Friends, today’s readings contain within them the theme of God’s covenants with his people. God has made the whole of creation, but out of the totality of the nations on earth, he chose a particular people—the Israelite nation—to be “peculiarly his own,” forming them through a series of covenants and laws. These laws, in their fulfillment, come into the hearts of all peoples through the Eucharist, which inscribes the new and everlasting covenant upon the heart, soul, and mind.