God creates a covenant with each of us. Our first covenant comes in the form of our Baptism. This promise or commitment to God is made by our parents if we are Catholic and are baptized as infants. The second covenant is made when you are older, generally at Confirmation (between 2nd grade and high school for most Catholics) or as an adult.

In the Bible God made a covenant with his people, this is referred to as the “old covenant” which was a sacrifice made by the people. However, Jesus came to make a “new covenant” where there was one sacrifice for all.

This second or “new covenant” is our chance to take responsibility for our own faith. It’s our time to make Christ a priority and live our faith though our words and actions. We make time for God in prayer, attend Mass, give God thanks and praise for this new covenant. We turn to God to help us make choices that would be pleasing to him, in all aspects of our life with our families, teachers, coaches, bosses, in what we choose to watch on TV or the music we listen to and the people with whom we spend our time.

We come to understand through the “new covenant” that our faith journey is continuous and we need one another to help us grow in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We also understand that when we sin, we create darkness in our lives. We can try to hide the sin from others but God always sees. It circles back around to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross to save us all from our sins and give us the Holy Spirit to help build us up so we can live in the “new covenant”.