The significance of blood is life binding in enacting a covenant. The previous old covenant under Moses was one of recurring sacrifices and the shedding of animal blood. The blood of animals was sprinkled on the people who had incurred defilement. This sprinkling restored their holiness. After the temple was destroyed by the Romans, there were no more holocausts and sacrifices.

But even before that, Jesus has instituted a new form of sacrifice - there is no more need for recurring animal sacrifices. The blood of Jesus is the blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many. According to the author of Hebrews, Jesus has entered the sanctuary once and for all, taking with Him not the blood of goats and bull calves, but His own blood, having won an eternal redemption for us. We who believe will receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Indeed, how much more effective is the blood of Christ, who offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice to God through the eternal Spirit to cancel the sins that infringed on the earlier covenant.

In the Last Supper, Jesus says over the wine, "This is My blood, the blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many." We relive and make present again the same one and eternal sacrifice of Christ in an unbloody way through the Eucharistic bread and wine. Let us revere, with great gratitude, the sacrifice of Christ each time we participate in the Eucharist.