Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

Today's first reading from St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians is intimately connected with the antiphon from today's responsorial psalm: "The Lord will remember his covenant for ever" (Psalm 111:5).

St. Paul alludes to the final covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 22, when Abraham offered his only son Isaac to be a sacrifice to God. God stops Abraham from completing the sacrifice and therefore saves (or "restores" in early christian and Jewish interpretation) Isaac's life. In response to Abraham's fidelity, God reaffirms the ultimate promise He made to Abraham in Genesis 12, that through Abraham all the nations shall be blessed. This promise is fulfilled in Jesus who as both a son of Abraham and the Son of God brought God's blessing to the nations.

Through Jesus' sacrifice and our sacramental incorporation into the very Body of Jesus, we enter into this covenant relationship with God. Too often, however, I think we feel as though God has abandoned us, or at least is distant and uncaring. Whenever we feel like that, it would be good to remind ourselves that God remembers His covenant forever. In fact, every Eucharist, every sacrament of reconciliation or for that matter every other sacrament is a reminder that God remembers his covenant for ever.

Let's take some time today to meditate on that very fact, that God will be faithful to His covenant with us, and that He will be faithful to us, forever. Perhaps we can think back on ways in which we have already experienced the Lord's faithfulness in our own lives. Perhaps we can also think of ways we have been faithful to God, and maybe also think about ways in which we can strive to be even more faithful in our relationship with God.

Jeff Morrow