action in which we act out our willingness to share in divine life. This agreement, when God gives his commandments and we promise to obey, we call "covenant."

A covenant in ancient times was an agreement between two parties to take on certain obligations towards each other. In ancient times a covenant took place between clans and families who agreed to assist each other for survival. The parties ritualized, that is, performed actions that expressed the forming of a bond. Once this was finished they considered themselves bound to each other by the obligations stated. In the Book of Genesis we have the image of Abraham splitting an animal in two, walking between the two sides and then sitting there waiting for God also to come between those two halves. In those days that was a sign that "If! break this bond, may it happen to me what has happened to this animal." Blood was often used in bonding rituals because blood represents life, the life of the people. The mingling of blood indicated the intertwining of life and the depth of the relationship. The blood signifies that we are blood relations.

The forming of the covenant described today was the culmination of Jewish liberation from slavery in Egypt. In today's readings we encounter two major aspects of the Exodus when the Jews escaped from Egypt. They were freed from the tyranny of the Pharaohs~ that is the first thing that happened. Secondly, they were given the law which, if they obeyed, would free them from tyranny over themselves and tyranny over one another. That is liberation, too.

The covenant from God's side was expressed by the blood poured on the altar. It guaranteed that God was deeply involved with his people. The prophets expressed this by the Lord's words, "I will be your God and you shall be my people." The Law that God gave the people was not just a set of regulations but a sacred promise that God would concern himself with his people. God desired to show through the Law how the people could live in peace and prosperity and how to insure that succeeding generations would have the same opportunity for freedom and justice. Having blood sprinkled on them was a sign that the people agreed to obey God's Law. Doing God's will as expressed in the Law constituted their obligation under the covenant. By obeying the law the people would be liberated from all alienation and learn to live life to the fullest.

However, the gift of God cannot be assimilated just by saying "yes." It actually took six hundred years to formulate the Book of the Law. The other parts of the Bible, the Wisdom and Prophetic Books, describe the people's attempts to follow the Law, often unsuccessfully. Finally, it became necessary for God to send his only Son to complete the possibility of sharing life with God forever. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus showed us the essence of the Law as loving God and loving neighbor. Through the Incarnation the power of Christ entered the world to give us the strength and courage and perseverance to finally obey God's Law fully.

Jesus established a new covenant by shedding his blood on the cross. During his life he obeyed the Father completely, and as our brother earned for us the power, the graces, to share in God's life. Jesus' death and resurrection established a new covenant which we celebrate each time we participate in the Mass. God promises anew to be with us until the end of time. We express our acceptance of the covenant by sincere reception of the Body and Blood of Christ. Thus we promise to live out the meaning of the Mass in our daily lives.

By imitating Jesus' love for God and neighbor we liberate ourselves from the tyranny selfishness holds over us, holds over others. We often think we can use other people to enhance ourselves. We put down others, we take advantage of them, we deceive them. We exalt ourselves at the expense of others and think we are gaining something. However, in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, "When we do violence to others, we are doing violence to ourselves."

The human condition, our selfishness, causes us to abuse one another. In this way we become destructive. The example and power of Jesus help us gradually to stop undermining one another. It helps us to stop destroying one another. Because we have severely criticized and abused others, the majority of individual feel that they are not smart enough, pretty enough, strong enough, rich enough. We are very conscious of our limitations. Some estimates are that ninety percent of people are down on themselves.

The grace of Christ aids us to be free of these tyrannies. Through living the covenant we come to accept our limitations. It is okay not to be God. It is part of life not to be able to do everything. Through the covenant we experience the powerful good that God has placed in us. In some ways we are divided against ourselves. By living the covenant we come to enhance our lives and gain the power to enhance the lives of others. The very fact of the Incarnation, that the Word of God could be united to human nature, says how beautiful we are. We are the pinnacle of God's creation, and yet we are so little aware of the beauty that is ours. Through the Law of loving our neighbor we can begin to understand the beauty, power, goodness and potential that are in the people around us. As we recognize and encourage that good, we help others to get over the tyranny of having to be great, having to show off, having to have all kinds of things.

As we begin to realize that God loves us, we come to love ourselves because God loves us, and we come to recognize the good in others. By acknowledging that good we help them to be that good, to fulfill the potential that is theirs. This is the hope with which we celebrate Mass. God formed an agreement with us. If we constantly try to love one another, if we struggle to love one another, the power of Christ will be with us. We will communicate life to others and receive the fullness of life ourselves.