Keeping the Covenant and Living the Word
(Gen 17:3-9; Ps 105; Jn 8:51-59)
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In Indigenous spirituality, there is always someone in each community or territory who is the keeper of the tradition, medicine bundle or sacred pipe.
Today, the Word of God invites us to be keepers of the Covenant and live the Word of God.
In the first reading, God establishes a covenant relationship with Abram, one so significant that it involves changing his name to Abraham. Today’s reading is a third version of his first call, each time adding a few new elements to the meaning of their relationship or covenant. But one thing that does not change is that although the relationship is totally initiated and invited from God’s side, it is still a bilateral covenant. There is always a bit more of a requirement expected from Abraham each time: leaving his country and family (12:2), the sacrifice of animal (15:9-11), circumcision here (17:9-14), and belief that he will have a son (17:16ff), which causes his wife Sarah to laugh, for he was 99 and she around 80!
The God-human relationship must start bilaterally, to get humanity involved in a give and receive relationship, but it is not the final goal, for that would be to sell ourselves short. Gradually, as the Hebrew people are continually unfaithful to the initial Abrahamic covenant, it becomes more and more unilateral from God’s side. In a wonderful way, God ends up doing it all, whether we cooperate or not. That is the dynamic through the successive covenants with Noah, David and what Jeremiah predicts, a “new covenant” that we know is realized in Jesus.
The final covenant that God made with humanity is a perfect covenant, through the sacrifice of Jesus’ body and blood on the Cross. Jesus becomes the living icon of that new and everlasting covenant, where God does all the loving and we do all the receiving. This is the background and foundation with which to read the Gospel today. Jesus himself stands in right relationship with his Father and receives all his “glory,” a fully reflected glory and therefore unwavering, constant, infinite and from one Source – the Father. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, and here, proclaims he is God through the great “I Am” (“Ego Eimi” in Greek) of the bible, the exact same words that God used to identify God’s self to Moses on the mountain.
Jesus perfectly reflects God’s glory given from the Father. It is all a reflection received, a glory given, inherent and unilateral gift from God’s side. And Jesus tells us that we can have it too – we are invited to receive and reflect that same glory that is reflected from Jesus. This is exactly the “eternal life” that Jesus speaks of here. Richard Rohr claims that this is way beyond psychological or moral worthiness – it is about metaphysical identity, our True Self that is our “birthright” from God.
All we need do is to believe this, put our complete faith and trust in Jesus, continue to get to know him more intimately through his Word and contemplative prayer, and respond by keeping and living his Word, doing his will as he did the Father’s will.
How unfortunate that the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ time were so caught up in a religious system of their own making that they missed it. They should have been the first to recognize and accept this new covenant yet were the very ones who resisted the most. Like their ancestors, they were unfaithful to the covenant, preferring the false gods of possession, prestige and power to truly doing the will of God. They were so attached to these false gods that they even turned their religion into a self-serving travesty of real religion. One could even say that they were had a religious addiction.
Jesus underlines that keeping his covenant begins with total faith and trust in him as the messiah sent by the Father, living his Word and doing his will in our lives. We are to be keepers of the covenant and live the Word.
The Eucharist is a making present that new covenant in Jesus’ Body and Blood, through word and sacrament.
May our celebration deepen our faith in Jesus, help us to keep his Word, do His will and live out the new covenant relationship of intimate love that the Father has established with us through him.
We should always believe that Jesus Christ is the life saviour and the son of the father who will be crucified and resurrected after 3 days . He will save himself and appear to his disciples and raise the temple. If we trust him and keep his word we will be save from our sins and not be intimidated by demons and trust all these false gods who leads to faults . So keeping the new covenant is taking the body and blood of Christ , meaning Jesus Christ is within us and he will protect us . We should also be living his words by deepening our faith in Jesus and follow his Will . Many Blessings!
Bishop Lavoie thanks for the deep understanding and teachings. Jesus Christ and God should be on top over everything. Gracias !