Sixth Thursday of Ordinary Time

This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

God has entered into many covenants with us. Through each one He has given us many graces. With the New Covenant of Jesus, he has offered us a new sign of His promises... the cross. It is in the cross that we see the bridge between the death of sin and the life of love. It is in this symbol that we see the triumph of God through the sacrifice of the cross. But a covenant is a two-way promise and in return for the saving graces of His Beloved Son, God asks us to know, love, and serve Him as Jesus did by following the Way of the Cross. It is only by accepting the sufferings of this life and bearing them with hopeful and compassionate hearts that we will become living signs of God’s New Covenant. It is not enough for us to accept God’s Love and Mercy. We must also imitate Christ in our thoughts, words, and works. When people look upon us they should know we are Christians by our love and how we carry ourselves under the weight of our own crosses.

Are we living our lives according to the New Covenant? How can we make ourselves into living signs of the New Covenant? Do we ever take time to truly contemplate what God did for us through His Son’s passion, death, and resurrection?

O Lord, make us into living signs of the triumph of your cross.

Amen.