In today’s First Reading the Letter to the Hebrew reminds us that Our Lord established a new covenant with believers that supersedes the old covenant established on Mt. Sinai between the Lord and the People of God through the mediation of Moses. The prophets (see Jeremiah 31:31-34) described Israel’s infidelity to this covenant as being the result of stone hearts: hearts hardened by their experiences in Egypt and in the desert, despite all the Lord had done for them. The new covenant would be written on their hearts and its requirements placed in their minds: something lived from the heart.
In today’s Gospel Our Lord calls the Apostles who, at the Last Supper, will witness the establishment of this new covenant and then perpetuate it through their ministry and the celebration of the Eucharist. Our Lord ratifies this new covenant with his own blood. Through this covenant our hearts are transformed: faith, hope, and charity are infused into our hearts and shape our actions and our attitudes.
Even among the Twelve there was a traitor, someone whose heart remained hardened. Let Our Lord’s covenant, a covenant of love, be written on your heart and shape your life.
Readings: Hebrews 8:6–13; Psalm 85:8, 10–14; Mark 3:13–19.