Fr Antony Christy, SDB –
THE WORD IN LENT – Wednesday, Fourth week
March 13, 2024 – Isaiah 49: 8-15; John 5: 17-30
Through the desert, God leads us to freedom. Among the varied reasons pointed to us these days by the Word to rejoice, today we have the typical of all self-identities promoted by the Word of God: being the covenant people.
First of all, this self-understanding, as we reflected on yesterday, is a gratuitous gift given to us by God who reaches out to us. It is God’s initiative, undoubtedly, that we are people of God. As we get to understand in the first reading today, we have not merited this identity or status as people of God, but we are given, and gifted with it. This is the sense of giftedness that we need to celebrate and rejoice about.
Secondly, this giftedness entrusts us with a call—to be aware of this fact, of this state of our being. We are called to be, to consciously be, the covenant people. To remain faithful to this covenant, that is to remain true to our identity, means to live in perpetual consciousness that we are people of God everywhere and in all circumstances. It requires that our lives manifest a clear difference for the world and society: that we are covenant people in a faithful relationship with God. Jesus explains that, from his own life and life style, “I am because my Father is,” he seems to say. That’s being a covenant person.
Thirdly, there is a challenge that comes along with this gift and call—not just to be covenant people, but to be the covenant to the people. The Word tells us in the first reading today: I have formed you to be the covenant to the people, that is, reminders, signs, and indicators of God’s covenant with persons; a call to all, towards a conversion to God, an invitation to return to the Lord. This is a much deeper call, a vocation to be missionaries of the love of God, to be announcers of the real meaning of being God’s people. This is, in short, the life that Christ lived as the Son of God made man, showing us what it ultimately means to be a Christ-ian.
Be glad, the Word invites us today, because we are chosen to be the people of the covenant, because we have a specific purpose in life—to live as people of the covenant, because we are formed to be covenants with the people. Let us rejoice, for the Lord is gracious and merciful, the Lord of the eternal covenant.
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005, who has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (Specialisation in Catechetics). He holds doctoral research in Theology at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the Young towards a World of Peace and Dialogue is the passion that fires him on.