The first reading at daily Masses has lately been marching through the Acts of the Apostles.

At today’s Mass, we hear St. Paul make the connection between the events of the Old Testament and Jesus.

In our day and age, when Hollywood puts out numerous films that have sequels and prequels, we can see that this idea is nothing new.

Two thousand years ago, St. Paul argued for his audience to see a continuation from the “sojourn in the land of Egypt” of the People of Israel to their journey into the promised “land of Canaan,” to the coming of the judges, Samuel the prophet, Saul and eventually King David.

The chronology of salvation history continues to John the Baptist and finally to Jesus Christ himself.

With this in mind we can appreciate the many references to Jesus’ future coming in the Old Testament, as well as the many references from the Old Testament that appear in the New Testament.

For example, the people of Israel are sustained on Manna — bread from heaven — while in the desert. This suggests Jesus’ future action of providing us with the true Bread from Heaven, namely the Eucharist.

With respect to the New Testament looking back to the Old Testament, Net.Bible.Org claims that there about three hundred references to the Old Testament found in the New Testament.

With this in mind, how much richer will our experience of the New Testament be when we see it coming out of the Old.