In Genesis, the hopeful sign for Noah was that of a rainbow crossing the skies. Surely, rain and the rainbow existed long before the time of Noah's catastrophic flood. The rainbow took on new meaning as the sign of God's covenant with Noah. Hence, every time it appeared, it was a reminder for them of the covenant that involves the whole of creation. For God blessed Noah and his family over all the animals that have survived. In all these, however, the greater emphasis was the absolute respect for human life, no spilling of human blood, for every human person is the image of God.

In the declaration of Jesus as Christ by the disciples, Jesus stunned them by saying He would be killed but after three days would rise. It is a dramatic moment. For the disciples, Jesus is not just an ordinary rabbi, He is the long- awaited Christ, the anointed King of Israel. However, Jesus told them to keep this to themselves since there were many expectations about the Messiah and Jesus did not want to be identified with them. One was the stereotypical expectation that the Messiah would be the triumphant king who would trample Israel's enemies and re-establish their political kingdom. Later, the disciples had to unlearn the kind of Messiah they expected, beyond their racial and political comprehension. For us now, Jesus is our hope to propagate the absolute respect for human life. In every Eucharist, His life is revered.