(Listen to this homily here).
We live in a society that is driven by contracts. Think about it. If you have a job, you signed a
contract. If you own a home or are
renting an apartment, you signed a contract. Do you have a car?
A cell-phone? Insurance? All of these require signing a
contract. Have you ever read the
receipt you sign if you pay with a card?
“I agree to pay the following…”
Another contract.
Contracts,
agreements about stuff—money, services, goods—help our economy and daily lives
run. But life would be pretty sad
if every relationship was limited to a contract.
In
fact, the Bible reveals a different sort of relationship that goes deeper than
contracts—covenants. This is a key
word to our Catholic history, theology and faith today. Simply put, a contract is a promise
that lasts forever. God forged
several covenants with His people in the Old Testament—Adam, Noah, Abraham,
Moses and David—and this is how he built His family.
The best modern example of a
covenant is a marriage. In the
wedding a man and woman promise to be faithful until death. They promise this through sickness and
health, good times and bad for richer or poorer.
Every
covenant had two parts. The first
was the promise or oath, usually addressing future descendants, land or
prosperity. The second was a
sacrifice. These may appear
bizarre to our eyes, but was a reality.
An animal (or several animals) was slaughtered and their blood was
shed. Abraham actually divided the
parts of the animal and walked through the remains. The priests in the temple would sprinkle or dump animal
blood on the people. Can you
imagine if I brought in a bucket of animal blood and poured it over you during
Mass?
Why
so much blood? One reason is that
the Israelites believed the source of life resided in blood. To forge a covenant, the offering of
blood showed the offering of a life to seal the oath. Another reason is that it was a sort of accountability. Sacrificing an animal was like saying,
“If I am unfaithful to my promise, let me be like that animal!”
Now
with these thoughts about covenants in mind, listen again to the words of
Jeremiah: “The days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of
Judah” (this is why I don’t have to pour blood on you!). “But this is the covenant that I will
make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I
will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their
God, and they shall be my people.”
Where
is this prophecy fulfilled? Look
at the cross! Jesus fulfills every
covenant through his crucifixion.
Through this act, God promises us eternal life. He promises us forgiveness of
sins. And Jesus seals this
covenant by shedding his own blood.
He gives his own life to ratify the greatest covenant of all.
Another
name for Jesus’ sacrifice is called the Paschal Mystery. This is another key phrase that we
should know well as Catholics. It
simply means dying equals rising. It is what Jesus is getting at in the
parable about the grain of wheat: “…unless
a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of
wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”
What
a powerful image. Imagine how
small a seed is and what it can grow into—what it can produce. I remember from elementary school a DNR
officer coming in to teach us about the habitats of lakes. He brought in some wild rice and showed
us how it had burrs to allow it to embed in the mud. He also told us never to put it in your mouth…so we all did
and it wound up in our bellies!
Jesus
is that grain of wheat that fell from heaven and came to earth. He gave his life so that we all may
live. His sacrifice on the cross
led to eternally abundant fruit. Jesus
did this for us by fulfilling the Old Testament covenants. Through the Paschal Mystery we enter
into this covenant. So how do we
give our lives to God and others?
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