March 16/First Saturday of Lent
Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees, who seek him with all their heart.
I will observe your statutes; do not utterly forsake me. ~ Ps 119. 1-2, 8
Covenant, as any lawyer can attest, is simply another word for an agreement that stipulates mutual rights and responsibilities. A covenant is a contract. The terms of the covenant with God are deceptively simple: we follow his rules, and he offers us boundless love. But our end of the bargain is not a low-energy undertaking: the holiness that we seek does not simply shower down upon us as we sit in quiet prayer. Rather, we are called to engage every part of ourselves as we seek to fulfill the responsibilities of our covenantal agreement. Nowhere are those responsibilities more exhaustively laid out than in the 176 verses of Psalm 119, six of which constitute today’s psalm offering. Among other activities, we are to “walk in the law of the Lord,” to “observe his decrees,” and “to “seek him with all [our] heart.” To walk in the law of the Lord does not mean adhering unwaveringly to a rigid set of rules; rather, it points to the importance of putting God at the center of everything we do. To “observe his decrees” means to love God and our neighbor with every ounce of our being. And to seek him with all our heart directs us to create the spaces and times in which our human longing for the peace of God can be articulated and our love for our creator can be enacted in the world. If we thus “observe his statutes,” and cultivate a faithful relationship with him, God promises not to forsake us but to be with us and sustain us as we follow his direction for our lives. Seems a contract worth signing.
Lord God, Grant that I may hold fast to my covenant promises as I seek you with all my heart. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/031619.cfm
