Meditation
Two Hundred Seventy Six
The
Third Week of June 2008
God's
Faithfulness to His People
Begin
with prayer to the Holy Spirit
Readings: Romans 3:1-8
In last week’s meditation we examined the words of
St. Paul
regarding the importance of circumcision, that
it is a physical sign of the covenant with God and it is an expression of
faith.
St. Paul
continues with this discussion and he asks
what advantage there is in being a Jew and what is the value of circumcision.
He responds that God entrusted the Jews with the Scriptures. He then asks:
What real value is there, however, in receiving the Law if one does not
fulfill the Law? One can receive the Law, hear and know it and not apply the
conditions of the Law. To one’s own life. We,
like the Jews of St. Paul’s time, can know God’s law and not act on it.
We can go to Mass week after week, hear the homily, know the truths
that were stated, and yet not apply what we were told. What do you think God
expects from us? Our love and devotion is what He wants from us with a
consistent desire that seeks to know Him daily.
Paul
goes on further to ask if Jews proved themselves to be unfaithful, would God
break his covenant with His people? Paul
responds with a resounding “No!” Why? Because, God is faithful to
Israel
and to His people.
Deut. 6:4 says, "Hear, [Shema ] O Israel, the Lord our God is one
Lord." The Shema is central to Judaism. The covenant has been established
with His people and His faithfulness to Israel continues as He promised.
Just as we see at various times the unfaithfulness of the Jewish (and
Gentile) people, we continue to see God's faithfulness.
Reflecting on our own lives and seeing our own inconsistencies and
unfaithfulness to the things of God, we realize that, despite our
shortcomings, He is there waiting patiently for us to change and acknowledge
that He is our sufficiency in all things.
In Isaiah 66:16 we read that God will judge the world. He is a
just judge who will deal with the immorality of those who chose not to follow
His precepts and live a righteous life.
St. Paul
denied the erroneous report that the
righteousness of the Law should be ignored since no one was able to be
completely righteous and faithful to the Law. However, the righteousness of
the Law revealed God’s faithfulness even when some were unfaithful. God
knows the hearts of all people. Let us ask the Lord through out the course of
this week to strengthen us to be faithful pilgrims in our journey of faith.
Quotation
for Meditation
Before his conversion, Paul had not
been a man distant from God and from his Law. On the contrary, he had been
observant, with an observance faithful to the point of fanaticism. In the
light of the encounter with Christ, however, he understood that with this he
had sought to build up himself and his own justice, and that with all this
justice he had lived for himself. He realized that a new approach expressed in
his words: "The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son
of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Pope
Benedict XVI, The Origins of the Church the Apostles and Their Co-Workers,
Huntington, Indiana, Our Sunday Visitor, Pg.129
Quiet
Time and Then Discussion
Questions
for Meditation
1. What is the advantage of being a
Jew and the value of circumcision?
2.
How should we prepare ourselves spiritually before we go to Mass?
3.
Why is God faithful to Israel and its people?
Prayer
Lord
you know, my heart, mind and emotions. Help me daily to choose to be the
faithful Christian that you want me to be. Give me wisdom to come to you as
often as possible, so that I may be a vessel that would be fit for your use.
Draw me closer to You so that I may obey Your holy will. Amen.