Our Covenant Relationship with God

Homily for Thursday of the 5th Week in Lent

Today’s mindfulness trigger is “God’s Covenant.” If you wish, you can expand it to “God’s Covenant with me.”

The Priestly source of the Hebrew Scriptures gathers the major motifs of the story of Genesis so far and sets them firmly within a covenant context; the word “covenant” occurs thirteen times within the first twenty-seven verses of chapter seventeen. There are links to the covenant with the covenant that God proclaimed to Noah, but Noah was not the one with whom God made the covenant. In this case, Abram, later called Abraham, is personally chosen to enter into this relationship with God. Eventually, Abraham is the only character in the Hebrew Scriptures to be called a “friend” of God. The term friend is important because it signifies a relationship of intimacy, trust and shared knowledge distinct from mere servitude. It is also in the context of this covenant that God comes to be known as “El Shaddai,” which we translate “the Almighty.”

Jesus changes this personal covenant with the children of Abraham to include everyone who places faith in him. Jesus tells His disciples, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” Notice again the reference to shared knowledge.

Throughout the day, let us recall the blessing of our covenant relationship with God.