February 24, 2013 - St. Josaphat Parish

4
ent 2013:
Where am on the
Lent
The idea of going on a holy journey,
or pilgrimage, was not only a romantic
notion to our ancestors in faith, it
was seen almost as a necessity in their
spiritual lives. So it is not surprising that
when St. Luke wrote his two-volume
work of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts
of the Apostles, he used the journey idea
to explain how God’s Son, Jesus Christ,
came into the world to move all peoples
forward in accepting the love of God and
living God’s will. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus
travels around the familiar places of the
Israel, finally ending up in Jerusalem, the
faith and political center of life. Then,
in the Acts of the Apostles, His disciples
move out of Jerusalem until settling in
Rome – the capital of the known world.
Each of our lives is, similarly, a journey
in faith – first moving us within, but
always then expanding our vision in love
and forgiveness. Like Jesus, we start out
exploring the local neighborhood that is
so familiar, but we move beyond our own
comfortable familiarity to explore and
expand God’s love that is without bounds.
Lent is a penitential season – a time for
each of us to confront our own sinfulness
so we can move beyond the imprisoning
limits that places on our lives. Love is all
about forgiveness. It is a choice we make
every day.
The 5 Sundays of Lent (not including
Palm Sunday) are a retreat, guiding us
through the process of forgiveness.
Always God invites. It is up to each of us
to accept the invitation, to embrace the
forgiveness, to live more fully the love God
gives – love of self, love of others, love of
God.
l
2 nd Sunday in Lent
journey forgiveness?
Have you seen possibilites?
Have you seen the new life?
Scripture Reflection
It may not be clear to us in modern times but
the first reading today from the Book of Genesis
is all about forgiveness. Today’s first reading
describes the ritual activity surrounding the
covenant between Abram and God. There are
certain rites and ritual activities that surround a
contractual agreement. This is true today, it was
true in antiquity. We often time don’t think of our
behavior as “ritual behavior” except maybe when
we are in church. But if you have ever attended
the “closing” ceremonies which take place when a piece of property is
exchanged in our society you have engaged in a ritual not unlike the
covenant agreement between Abram and God.
A covenant or contractual agreement between two parties was sealed in
a ritual where one or a number of animals were sacrificed. They were
not merely killed, it was required that these animals be cut into two parts
and separated so that the blood of carcass would collect in a small path
between the two halves. The parties to the agreement would then walk
through the blood path. The sense of this was that a curse would fall upon
the party that breaks the agreement – a curse that the guilty party would
meet the same fate as the animal sacrificed in the ritual agreement.
Think about the signing of documents, exchange of checks, notarizations,
and explanations of penalties for breach of contract that took place the
last time you bought or sold a piece of property and you will realize that
not much has changed.
But something peculiar happened during this covenant ceremony
between God and Abram. God sent a deep sleep or trance upon Abram.
He was unable to walk the path of blood. Instead God appeared in two
forms: first as a torch and the other as a smoke pot of fire. These two
images were familiar to the early readers of the Book of Genesis. God
often appeared in some form of smoke or fire.
God, in these two forms, appears to have walked the “path of blood” for
himself and then a second time on behalf of Abram who was deep in a
trance. What does this mean? God appears to be taking the responsibility
of both parties. If one party broke faith or violated the covenant God
would suffer the consequences. God would suffer death. Since God is
always faithful and humans are not the outcome was clear. At some time
God would make the ultimate sacrifice. He would need to die as an act of
forgiveness. In His infinite love and mercy God would pay the ultimate
price of our unfaithfulness. Forgiveness is what God is all about.
— Deacon David Keene
St. Josaphat Parish week 2