Eucharist is a covenant. Jesus says today, “This is my Blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many” (Mk 14:24). The Eucharist is not just a gift: A gift is something we receive, but a covenant is when people become family.
Covenants involve, not an exchange of property, but an exchange of persons.
Every covenant involves responsibilities: We promise to give ourselves to the other person. So, when Jesus gives us the Eucharist, He’s pledging His life to us! That means, when we receive the Eucharist, we have to pledge our whole lives to Him.
Enter the covenant. How? Through baptism.
When God says to Israel, "You will be my people and I will be your God," that’s a covenant. What’s happening is that Israel is swearing an oath to God - to live according to God’s law as His people, His children. In turn, God is swearing to be Israel’s God, its divine parent. There are blessings for keeping the covenant and curses for breaking it.
If we put ourselves outside the covenant by our own free choice, we can’t receive the sign of the covenant, the Eucharist. If we gravely sin, then we can’t receive Communion until we’ve apologized in Confession and made amends. And God is waiting for us to come because He wants to forgive us.
In the ancient world, covenants made families.
The whole Bible can be outlined as a series of family-making covenants.
"As God said: ‘I will live with them and move among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people.’....‘I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,’ says the Lord Almighty." (see 2 Corinthians 6:16-18).
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