The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today remind us of the Covenant with God that underlies our salvation history.
Keeping the Covenant
In the reading from the Book of Genesis, the Covenant is revealed to Abraham.
* [17:1–27] The Priestly source gathers the major motifs of the story so far and sets them firmly within a covenant context; the word “covenant” occurs thirteen times. There are links to the covenant with Noah (v. 1 = 6:9; v. 7 = 9:9; v. 11 = 9:12–17). In this chapter, vv. 1–8 promise progeny and land; vv. 9–14 are instructions about circumcision; vv. 15–21 repeat the promise of a son to Sarah and distinguish this promise from that to Hagar; vv. 22–27 describe Abraham’s carrying out the commands. The Almighty: traditional rendering of Hebrew El Shaddai, which is P’s favorite designation of God in the period of the ancestors. Its etymology is uncertain, but its root meaning is probably “God, the One of the Mountains.”1
Psalm105 praises God’s Faithfulness to Israel.
* [Psalm 105] A hymn to God who promised the land of Canaan to the holy people, cf. Ps 78; 106; 136. Israel is invited to praise and seek the presence of God (Ps 105:1–6), who is faithful to the promise of land to the ancestors (Ps 105:7–11).2
In the Gospel of John, the relationship between Jesus and Abraham angers the Pharisees.
* [8:57] The evidence of the third-century Bodmer Papyrus P75 and the first hand of Codex Sinaiticus indicates that the text originally read: “How can Abraham have seen you?” * [8:58] Came to be, I AM: the Greek word used for “came to be” is the one used of all creation in the prologue, while the word used for “am” is the one reserved for the Logos.3
Kimberly Grassmeyer comments that they could not conceive that this young man had 'seen’ the long dead Abraham, or ‘knew’ their God. She wonders what her reaction would have been to such a proclamation! Could she have conceived a promise of eternal life, from a man who claimed to know God? Might she have been one of the people who picked up a stone?
The thing is – we have it easier. In 2022, during this blessed Lenten season, we can conceive it. Thousands of years divided from the life of this God-Man, and through the writings, translations, doubts, and lives of hundreds of thousands of believers across multiple continents and nations, we can imagine it. Even through our questioning, our discernment, our doubts, we can believe. Jesus lived. His hands and his words reached many people of his day. But more important for us today is what came next. Jesus died. It is through his earthly death and resurrection that his words, so doubted by those in his presence two centuries ago, became real for all of those generations that came after. Became real for US. We can have faith in the promise. We can look forward to eternal life. We can believe.4
Don Schwager quoted “Christ died that you might live,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"For you Christ allowed Himself to be crucified, to teach you humility. He was alive, and you were dead. He died that you might live. God vanquished death so that death might not overcome human beings." (excerpt from Sermon on John 2,4;14,13)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Genesis 17:3-9 comments that no matter the ups and downs we face in life, no matter how things appear, we know that God keeps his covenant promises. When things were difficult for Abraham—when he wondered how he could conceive a child in his old age and then when he was called to sacrifice that child—he believed that God was going to be faithful. He believed that somehow, though he couldn’t predict exactly how or when, God would show him his steadfast love and keep his word. That’s true for us as well.
This is what it means that God is covenanted to us: that though we might not know all the details or see everything unfold in our lifetime, God will continue to love us, forgive us, and walk with us. It’s this covenant love that helps us to persevere in those times when we are waiting and wondering about how God will respond to us. There’s so much we can’t know about the future. There’s so much we can’t control. But we can stand on the certainty of God’s commitment to us. He is a God who “remembers his covenant forever” (Psalm Response). “Thank you, Lord, for your steadfast love!”6
Friar Jude Winkler (https://soundcloud.com/user-863663632 ) has been experiencing technical problems with his reflections.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, recalls in September 2020, Pope Francis spoke of the pain and suffering caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ongoing crises around the world have brought his message of solidarity into greater resonance.
With Pentecost, God makes himself present and inspires the faith of the community united in diversity and solidarity. Diversity and solidarity united in harmony, this is the way. . . . Diversity in solidarity also possesses antibodies that heal social structures and processes that have degenerated into systems of injustice, systems of oppression. Therefore, solidarity today is the road to take towards a post-pandemic world, towards the healing of our interpersonal and social ills. There is no other way. Either we go forward on the path of solidarity, or things will worsen. I want to repeat this: one does not emerge from a crisis the same as before. The pandemic [Father Richard: and the war in Ukraine] is a crisis. We emerge from a crisis either better or worse than before. It is up to us to choose. And solidarity is, indeed, a way of coming out of the crisis better, not with superficial changes, with a fresh coat of paint so everything looks fine. No. Better!7
We contemplate the ancient Covenant and the triumph led by the Spirit over conflict and death in the Body of Christ.
References
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