God is a promise-keeper. That quality of God is perhaps the central revelation of Hebrew Scripture. There God establishes a covenant with Israel, written in the blood of sacrifice, given assurance through saving actions like the exodus and the improbable begetting of descendants, and imaged in rainbows, abundance of life-giving water, and banquet tables.
Today we find that theme of promise-keeping in our second reading from Revelation: Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them … (Rev 21:3, echoing Ezekiel 37:27).
In the Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples about the glue that makes promise-keeping possible, his “new commandment”: Love one another; As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35). Now love is a many-faceted, never-to-be exhausted topic! But one thing is sure: promise-keeping to another person or group is not easy. And so in our first reading from Acts, we find Paul and Barnabas speaking to their new converts. They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, and to endure the hardships they encountered in order to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Humans keeping promises are images of God the promise-keeper. We see so many amazing examples of human promise-keeping. Think of the loyalty of men to their fellow servicemen and women; consider the many examples of people who, at great sacrifice, care for family members in need; be inspired by long-married couples, or older priests and religious, who have survived the challenges of life commitments; consider sacrifices made by people in professions like health care or diplomatic service, and those who work at lower salaries for not-for-profit organizations. All these folks are living by a code of loyalty, of promise-keeping, born of love for persons or groups. Yet our culture, with its “number 1” individualistic mentality, is not supportive of the faithful love needed for promise-keeping. Our social fabric would be far poorer without its promise-keepers. What can we do to nurture this promise-keeper quality of God in humans?
— Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia
The post May 18, 5th Sunday of Easter, Promise-Keeping: a Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood.