We all know how our relationships change from the time we are babies to the time when we become adults. As infants, we are totally dependent on others for life itself. As we grow we begin to become a little more self-sufficient with each year. Finally when we reach adulthood, ideally we are able to sustain ourselves, but we remain dependent upon others for love and emotional support. The process really is life long and we have our bumps along the way. But we keep moving ahead.
In today’s first reading from the Prophet Jeremiah, he uses that image of growing up and becoming adult in relationship to God. Jeremiah refers to the first covenant God made with His people where He says He had to take Israel by the hand and lead them forth. Holding the hand of a child and leading them forth, is an image of both love and protection for one who is more vulnerable. God then says Israel broke all the laws of the covenant relationship and God had to show Himself master, as a parent does to a disobedient child.
But then God goes on to say He is making a new covenant with the House of Israel. This will be a relationship of the heart, whereby Israel will follow the Lord not out of obligation or fear of reprisal, but rather out of love in their hearts. They will remember what God has done for them over the centuries and they will realize that He is their God and they are His people…a much more adult kind of relationship than at the beginning of time.
In the Gospel reading, we see How Jesus’ time had come to complete that covenant through His impending death and resurrection which begins the new covenant.
That development of Israel over the centuries is reflected in our own individual lives as well. For us, we began faith at Baptism and our lives are a gradual process of moving from following God as a duty to responding to the Love of God which He continually places in our hearts.
As we approach the last days of Lent, may the deep love that God has for each of us touch us as we celebrate the great mysteries of our faith and may we always know that we are His people and He is our God!