Tag: New Covenant

“The sabbath was made for man.” | Memorial of Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr

From the responsorial psalm: “He has sent deliverance to his people; he has ratified his covenant forever; holy and awesome is his name. His praise endures forever. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 2:23-28)

At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?”

Jesus responds to the Pharisees who question the disciples of Jesus as they pick the heads of grain on the sabbath. The tension between the interpretation of the law that Jesus offers them and their own strict interpretation centers on their claim that it is unlawful to work on the sabbath. Jesus answers their question with a question, drawing on an example from David and his companions. Jesus goes on with a divine interpretation of the sabbath, one that reveals it not in rigid, legalistic framing but as a gift from God meant for the people. He says to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

God, let me see the gift you give me today in choosing to serve you in complete freedom. When I hear Jesus say, “Have you never read. . . ,” I hear a kind of exasperation with the constant questioning and strictness of the Pharisees. You don’t impose yourself, and obedience to your will is not oppressive. You see me in my needs and give me the freedom to choose to do what is good and pleasing to you. Just as David shared the bread of offering with his companions to satiate their hunger, help me see the hunger others have for your mercy and give to others what you first gave to me. Saint Agnes, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them.” | Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek. The LORD said to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.'”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 2:18-22)

Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.”

A day after we hear John’s account of the Wedding at Cana, today’s Gospel again presents Jesus as the bridegroom who delights in the guests at the wedding banquet. As long as Jesus is physically present, joy and fulfillment are given in abundance. But a time will come when he is “taken way” during his passion and death; then there will be fasting in the sorrow of his absence. The two parables Jesus shares—the new patch on the old garment and new wine poured into old wineskins—illustrate the new reality Jesus brings in his presence. The New Covenant cannot simply be imposed on or confined by the ways of the old covenant. The joy of the New Covenant is in Christ himself and the Church he establishes through perfect obedience to the Father.

God, help me participate fully in the joy and new life Jesus brings as your bridegroom. Strengthen my faith, especially in times of sorrow and guide me to live in the fullness of joy that comes from following Jesus Christ your Son. As Saint Paul says, “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” By his example and through your grace, guide me in knowing and doing your will.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus makes clear to the disciples what Saint Paul describes in the first reading; namely, the Old Covenant with Israel is fulfilled in God’s New Covenant for all who come to Christ in faith. God made the Old Covenant with his people so that the New Covenant could bring him greater glory. As Paul says, “For if what was going to fade was glorious, how much more will what endures be glorious.” The breadth and majesty of God’s kingdom incorporates the glory of the old with the glory of the new until heaven and earth pass away and all things have taken place.

God, help me understand the sweeping breadth of your being—manifest in the Old Covenant and fulfilled through your Son in the New. Jesus says, “I have not come to abolish but to fulfill.” Nothing is lost in these covenants, and whoever is obedient to them and teaches them, as Jesus says, “will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.” Help me be obedient to the truth of your glory.

From the Gospel acclamation, “Teach me your paths, my God, and guide me in your truth.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.