The word 'Covenant' is a word which we often hear when we are in church: 'but what exactly does it mean?' A covenant is a kind of contract, a bond/agreement between two people. In the Bible, we find it from the time of Noah, who, as soon as he came out of the ark after the flood, God made a covenant with him that he would never again destroy mankind with a punishment for sin. Then God made a covenant with Abraham, promising him offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. This covenant God renewed in the form of a law with His people after they came out of the slavery of Egypt. The words of this covenant were that if the people observe this law, "He (God) will be their God (protecting them) and they will be His people."
The purpose of this covenant was for the people to recognize their sin, to acknowledge that they can never justify themselves, can never be faithful to the covenant with God, and thus long for a relationship with God that does not depend on their behavior, thereby desiring the Messiah, the one who would fulfill the covenant on behalf of the entire people. 'I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah; not like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them...'
'I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.' The new covenant will not be written on tablets of stone but in the human heart, and while the old covenant did not take into account the fact that humans are incapable of always observing the law because they are weak and sinful, the new covenant is one that forgives the sin of man. 'For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.' Today's psalm expresses most powerfully how the person of the old covenant feels and at the same time what God will do in the new covenant. 'Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; in your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.' The Lord forgives not because I deserve it or because of any merit of mine, but because He is a good and merciful God.
Today's gospel shows us that it is in Jesus and Jesus alone that the covenant between God and man is fulfilled; for Jesus, who committed no sin and at the same time is a man like us, fulfills the covenant for us and in our name, and he does so on the cross as we say in the words of the consecration. In today's gospel, some Greeks show interest in meeting Jesus. Jesus sees this as the sign that '“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.' The glorification of Jesus occurs at the moment he gives his life for the world according to the Father's plan. He shows us with this greatest mystery of life, that is, those who want to save their life and therefore be selfish and think only of themselves end up losing the sense of why they are living, but those who give it away, those who are generous, those who love without calculating too much, discover the true meaning of it (life). 'Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.' Therefore, there is no other way to do God's will but to follow Jesus by taking up his cross in union with the Lord. We ask ourselves: how much am I part of the mystery of life as conveyed to us by Jesus, meaning that if I am selfish I end up losing the sense of life, but if I give my life in love, I discover its beauty?
We ask you, Jesus, to help us recognise that you are the unique model of true love, you are the Great Book, as Saint George Preca loved to call you, because only you can reveal to us the mystery of life. Help us never to take our eyes off you, so that in you and through you we may learn what true love is, and receive the grace to live it forever. Amen.
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