I just started a new semester in my graduate program, and one of my courses is about covenant theology in Sacred Scripture. A covenant is a solemn, relational bond established by God, involving promises, obligations, and covenant signs. Throughout Scripture, we see six major covenants: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and the New Covenant established by Christ.
One defining feature of a covenant is that it involves oath-swearing, when the promises are spoken, and an oath-ritual, which signifies acceptance and ratification. We see a similar pattern in Matrimony: the exchange of marital consent expresses the oath-swearing, while the wedding rings signify the covenant.
Thinking about these covenant signs got me wondering: What does our participation in God’s covenant look like today? And, more personally, how seriously do I take the covenant signs I participate in at Mass?
An oath is made, either on our behalf or of our own volition, during the sacraments of initiation: Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation. This oath-swearing is our acceptance and belief in the faith. At each celebration, there is an oath-ritual: the immersion of Baptism, the reception of the Eucharist, and the anointing of Confirmation.
The reality is that we continually participate in one covenant sign every time we come to Mass: receiving the Eucharist. Beginning with the Creed, we reaffirm our baptismal promises of faith and fidelity to God, profess what we believe, and participate in the Eucharistic celebration through the reception of Jesus, truly present in the Eucharist.
For us, the blessings of the New Covenant are a sharing in the divine life of God, the promise of eternal life, and freedom from sin and death. For those who turn away from the covenant, the opposite is true: death, damnation, and a revocation of the promises of Christ.
So I come back to the question I was asking myself: How seriously do I take this?
The Eucharist is not something we should take lightly. We should approach it with seriousness, reverence, and gratitude, recognizing that when we receive the Eucharist, we are participating in the New Covenant established by Christ.
And perhaps that is a question worth asking ourselves every time we come to Mass: How seriously do we take what we participate in here?
James Pike
Director of Parish Life
