Word of the Week

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Covenant: Convenire (L.): meaning “to come together; a compact agreement,” behind this term stands the Greek diatheke meaning “Testament”, and Hebrew berith meaning, “to bind”. Both the Greek and the Hebrew offer additional insights into the essence of this dominant motif in Sacred Scripture.

Covenant is a solemn agreement between two persons or between God and man that possess a mutual guarantee or commitment. God reveals his divine kindness to his chosen people over time. “God communicates himself to man gradually” (CCC 53) in the Old Testament, in stages of revelation. God unveils his loving plan to his chosen people by entering into covenant relationship with them through perennial figures who act as mediators. Noah (the first figure we see in Scripture that has with it covenant language) was the mediator that established God's family as a sacred household (CCC 56-58). Abraham was the mediator that established God's family as a growing tribe (CCC 59-61) and ultimately becomes a father of covenant kinship, as his descendents would number greater than the stars (Gn.12:1-3). Moses was the mediator establishing God's family as a nation. The Mosaic covenant was marked by the Passover sacrifice and worship rooted in the law (CCC 62-64) of the 10 Commandments. David was the mediator that established God's people as a kingdom dynasty, a priestly people that would reign forever (2 Sam.7:10-17). In the New Testament, Christ fulfills and perfects a new and eternal covenant through his own sacrificial death and Resurrection. Christ establishes a new house rooted in the law of virtue. “The Christian economy is the new and definitive Covenant which will never pass away” (CCC 66).

The word covenant is found 314 times in Sacred Scripture: 280 occurrences in the OT and 34 in the NT. The term covenant in Scripture is revealed as a sacred family bond in which God enters into relationship with man. The aforementioned covenants established in the OT have in common sacrificial offering (Gn.8:20; Gn.22; Ex.12). These OT orders of relationship would have new meaning in the Incarnation and the Paschal mystery. The major prophet Jeremiah prophesies that the old covenant has been so broken that it tastes of sour grapes, so a new (only time new is used in the OT) and different covenant will be made, one that will be written on the hearts of the people. It will be a more personal and direct relationship between God and his people (Jer.31:27-34). Thus, the need for Christ, he who was the sacrifice made perfect for the ransom of many (Mt.20:28; Mk.10:45; 1 Tim.2:6; 1 Peter 1:18; Rev.5:9).

Covenant is the overarching theme through the Bible. Therefore, it demands our attention to its relationship to the Paschal mystery and God's saving plan of love. Covenant love is more than a contract where you say, “this is yours and this is mine”, rather it says, “I am yours and you are mine.” And for God, who is entirely relationship, His covenant would not be something external in history, but rather a manifestation of His saving love that is ratified in his body and blood, which is given in the Eucharist (Mk.14:24). Therefore, we enter into relationship with God in the new covenant by taking of “the bread of life” (Jn.6.54). This ‘bread of life' is the food that gives us the strength to do God's will. 

“Covenant unlocks the door to the Christian mystery.”

--Dr. Scott Hahn

Primary Texts Consulted

1. Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
2. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.

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