The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032121-YearB.cfm
We are a country of laws. We speak about a land of “law and order.” There are laws about everything, they govern our lives, direct our actions, and are intended to maintain the boundaries in which citizens behave which hopefully creates a land of peace and harmony.
We speak of the natural law - the forces that guide our
bodies and the universe around us. It
keeps planets apart from each other in orbits, the law of gravity keeps
everything fixed on earth lest we go flying off into space and crashing into
one another. We have laws that guide our
traffic, our tax system, our use of land, our homes, etc. Without certain established directions and
boundaries we simply become governed by nothing other than our base instincts.
In the Church we have Canon Law which governs our lives
as Catholics. It helps us to understand
the deeper meaning of God’s superior Law and how we can live out what he asks
of us. Church laws govern the sacraments, our parishes, the formation of
priests, the governing of a Diocese by the Bishop, etc. Yet the final goal and purpose is the
salvation of souls. Although our social conditions today make us more concerned
about how effectively our laws are being managed our readings today speak about
another source from where law has come. A law or relationship; a covenant
between us and God.
This final Sunday of Lent before Holy Week begins next
Sunday finds the voice of Jeremiah the prophet speaking of God’s desire to “Make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.” Then in a divine longing for relationship with us,
God speaks through Jeremiah: “I will
place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God
and they will be my people.”
What do you see in these words? I imagine a kind of sculptor at work on a
piece of marble. He chisels away an
indelible image of beauty. He breathes
upon the work and forms it according to his personal imagining. Certainly, the name of the Renaissance inspired
genius Michelangelo comes to mind, his famed statue of David, carved from one
piece of marble and that of the Pieta, depicting the crucified body of Jesus in
the arms of his mother. They remain
forever beautiful and marked by the sculptor with his touch of genius. Although
made of stone, they appear to be alive.
Such it is with the law of God on our hearts that Jeremiah speaks of in
our first reading.
The law of the “new covenant” is not a restriction or a
punishment. God in this passage desires
an intense relationship with humanity. He
has tried to reach out to us over and over again from the external but now he
enters our hearts and imbeds his genius on us. He wants to reform a people and
build a deeper bond of communion with them.
Yet, human hearts are not made of stone so our Creator desires to live in
the hearts of all.
However, how idealistic this sounds. Jeremiah’s words imply that God will implant
an innate understanding of God. The Jews have returned from exile in Babylon
with a new understand and a renewed faith. That law is living and they will
know that God is God for them and they are particularly chosen for him. It is
about a law of love and relationship between God and humanity. In other words,
God wishes to redeem humanity.
In the Gospel passage from John we hear from Jesus what
the sign of this redemption will be: “When
I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” The cross
of Christ, that grain of wheat which dies to produce much fruit as we hear
today, is the sign of the covenant God has made with humanity. This is the “hour” which Jesus speaks of in
the Gospel; when he will be “glorified.” That in death there is life and
resurrection; there is hope and promise.
In giving one’s life away we produce the fruits of virtue and holiness:
unselfishness, compassion, humility, true sacrificial love.
So, at the Last Supper he was about to finally set things
right for there he took the bread and wine, established the Holy Eucharist in
the new covenant of “my blood.” He has given himself to us in the new and final
for all time sign of his love in and through his Church as he poured out his
life for us on the cross. The Holy Eucharist is Christ in our midst intimately
connected with us and there he calls us to “lawful” thankfulness.
The sacred law, and all that Christ has done for us, is
to keep our hearts open and receptive to God. To embrace the sign, the cross,
as an integral part of our Christian lives as we too die and rise with Christ
through the grace of our Baptism and the measure by which we live our faith. If
we follow our own "law," always by our own ego centered lives, we're
on our own. If we follow in his Way, a
life focused on God as the center, we will bear much and more effective fruit.
As we approach Holy Week, this is what we recall and is the
whole meaning of that week and our lives in a world today that has seemingly
detached itself from God. We see the results
of an ego-driven society and our gift is to aid in putting things back on
track.
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By your help, we beseech you, Lord our God,
may we walk eagerly in that same charity
with which, our of love for the world,
your Son handed himself over to death.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
(Collect of Mass)
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