Covenantal Journey

Message from Fr. Jose Koluthara, CMI

Lord Jesus, help us experience eternal life as we journey in our covenantal relationship with God. Amen.

 

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

For the first three Sundays of Lent we have been hearing about the covenants that God established with Noah, Abraham and Moses. The covenant with Noah was simply an unconditional promise from God never again to flood the earth with waters that destroy all life. The covenant with Abraham was conditional but only between God and Abraham. By Abraham trusting and obeying God’s command, God promised blessings on Abraham and his descendents. The covenant with Moses was also conditional. But this time not just between God and Moses. This covenantal promise to make Israel a holy and great nation was dependent upon the Israelite people following the Law that God gave to Moses in the form of the 10 commandments. The covenantal promises evolve from unconditional to conditional, from one person to an entire nation. Each successive covenant called Israel into a deeper and more committed relationship with God.

These readings during Lent reflect the historical journey between God and Israel. It is a journey each of us mirrors in our own Lenten journey with God. As we journey in our covenantal relationship with God we too are called to a deeper and more committed relationship with God.

The readings for this 4th Sunday of Lent break from the pattern of discussing a specific covenant that God established with ancient Israel. The pattern is broken in order to highlight an important moment in Israel's historic covenantal journey with God. Today’s 1st reading (2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23) narrates the circumstances that led God to force Israel into Babylonian captivity in the 6th century B.C. Israel had broken the terms of the Mosaic covenant that God established with her ancestors. Israel was no longer a holy and separate nation. While God sent Israel into Babylonian captivity, it was only for 70 years. Then God gave rise to the King Cyrus of the Persian Empire who released Israel from their Babylonian captors and returned Israel to her promised land.

As Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians (2nd reading, Ephesians 2:4-10), Israel had become “dead in our transgressions”. But “God who is rich in mercy… brought us to life with Christ.” The story of Israel’s journey with God is our story. We too stumble on our journey with God and on our journey through Lent. But we are assured in the knowledge that “God loved the world that he gave his only Son” so that we would have “eternal life” (Gospel, John 3:14-21).