March 22/Fifth Thursday of Lent
He remembers forever his covenant which he made binding for a thousand generations –
Which he entered into with Abraham and by his oath to Isaac. ~ Ps 105.8-9
What does it mean to make a covenant? It means that we enter into a relationship based on mutual obligations and assurances. Such accords, compacts, contracts, deals, or settlements (to list only a few of the synonyms Merriam-Webster offers) are intended to be durable and reliable. In practice, they are about as durable and reliable as human nature — which certainly keeps lawyers busy. In life as in the law, even the most well-meaning among us does not always live up to all of his or her obligations. Whether a trivial matter of forgetting an appointment, or a major breach of contract that shatters a family, all of us leave in our wake the flotsam and jetsam of broken promises. God alone keeps covenant. Thousands of years ago, as today’s reading from Genesis tells us, God laid out his promises to Abraham: abundant progeny, a permanent stake in the land, and most importantly, God’s berit olam, or “everlasting covenant.” No matter how many ways the descendants of Abraham might find to break faith with the Lord — and we are among those descendants — God does not break faith with them. In our own lives we forget our promises to him every day. We are too busy to pray, too tired to make it to church, too self-focused to respond to the needs of his world. How blessed we are that in response to our forgetfulness, God remembers forever his promise of eternal love, and waits for us to find our way back to him. May we use these final days of Lent to renew our covenant with God and, as our psalmist exhorts, to “seek his presence continually.”
Steadfast and eternal Lord, Grant me strength and devotion to keep my promises to you and to my neighbors today and every day. Amen.
For today’s reading, click here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/032218.cfm
Pictured above: A ketubah, or Jewish marriage contract
