today's readings are Jeremiah 31: 31-34; Psalm 51; Hebrews 5: 7-9 and John 12: 20-33
If someone asked you what the word covenant meant, what answer would you give? It’s one of those words that is rather elusive in its meaning. But from a faith perspective, the word covenant means a profound, never-ending relationship.
In our first reading today, God, through the prophet Jeremiah, speaks of a new covenant that He will be establish with his people. It will be a covenant written not on paper, but on our hearts; and that He will be our God, and we will be his people. Fortunately for us, He speaks of this relationship as a covenant, not a contract. For a contract is a legal agreement between two parties in which there is an exchange of goods or services or money along with certain conditions that must be fulfilled. However, if the conditions are not met, then the contract can be declared null and void. With that in mind, we need to be grateful that God chose to set up a covenant, rather than a contract, with us. Because if you consider the countless times we humans have infuriated God with our sins, if we had a contract with God, then God would have declared us null and void a long time ago.
A covenant, on the other hand, has no time limit, nor are there conditions set. This is one of the reasons why the sacrament of marriage in the Catholic Church is spoken of in terms of a covenant rather than a contract – because the marriage relationship is supposed to be forever, and without terms or conditions.
Have you ever considered that your relationship with God is also a covenant relationship? And what does this mean? That He will be our God, and we will be His people, that this covenant will be written in our hearts, that we will know Him, and that our sins will be forgiven and no longer remembered. Sounds straight forward. But this covenant has a lot of implications. Let’s consider a few of them.
First, that we will know the Lord. For the people of Jeremiah’s time, to know God did not mean knowing God here (head) but here (heart). Yes, we can learn about God through the thoughts of illustrious spiritual and theological writers, but those are their thoughts, their experiences of God. What are yours? How have you come to know the Lord? Is it here in mass or in the other sacraments of the church? In times of private prayer? When you have gathered with others, like in our parish ministries or organizations, or in days of reflection and retreat, or in the glory of God’s creation? God is present in your life. Ask yourself, then, how have you experienced him? How do you know God? For God is with you.
Second point - in this covenant God promises that He will forgive our iniquities and remember our sins no more. Now that’s a promise! What God is saying here is not only that He forgives our sins and then forgets them, but He will still love us and accept us despite what we have done. Wow! Now compare that to what we do with each other. When a spouse or close friend or family member betrays us or hurts us deeply, how long does it take us before we even consider forgiving them? And even if we do forgive them, we still hold it against them. A barrier of mistrust and pain now exists between us. But in our covenant with God, the Lord promises that not only will He forgive us, but He will also never hold our sins against us afterwards. No barriers. No mistrust. Just his everlasting, healing love. And one wonderful way we experience that forgiveness and love is in the Sacrament of Reconciliation – that sacrament where we receive God’s complete, unconditional loving forgiveness.
Last point – we are His people. What does it mean to be that person of God? To answer that, let’s first consider what God has done for us. Which is a lot!! The gift of our life, the gift of the world He created for us, the gifts of our time and talents, the gift of our faith. And the gift of salvation. For we were saved through the saving Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
God has done so much for us. So how should we respond? We start with gratitude. Which should then compel us to be a person who both loves the faith and lives the faith, 24/7. Jesus saved us! In turn we need to live lives that show that we are saved. People whose thoughts, words and deeds day after day show you are one of God’s people.
I will be your God, and you will be My people. Each of you is one of His people. In light of that truth, again I ask: how is your relationship with God?