People of the New Covenant

WORD 2day: Friday, 2nd week in Ordinary time

January 20, 2023: Hebrews 8:6-13; Mark 3: 13-19

New covenant, new people, new faith, new community, new life: for behold I make all things new - this theme dominated the life of the early Christians. And that was what made them so attractive. They were new, fresh and promising for the onlookers. That is why in the Acts we see, that constantòy people were added to their numbers. 

Where did all those newness come from? From that one fundamental experience: their new found relationship with Christ, and their relationship with each other in Christ. They were people of the covenant... the people of the Old Testament. And in Jesus they were transformed into people of the New Covenant... new people of the new covenant. 

The challenge was, how do they express this newness in their day to day life? The disciples and the apostles felt this call - an encouraging call and at the same time a demanding call. It remains so even with us. If a relationship with someone is taken to some newer joyful levels, that joy manifests itself not only in jubilant moments, but all the more in the test of one's life's conditions. If a relationship that is on, finds a rough patch sometime, it is bound to affect a person's entire life - thinking, speaking, acting and every aspect of it.

The question that matters here is: how much do I value that relationship with the Lord who calls me? How do I sense myself as part of new people of the new covenant!