JESUS THE MEDIATOR OF THE NEW COVENANT (HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 18TH WEEK IN THE ORDINARY TIME

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Matthew 16:13-23

In the first reading from the book of the prophet Jeremiah, God assures Israel that he will make a new covenant with them. A covenant that is different from that of the old which was established with their ancestors (Jeremiah 31:31-32). The new became necessary because on several occasions Israel defiled the covenant they had with God e.g the practice of Idolatry.

The new covenant promised through the prophet Jeremiah had its fulfilment in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant (Hebrew 9:15). In his life, passion, death and resurrection he freed us from sin and eternal damnation and made us adopted children of God. While the old covenant is related to the possession of the promised land, the new covenant is related to the possession of our heavenly homeland. The old covenant was characterised by external law, the new covenant is characterized by the Holy Spirit. While the old covenant sort for the establishment of the law before the power was given, the new covenant gave first the power to establish the law e.g the healing of the paralytic. The new covenant has an eschatological character. Hence, beloved in Christ, 

In the unquenchable quest for man to know himself, he does so untiringly because only the truth will set him free. However, the capacity to unravel this truth is not completely rooted in man. In the discovery of religious truths, man needs the aid of God. Through revelation, God communicates to man his divine life, plan and purposes. The truth is completely free from error and doubts. Consequently, God is the giver of revealed truths.

In the Gospel of Matthew today, Peter realised the identity and mission of Jesus through the help of God's revelation. Jesus said, Simon son of Jona, you are a happy man! Because it is not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven” (Matthew 16: 16-17). Peter came to that truth base on divine revelation because it was beyond his capacity as a human. In other to keep guard over the revealed truth of God. Jesus said to Peter: “I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you lose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Mt 16:18-19). 

The authentic Magisterium of Peter remains one of the greatest gifts Jesus gave to the church. Without the God-given guarantee of the authentic Magisterium, the church will not be a community of faith, hope and charity. The office of the Magisterium safeguards and preserves the revealed truths, interpreting and communicating them to the world by teaching free from error. 

Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, we live in a world where there is so much neglect of the truth and propagation of falsehood most especially in moral and religious matters. There are so many erroneous teachings out there in the bid to de-stabilize the revealed truth of God

In other to circumvent these, we must listen to the office of the Magisterium to whom Jesus had bestowed this singular privilege of governing, sanctifying and teaching the revealed truths of God, for the firmness of our faith and growth in Christian life.

May Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant continue to guide and lead us along the pathway of salvation.

Have a wonderful day!

Fr Remi osj