Lent 9:28-36

During cycle C of Lent the first readings at Mass are taken from the Old Testament and explore the theme of God's promises to his people and how God has fulfilled them - the theme of covenant. To Christians preparing for the celebration of the New Covenant in Christ, these readings prefigure and offer insights into the Paschal Mystery. God's promise to Abram is marked by a conventional of promise - when rulers made solemn treaties the sign of the butchered and divided animals was a sign of what should happen to either party who broke the treaty, and passing between the severed bodies was a graphic sign of that. In the passage from Genesis, only God - revealed by the smoking furnace and firebrand - passes among the sacrifice. The covenant commitment is totally one-sided - God's pledge is seen in this act. For Christians the broken body of Christ on the cross is similarly revealed as a sign of the one-sided commitment of God to his people. In the gospel the conversation between Jesus and Moses and Elijah - who represent the Law and the Prophets - is about Jesus' passing which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem - precisely the sacrifice that reveals God's total commitment to the promises he has made.