Thursday of the 5th week of Lent
Gen. 17: 3-9 John 8: 51-59
Theme: Covenant keeping God
In the 1st reading from the Book of Genesis, God entered a covenant with Abraham that will move from generation to generation. One of the fruits of this covenant is the change of the name Abram to Abraham, meaning ‘father of a great nation’. This was Gods way of acknowledging the loyalty and uprightness of Abraham to God. In the same way dear friends in Christ, we are all encouraged in a special way to do all within our power to live a life that is always pleasing to God and attracts the blessings of God. Let us strive to emulate Abraham in our practice of faith in all that we do. God is ever faithful to his covenant, trust in him always and remain loyal in your practice of faith; no matter the situation you find yourself.
Dearly beloved in Christ, how well are we keeping the covenant we have made with God at different times in our life? God is always faithful to his covenant; can you confidently say you are also faithful? This is a very important question that we need to reflect about as individuals and as a group. God’s promise to Abraham to be God to him and his descendants has continued from one generation to the next. It is in the nature of God to be faithful, so he will never go against his covenant with his people. But the real challenge is for you and I to keep our own side of the covenant. Each time we receive any of the sacraments, we pledge our loyalty to God; do we end up keeping the pledge and promises we make to God, or we break them repeatedly?
The season of Lent encourages us to make honest and sincere effort to keep the pledge and promises that we make to God and one another at different times in our life. If we truly desire to make that positive change in our life and work for it, the grace of God will make it happen in our life. May God grant us the grace to be always faithful to our covenant with God, in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Peace be with you.