Reflection:
(By Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi Fianu,SVD(Catholic Bishop of Ho,Ghana))
The First Reading begins with the promise of a “new covenant” between God and his people.
The indication of something new makes Jeremiah refer to the covenant that God made with Israel at the time of Moses as the old covenant.
The prophet recalls that the people of Israel broke that covenant.
The discontinuity with the past covenant is indicated in two different ways.
The new covenant will not be like the old and the people of Israel will no longer have to teach one another about the new covenant as they did with the previous one.
The newness of the covenant is that it will not be a covenant written on stone tablets; it will be written on their hearts. That is to say, it will be within them.
That is why Jeremiah says that there will be no need for someone to teach the neighbour about the new covenant.
What is written on the heart of the person becomes indelible and an integral part of the person so it cannot be forgotten.
Slaves were marked with external seals on the body so that wherever they went people would know to whom they belonged.
When God writes the new covenant on the heart of his people, they will be identified always with him.
Despite the promise of a new covenant to which the people were expected to be more faithful, we sadly observe that Israel did not change her attitude toward God.
Israel continued to disobey God even after the time of Jeremiah.
Some biblical scholars point to the actual fulfilment of the prophecy of Jeremiah as having taken place in Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
But even here, we have to say that we are not faithful to the new covenant in Jesus Christ.
We continue to be in need of someone to teach us about God.
Evidence of this need is the Gospel story of today in which Jesus asked his disciples not only who people say he is but also more especially who the disciples say he is.
So long as we do not embrace the covenant of God written in our hearts, we will need someone to teach us about the will of God.
Let us learn to know the Lord so that we will live by his covenant and be saved.Amen.