As I began reading the Bible more closely, I kept encountering two words: sacrifice and covenant.
Understanding how they belong together has helped me appreciate what Christ gives us—and what I’m participating in at Mass.
God calls His people into relationship
Throughout Scripture, God establishes covenants: solemn bonds through which He makes promises and calls people to respond in faithfulness.
That helped me recognize something important. Worship belongs within a relationship God initiates. He reaches toward His people, reveals Himself, and teaches them how to live with Him.
The Catechism traces this unfolding story through Noah, Abraham, and Israel. Reading those stages together has helped me see the continuity of God’s plan. Explore Catechism §§54–64.
At Sinai, the connections become visible
Exodus 24 brings several elements together.
Moses builds an altar. Sacrifices are offered. He reads the Book of the Covenant, and the people promise obedience. Blood is sprinkled on the altar and the people as the covenant is solemnly ratified.
Then Moses, Aaron, and the elders ascend the mountain and eat and drink in God’s presence.
God’s word, an altar, sacrifice, covenant blood, and a meal in His presence.
Seeing these elements together made me slow down. They were becoming familiar in a way I hadn’t expected.
Jesus speaks of the New Covenant
At the Last Supper, Jesus identifies the cup as:
“The new covenant in My blood.”
When I read those words alongside Exodus, I begin to understand their depth. Jesus establishes the New Covenant through the gift of His own life.
Hebrews explains the fulfillment: Christ enters the sanctuary through His own blood, obtaining eternal redemption. He offers Himself once for all.
The earlier sacrifices help us understand the greatness of His perfect offering.
What I now recognize in the Mass
The Church teaches that the Mass makes Christ’s one sacrifice sacramentally present. The same Jesus who offered Himself on Calvary gives us a share in that saving gift through the Eucharist.
He is not crucified again. His sacrifice is complete and unrepeatable.
Explore Catechism §§1362–1367.
For me, these connections have given familiar words at Mass a depth I once overlooked.
When I hear covenant, sacrifice, and Body and Blood, I’m learning to hear them within the whole story of salvation.
The New Covenant didn’t do away with sacrifice. Jesus fulfilled it.
And understanding that helps me bring greater attention, reverence, and gratitude to the Mass.