20240808 A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST, THE NEW COVENANT
08 August 2024, Thursday, 18th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Jeremiah 31:31-34 |
I will write my Law in their hearts
See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel (and the House of Judah), but not a covenant like the one I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant of mine, so I had to show them who was master. It is the Lord who speaks. No, this is the covenant I will make with the House of Israel when those days arrive – it is the Lord who speaks. Deep within them I will plant my Law, writing it on their hearts. Then I will be their God and they shall be my people. There will be no further need for neighbour to try to teach neighbour, or brother to say to brother, ‘Learn to know the Lord!’ No, they will all know me, the least no less than the greatest – it is the Lord who speaks – since I will forgive their iniquity and never call their sin to mind.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 50(51):12-15,18-19 |
A pure heart create for me, O God.
A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
A pure heart create for me, O God.
Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervour sustain me,
that I may teach transgressors your ways
and sinners may return to you.
A pure heart create for me, O God.
For in sacrifice you take no delight,
burnt offering from me you would refuse,
my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.
A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.
A pure heart create for me, O God.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps144:13 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord is faithful in all his words
and loving in all his deeds.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mt16:18 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
You are Peter,
and on this rock I will build my Church.
And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 16:13-23 |
You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said, ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’ Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
From that time Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. ‘Heaven preserve you, Lord;’ he said ‘this must not happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.’
A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST, THE NEW COVENANT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Jer 31:31-34; Mt 16:13-23]
The exile of the Israelites to Babylon, the destruction of the Temple, the downfall of the Kingdom, and the foreign occupation of the land, show that the Old Covenant is a failure. This was because the Old Covenant was written on tablets. Being external to the people, the commandments were disobeyed as the people did not interiorize them. They obeyed them slavishly and reluctantly. St Paul wrote, “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Cor 3:6). For this reason, the Prophet said, “See, the days are coming when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah, but not a covenant like the one I made with their ancestors. Deep within them I will plant my law, writing it on their hearts.”
What is the difference between this covenant and the one given by Moses? Firstly, the law of God, or rather, the Word of God, is not written on tablets but in their hearts. When something is received with the mind and heart, it is committed to the memory of the person. It is received with conviction and impressed upon the heart of the person. Indeed, unless we internalize the Word of God, we will not live it out.
Secondly, it is the work of the Holy Spirit. Just explaining the law of God will not always make people accept the gospel, especially in today’s world of relativism, science and technology. It is difficult to convince people of the truth of the Word of God unless it measures up to their so-called intelligence. They will twist and turn, and rationalize it to fit their situation. In a world of democracy and free speech, one can always interpret it to favour one’s ideological position. The prophet Ezekiel confirmed this prophecy when he wrote: “Thus says the Lord God…’I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.'” (Ez 36:25-28)
Thirdly, this relationship with God is not simply an assent to His existence or to the laws that He has given to us through Moses but it is personal relationship. The Lord spoke through Jeremiah, “Then I will be their God and they shall be my people. There will be no further need for neighbour to try to teach neighbour, or brother to say to brother, ‘Learn to know the Lord!’ No, they will all know me, the least no less than the greatest.” Without a personal relationship with God, we cannot give ourselves completely to Him. When we love and are loved, it is easier to commit ourselves to a person. So long as our relationship with God remains distant, we cannot give ourselves completely to Him. We need to fall in love with Him again if we are to share in His life and love.
Fourthly, when the Spirit dwells in our hearts, our sins will also be forgiven. “I will forgive their iniquity and never call their sin to mind.” Very often, we cannot hear the Word of God and we resist the gospel because our hearts and minds are tainted by sin. When we live in sin, the devil blocks our hearts from listening to the Word of God with humility and docility. Sin always makes a person proud and arrogant, refusing to recognize his mistakes and faults. When we live in sin, we blame everyone else for our woes instead of recognizing our ignorance. This is why, when a person feels that God is far off, or when he cannot pray deeply, he should examine himself, ask for forgiveness and seek reconciliation with God.
These promises of the New Covenant of course can only be fulfilled with the coming of Christ who gives us His Spirit. “He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.” (Heb 9:15). Hence, St Paul said, “Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, chiselled in letters on stone tablets, came in glory so that the people of Israel could not gaze at Moses’ face because of the glory of his face, a glory now set aside, how much more will the ministry of the Spirit come in glory?” (2 Cor 3:4-7)
In today’s gospel, St Peter was given a personal revelation from God on the identity of Jesus. He was taught by God Himself, fulfilling the prophecy of Jeremiah. When Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus said, “Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.” Indeed, human reason alone cannot come to a conclusive decision that Jesus is the Son of God. The study of theology can only provide the basis for credibility in Jesus as the Son of God. But in the final analysis, belief in God or in Jesus depends on faith and on God’s revelation. This explains why reason alone is insufficient. Otherwise, why do the most intelligent people in this world also fall into two camps like the rest of humanity, agnosticism or faith?
This is why the Lord, immediately after the revelation, also “gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.” The truth is that unless we have a personal relationship with the Lord, our knowledge about Him from some secondary source will not bring about a real faith in Him. So long as our faith is dependent on some external testimony alone, our faith will remain weak. We need the Holy Spirit to confirm what we read or heard so that the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit can convict our hearts. Hence, the weakness of cradle Catholics is that they tend to receive the faith of their parents without confirming that faith in their own life and in their relationship with God. When that happens, that faith becomes a custom or a routine, but not a living relationship.
Only with a personal faith like Peter’s, can Christ build His church in us. This is the other meaning of the gospel when the Lord said to Peter, “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.” It is true that this verse establishes Peter as the vicar of Christ and the head of the Church on earth. But it is equally true that unless we have the same faith of Peter in Christ, we cannot build the Church of Christ. We cannot open the kingdom of heaven to others unless we have entered in ourselves. The key to enter the Kingdom of heaven is by faith alone.
But this personal and theological faith in Christ must also grow in fullness in time. Our understanding of how God acts in this world requires further development. Whilst divine revelation is completed in Jesus, we still need to deepen our faith each day. We might have the right doctrines about our Lord but we might not understand fully the implications of what we confess. Whilst Peter received the divine revelation of Jesus’ identity, he failed to understand that His identity would be revealed through human lowliness. We read, “from that time Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, to put to death and to be raised up on the third day.” Peter could not accept the ways of our Lord. His faith needs to grow and be purified. “Taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. ‘Heaven preserve you, Lord,’ he said ‘this must not happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.'” Let us therefore never cease to grow in our relationship with Christ.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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