Thursday 21 March 2024

Today is Thursday the 21st of March, in the 5th week of Lent.

The monks of Pluscarden Abbey sing the Benedictus: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them. He has raised up for us a mighty saviour in the house of David his servant, as he promised by the lips of holy men, those who were his prophets from of old. A saviour who would free us from our foes, from the hands of all who hate us.
So his love for our ancestors is fulfilled and his holy covenant remembered. He swore to Abraham our father to grant us, that free from fear, and saved from the hands of our foes, we might serve him in holiness and justice all the days of our life in his presence.”

Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel; quia visitavit et fecit redemptionem plebis suae

et erexit cornu salutis nobis, in domo David pueri sui,
sicut locutus est per os sanctorum, qui a saeculo sunt, prophetarum eius,
salutem ex inimicis nostris, et de manu omnium, qui oderunt nos;
ad faciendam misericordiam cum patribus nostris, et memorari testamenti sui sancti,
iusiurandum, quod iuravit ad Abraham patrem nostrum, daturum se nobis,
ut sine timore, de manu inimicorum nostrum liberati, serviamus illi
in sanctitate et iustitia coram ipso omnibus diebus nostris.
Et tu, puer, propheta Altissimi vocaberis: praeibis enim ante faciem Domini parare vias eius,
ad dandam scientiam salutis plebi eius in remissionem peccatorum eorum,
per viscera misericordiae Dei nostri, in quibus visitabit nos oriens ex alto,
illuminare his, qui in tenebris et in umbra mortis sedent, ad dirigendos pedes nostros in viam pacis.

Today’s reading is from the Book of Genesis.

Genesis 17:3-9

Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.’

God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.

Today we hear God’s words to Abraham about his descendants.

God speaks to Abraham. Imagine this moment. Imagine the sound.

And Abraham, this man of great faith, falls on his face. Watch the scene.

Communion between God and man. Sense the depth, the holiness of this moment.

God makes promises. Let just a fraction of the vastness of the promises sink in as you hear the passage again.

A covenant. An agreement. It’s everlasting. Abraham is to play his part by having faith.

This covenant reaches far beyond Abraham and his family. It whispers the Gospel, the new covenant made generations later by Jesus to demonstrate God’s love for all of us.

As Holy Week approaches, allow the momentous words of God to Abraham to reach you. For you, we, are in there too. Give thanks to God who so loved the world.

You have given all to me
To you Lord I return it
Everything is yours
Do with it what you will
Give me only your love and your grace
That is enough for me.
Amen.