God is faithful to the Promise

The psalmist declares “that your steadfast love is established for ever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens (Psalm 89:2). This phrase from the RomanCatholic Lectionary today expresses the starting point for our consideration of the way in which the promises of God are understood by those who seek communion with the Divine. The text from the Second Book of Samuel tells of the intention of King David to build a proper structure to house the Ark of the Covenant. The Prophet Nathan conveys to David the promise of God that his descendants or his house will be in Covenant with God to be the kingdom of Israel. Rabbi Schapiro identifies the difficulty of a traditional king to Jewish law. A king has two functions in Israel. They are to rule the country as a prudent administrator and to be a person who is an example of one close to God. In this way, the Jewish people can have direction from God without accepting the way of temporal secular kings who require that their subjects bow down to them. The fear of placing a human being ahead of the supremacy of God is a required component for maintaining a proper relationship between the Chosen People and their king. Friar Jude Winkler notes that the first function of the line of David was interrupted by the Babylonian Exile in 587 BCE and was briefly restored under the Macabees just prior to the time of Jesus. Jewishscholars present the role of the line of David as  the heritage of all future legitimate kings of Israel were David's descendants, as will be Moshiach (the messiah), who will "restore the kingdom of David to its glory of old.". The Gospel of Luke today is the hymn known as the Benedictus. Friar Jude notes that it is likely an early Christian hymn which Luke puts into the mouth of Zachariah to express the deep conviction and thanksgiving for the birth of his son, John, “God is merciful” who is the evidence of the faithfulness of God to His promises. The faithfulness of God to His Promises is a challenging question to the secular and temporal mind. The Dynasty of David does not form the government of the people of Israel. We appear to not be completely free from the hands of our enemies and those who hate us. The faithfulness of God to the Covenant is throughout eternal time. We have holy leadership which accomplishes the most important power of the Dynasty in the Promise which is to bring us into intimate communion with Love. Mary as Ark of the Covenant carries the Incarnate One and we accept the challenge to be His House in the world.