In today's first reading from Exodus 24, Moses reads the book of the covenant aloud and then takes the blood of the animals that had been sacrificed and splashes half of it on the altar. The other half he put in bowls and sprinkled it on the people.
Moses said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words of his." Can you imagine going to Mass and being sprinkled with the blood of animals? Thankfully, we don't have to do that.
The old covenant was sealed with the blood of animals. Animals were valuable, and to sacrifice them was a sacrifice for the people. But the blood of animals could never fully atone for sins. Only the blood of Christ do that. And that's what God did. He sacrificed His only Son. Jesus sacrificed Himself so that we would no longer have to offer animal sacrifice. The blood of the new covenant is not the blood of bulls and goats, but the Blood of Christ. And that same Blood is available to us every time we go to Mass. Thank you, Jesus!!
Father, we thank you for sacrificing your only Son for us. May our sacrifice be a sacrifice of praise. Amen.
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