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 ...