Lenten reflection, day 32

Scripture readings for today: Genesis 17:3-9; Psalm 105; John 8:51-59

As priests we witness the making of a covenant each time we celebrate a wedding. The bride and groom stand before God and give themselves to each other in a covenant.

They love and trust each other so much that they freely bind themselves to each other by sacred vows, to love each other in an “everlasting pact.” The symbol of their covenant is the rings they give to each other “as a sign of my love and my fidelity to you.”

In today’s first reading God enters into a covenant with Abram and his descendents forever. He calls it an “everlasting pact.” It is an expression of God’s total and complete love for His people. “I will be your God, you will be My people.”

The Old Testament is full of stories of the infidelity of human beings to their part of the covenant. Yet God’s love is constant and faithful. The cross of Jesus Christ is like a wedding ring. It is the visible sign of God’s eternal, complete, and forgiving love for us, His people.

As we look on Jesus crucified, may we know that “the Lord remembers His covenant forever.”

Father John McKenna, C.Ss.R.
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Download our 2015 Daily Lenten Devotions booklet here.