See, days are coming—oracle of the LORD—when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. (Jeremiah 31:31-32 NABRE)
The new covenant is an occasional prophetic theme, beginning with Hosea. According to Jeremiah, (a) it lasts forever; (b) its law (torah) is written in human hearts; (c) it gives everyone true knowledge of God, making additional instruction (torah) unnecessary. The Dead Sea Scroll community claimed they were partners in a “new covenant.” The New Testament presents the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as inaugurating a new covenant open to anyone who professes faith in Jesus the Christ.*
Today's passage from Jeremiah addresses unity among the people of God. Though the specific reference is to the houses of Israel and of Judah sharing in this new covenant, I recognize this concept of unity as being somehow broader than that, transcending the boundaries of time which limit our thinking, to include all of God's people, even today. What unifies us is of God, what divides us is not.
Today, I will look for those things which unify people and I will discourage whatever divides us.
Saint Hesychius of Jerusalem, fifth-century priest and monk who wrote, "Keep yourselves free from sin so that every day you may share in the mystic meal; by doing so our bodies become the body of Christ," pray for us.
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