God's Promises
Mar. 21: Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent
The annual celebration of Lent and Easter reminds us that God is persistent in retrieving His people from their infidelities and restoring the covenant they have broken. We have ample reason for thanksgiving and hope.
The Gospel reminds us that there is something more permanent than death—God’s eternal love in Heaven.
Reading 1
Gn 17:3-9
When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him: "My covenant with you is this: you are to become the father of a host of nations. No longer shall you be called Abram; your name shall be Abraham, for I am making you the father of a host of nations. I will render you exceedingly fertile; I will make nations of you; kings shall stem from you. I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are now staying, the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession; and I will be their God."
God also said to Abraham: "On your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages."
God’s covenant with Abraham is a two-way street. Abraham’s descendants are supposed to keep his commandments, and He will make of them a great nation.
In defense of the Pharisees, they tried, in their own way, to do that. At least, they want to keep the covenant, and the Law of Moses. But somewhere over the centuries, they got mixed up. They focused on man’s laws and traditions, rather than God’s.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 105:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations –
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
God, however, keeps up his end of the covenant. He even went so far as to send His only Son to bring them back to the right path.
Verse Before the Gospel
Ps 95:8
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
We should always be listening for God’s voice.
Gospel
Jn 8:51-59
Jesus said to the Jews: "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death."
So the Jews said to him, "Now we are sure that you are possessed. Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, 'Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.' Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? Or the prophets, who died? Who do you make yourself out to be?"
Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.' You do not know him, but I know him. And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar. But I do know him and I keep his word.
Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad."
So the Jews said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?"
Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM." So they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.
To be clear, the “I AM” is how we translate into English the ancient Hebrew YHWH. Jesus isn’t being ambiguous here; He’s claiming to be one with the Father. “In the beginning was the Word,”1 and Jesus is the Word. Everything that God has done throughout the Old Testament, including making a covenant with Abraham—Jesus was there.
It sounds crazy; it’s a tough theological concept to accept. But Jesus doesn’t shy away from those. He wants you to know the truth, even if the people try to stone him for it.