And “what keeps you from the best.” Of course, the “best” is Jesus, right? Well… if that was just the “easy” or “expected” answer, it is a good answer, but not the best. I would suggest that a clue to the best answer is in the first reading: “I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.” (Gen 17:7-8)
Covenant, the everlasting pact – if that is the best answer, then the answer involves Jesus and you in an everlasting bond of love. It is seen in the refrain of today’s psalm: “The Lord remembers his covenant forever” – the faithful lover, ever present. It is seen in the promise of the gospel reading: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.”
These three days of reflections ask: can you see the covenant and its promise – and what keeps you from being all-in, fully committed, and forever in love? When we can answer that, we have a path forward to live the fullness of the covenant.
In the gospels of this week, we see Jesus in an encounter with the Pharisees as time rapidly approaches the events we know as Holy Week. The Pharisees and other religious leaders have had about three years of reports, stories, encounters and more about this itinerant preacher from Galilee. How is it that the son of a carpenter is so well versed in Scripture and such a gifted orator? What about the reports of healings, driving out demons, healing leprosy, and all the demonstrations over the power of nature? The pieces of the puzzle are all there waiting to be joined into one clear mosaic. He is the one who teaches with new authority, who commands the power of the sea, the one who implies he has the power to forgive sin! But they just can’t put it together. They just can’t see it.
They heard and inferred clearly what Jesus was claiming: that he was God. They rejected that saying, “We have one Father, God.” It is often said that “the good” becomes the enemy when it keeps you from “the best.”
And “what keeps you from the best.” Of course, the “best” is Jesus, right? Well… if that was just the “easy” or “expected” answer, it is a good answer, but not the best. I would suggest that a clue to the best answer is in the first reading: “I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.” (Gen 17:7-8)
Covenant, the everlasting pact – if that is the best answer, then the answer involves Jesus and you in an everlasting bond of love. It is seen in the refrain of today’s psalm: “The Lord remembers his covenant forever” – the faithful lover, ever present. It is seen in the promise of the gospel reading: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.”
These three days of reflections ask: can you see the covenant and its promise – and what keeps you from being all-in, fully committed, and forever in love? When we can answer that, we have a path forward to live the fullness of the covenant.