Jesus says that He must die in order to bring eternal life. If Jesus is the Head of the Church, then His Body must do likewise:<\/p>\n
Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life<\/em>. – John 12:25<\/span><\/p>\n I want to know Christ\u2014yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,\u00a0and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead<\/em>\u00a0– Philippians 3:10<\/span><\/p>\n The new life which Jesus brought to mankind is made present to us at every Mass in the Blessed Sacrament. Sometime this week, in preparation for Easter, why not spend an additional Holy Hour asking for the grace to live a life in imitation of our Lord?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This week’s First Reading comes from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah came from a priestly family and he is one of the most Christ-like of the prophets. During his ministry he admonished kings, priests and the people. As you can imagine, this won him few friends.<\/p>\n Today’s First Reading is the longest Old Testament citation found in the New Testament (Hebrews 8:8-12; 10:17-17<\/a>). It is one of the most\u00a0important Old Testament prophecies, sometimes known as “Jeremiah’s Spiritual Testament”<\/em>:<\/p>\n The days are coming, says the LORD,\u00a0when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel\u00a0and the house of Judah.\u00a0It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers\u00a0the day I took them by the hand\u00a0to lead them forth from the land of Egypt;\u00a0for they broke my covenant,<\/span>\u00a0and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n But this is the covenant that I will make\u00a0with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD.\u00a0I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts;\u00a0I will be their God, and they shall be my people.\u00a0No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives\u00a0how to know the LORD.\u00a0All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD,\u00a0for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Questions:<\/p>\n Commentary:<\/p>\n The days are coming, says the LORD, …<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n This is a phrase that often refers to the Messianic era.<\/p>\n …when I will make a new covenant…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n This is the only time the Old Testament uses the phrase\u00a0“new covenant”<\/span><\/em>. Likewise, the New Testament only records the use of this phrase at one particular event, at the Last Supper:<\/p>\n In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying,\u00a0\u201cThis cup is the new covenant<\/span> in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.\u201d<\/em> – 1 Corinthians 11:25<\/span><\/p>\n The Old Covenant was brought about through the blood of animals, but the New Covenant is brought about through the Blood of the Lamb of God:<\/p>\n … to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel<\/em>\u00a0– Hebrews 12:24<\/span><\/p>\n For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance \u2014now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant<\/em> – Hebrews 9:15<\/span><\/p>\n This phrase\u00a0“new covenant”<\/em><\/span>\u00a0has come down to us via Latin as\u00a0“new testament”\u00a0<\/em>and this therefore became the name for the second part of the Biblical canon.<\/p>\n …with the house of Israel\u00a0and the house of Judah.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n After Solomon’s death in 930 BC the Kingdom of Israel fell into civil war and the kingdom was divided into the north (“Israel”<\/em>) and the south (“Judah”<\/em>):<\/p>\n “In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an\u00a0inheritance”<\/span><\/em> – Jeremiah 3:18<\/span><\/p>\n In this new covenant the Davidic Kingdom will be reunited.<\/p>\n It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers\u00a0the day I took them by the hand\u00a0to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; …<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n This new covenant will be rather different from the covenant made at Sinai. This covenant will later be known as the “old covenant”<\/span><\/em> (2 Corinthians 3:14<\/a>) or the “first covenant”<\/span><\/em> (Hebrews 8:7; 9:15,18<\/a>).<\/p>\n He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant<\/span>\u2014not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.<\/em> -2 Corinthians 3:6<\/span><\/p>\n The new covenant will not abolish but\u00a0fulfill\u00a0and transcend those previous covenants.<\/p>\n …for they broke my covenant, …<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n The problem with the previous covenants (and the covenant of Sinai in particular) was that the people (and not God) did not live up to their end of the bargain.<\/p>\n …and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n The Hebrew word rendered here as “master”<\/span><\/em>\u00a0has the root word of “ba’al”<\/em><\/span>. Instead of following Yahweh, the people went after other “Baals”<\/em>…<\/p>\n There are actually a couple of different ways of rendering this text from the Hebrew. If we assume that this rendering “master”<\/span><\/em> is correct, then we might say that in the Old\u00a0Covenant\u00a0God was seen more as\u00a0“Master”<\/span><\/em>\u00a0than “Father”.<\/p>\n An alternative rendering of the Hebrew would be “they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them”<\/em><\/span>. In this rendering, God expresses His covenant relationship with Israel is terms of marriage. This analogy is used many other times in Scripture (and infidelity to Yahweh is described as “adultery”<\/span><\/em>).