Sunday Sermon for June 2, 2024, Corpus Christi Year B
Readings: Ex 24:3-8; Heb 9:11-15; Mk 14:12-16, 22-26
In the first reading today, we hear about the covenant God entered into with the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. Most of us would have no problem with the idea of erecting an altar and twelve pillars; perhaps we would not even have a problem with sacrificing bulls as a peace offering to the Lord. However, most of us would draw the line at the point when Moses sprinkled the blood of the bulls on the people.
However, we need to understand that covenants are most often sealed in blood. When Moses sprinkled the blood on the people, he said: “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you.” Because the covenant was made with God, Moses splashed the other half of the blood on the altar that was dedicated to the Lord. This covenant brought the people of Israel into a deeper relationship with God, a marital relationship wherein the Lord became the Bridegroom of Israel.
In the Gospel reading, we are brought to the Upper Room where Jesus was celebrating the Passover with His Apostles. When it came to the part of the Passover called the toda, Jesus changed the bread and wine into Himself. However, it is important to note that when He gave the Apostles the chalice to drink, Jesus did not merely tell them this was His Blood; rather, He told them this was the Blood of the Covenant.
Jesus was at the point of entering into His own Passover, when He was going to pass from this world to the Father. To show how the Passover of the Israelites was actually a prefiguration of something far greater, Jesus confects the Eucharist, and inaugurates a new Covenant at the Passover supper. For the Jewish people, they were not only reminded of their freedom from slavery and the beginning of their journey to the Promised Land, but they were reminded also that the blood of the Passover lambs was placed on the doorposts and lintels of their homes in Egypt so the angel of death would pass over their homes and their firstborn would live whereas the firstborn of the Egyptians died.
The Blood of Jesus is shed so that we can be set free from the ultimate slavery which is slavery to sin and Satan. The Blood of Jesus is not put on the doors of our homes so the angel of death passes over us and spares our firstborn to live his life in this world. Rather, our Lord’s Blood cleanses our soul so that we, as members of the Firstborn of all creation, are given the grace to live forever with God in the true Promised Land of Heaven. The Blood of Jesus is not sprinkled on our bodies as a sign and seal of the covenant. The Blood of Jesus is consumed and received into our hearts so we are changed and sealed interiorly as children of God and members of the Bride of the Lamb.
We see all these points made by St. Paul in the second reading where he talks about how the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes can only cleanse the body. The Blood of Jesus, on the other hand, cleanses our conscience “from dead works to worship the living God.” It is for this reason, St. Paul says, that Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant so that we could receive the promised eternal inheritance.
For our part, we must recall that this Covenant is not like any of the others God entered into previously with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David. These covenants were all about the relationship the people had with God, each becoming more and more personal and profound. But each of these covenants was an agreement that was external to the people; for example, the Ten Commandments which are literally written on stone. The New Covenant is Jesus. This covenant is not an agreement with Jesus; rather, Jesus is the Covenant. We are incorporated into Him and we receive His Body and Blood into ourselves. This covenant is not external to us, but integral to who we are.
It is in this vein that the importance of what happened at the Last Supper becomes even greater. The toda is the part of the Passover dedicated to giving thanks to God for all He has done for His people. The word toda means thanksgiving; when translated into Greek, the word is Eucharist. People can mouth words of thanks, but true gratitude must come from the heart. Jesus gives Himself to us entirely to receive into our hearts. Our gratitude for His love must come from our hearts as we give ourselves entirely to Him. Ultimately and eternally, this is the sign and seal of the Covenant!
Fr. Altier’s column appears regularly in The Wanderer, a national Catholic weekly published in St. Paul, Minn. For information about subscribing to The Wanderer, please visit www.thewandererpress.com.