<\/p>\n But this is the covenant that I will make\u00a0with the house of Israel…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n This is referring collectively to both Israel and Judah.<\/p>\n …after those days, says the LORD.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n The phrase “after those days”<\/span><\/em> is used a lot in Jeremiah to indicate the period in which Yahweh would intervene in the course of Israel’s history.<\/p>\n I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts;\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n This was the promise given by God through His prophet Ezekiel:<\/p>\n “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh…And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”<\/em>\u00a0– Ezekiel 11:19, 27<\/span><\/p>\n The “heart”<\/span><\/em> referred to here does not simply comprise of emotions. In Hebrew thought the “heart”<\/span><\/em> is the centre of the will and intellect.<\/p>\n When God’s law is in the heart then it comes to bear on every aspect of one’s life, affecting every thought,\u00a0every decision.\u00a0When God’s law is in the heart it is an internal, interior reality, rather than simply\u00a0being present externally on stone:<\/p>\n \u00a0Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.\u00a0The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets<\/em> – Exodus 32:15-16<\/span><\/p>\n However, even at Sinai, something very similar was expected:<\/p>\n “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts… Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads”<\/em> – Deuteronomy 6:6; 11:18<\/span><\/p>\n However, this will be brought to reality by the new covenant.<\/p>\n I will be their God, and they shall be my people.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n This has always been the purpose of God’s covenants, to unite humanity to Himself:<\/p>\n I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.\u00a0But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.<\/em> – Jeremiah 7:23-24<\/span><\/p>\n The problem has always been\u00a0though\u00a0that we have \u00a0always disobeyed.<\/p>\n No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives\u00a0how to know the LORD.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n When this new covenant is established, there will be no more ignorance among the people.<\/p>\n All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, …<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Knowledge of the Lord will not be restricted to a particular group. Instead, everyone will know Him. This “knowing” is experiential knowledge rather than\u00a0academic\u00a0knowledge (such as the difference between the verbs “saber”<\/em> and “conocer”<\/em> in Spanish).<\/p>\n …for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n …and here’s the really good news! With this covenant comes forgiveness of sins. This forgiveness was purchased for us by Christ:<\/p>\n For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.\u00a0<\/em>The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:\u00a0\u201cThis is the covenant I will make with them\u00a0after that time, says the Lord. I\u00a0will put my laws in their hearts,\u00a0and I will write them on their minds.\u201d\u00a0Then he adds:\u00a0\u201cTheir sins and lawless acts\u00a0I will remember no more.\u201d<\/em> – Hebrews 10:14-17<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This psalm is a prayer for forgiveness and cleansing.<\/p>\n R. (12a)\u00a0Create a clean heart in me, O God.<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;<\/span><\/em> A clean heart create for me, O God,<\/span><\/em> Give me back the joy of your salvation,<\/span><\/em> Questions:<\/p>\n Commentary:<\/p>\n R. (12a)\u00a0Create a clean heart in me, O God.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n A heart free from sin.<\/p>\n Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;<\/span><\/em>\u00a0in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.<\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The petition for mercy is made based upon God’s “goodness”<\/span><\/em> and “compassion”<\/span><\/em>.<\/p>\n The psalmist is using the image of a piece of scroll of papyrus containing all of David’s deeds (“wipe\/blot out my offense”<\/span><\/em>).<\/p>\n Thoroughly wash me from my guilt<\/em>\u00a0and of my sin cleanse me.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n The psalmist wants no trace of his sin to remain.<\/p>\n The language of washing here may be seen to prefigure the Sacrament of baptism.<\/p>\n A clean heart create for me, O God,<\/em>\u00a0and a steadfast spirit renew within me.<\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The psalmist requests that God creates for him a new heart (as we saw above, “heart”<\/span><\/em> doesn’t just mean emotions). It is worth noting here that it is God<\/span>\u00a0who does the cleansing and it is\u00a0God<\/span>\u00a0who creates the new heart – it is an act of His grace.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/new-life.jpg\")
<\/p>\nReading I: Jeremiah 31:31-34<\/h2>\n
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15<\/h2>\n
\nin the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.<\/span><\/em>
\nThoroughly wash me from my guilt<\/span><\/em>
\nand of my sin cleanse me.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
\nand a steadfast spirit renew within me.<\/span><\/em>
\nCast me not out from your presence,<\/span><\/em>
\nand your Holy Spirit take not from me.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
\nand a willing spirit sustain in me.<\/span><\/em>
\nI will teach transgressors your ways,<\/span><\/em>
\nand sinners shall return to you.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n