Written by Sr. Rosemary Finnegan, O.P.
Readings from: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060821.cfm
We hear a lot of promises each day, like:
- This will only take a minute of your time.
- This diet guarantees you’ll lose 20 pounds in a week!
We know they’re not true, which makes us a little jaded about promises. Too many promises have been broken in every area of life, so we begin to wonder is anything trustworthy anymore? Is there anyone who will keep his or her word?
In our first reading, St. Paul is talking about promises, and tells us, yes, we can always count on God to keep a promise. “For however many are the promises of God, their yes is in him.”
Whatever promises God makes to us, God fulfills them. They are Yes!
- “Yes,” God says, to forgiveness and love.
- “Yes,” says God, to making us his children and heirs of heaven.
- “Yes,” says God, to being with us even though we often stray.
And, most importantly, God’s ‘yes’ was abundantly visible when the promise of his son, Jesus, was fulfilled.
Do we know the promises of God? Perhaps our problem is not so much a lack of faith, as it is a lack of knowledge of all the promises God has made to us in Scriptures, like:
- Isaiah writes: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And when you pass through the rivers, They will not sweep over you.
- For I am the Lord, Your God, The Holy One of Israel, Your Savior.
- You are precious and honored in my sight, .. I love you.
- Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
To us as a community, there is this promise whose feast we celebrated last weekend: "Jesus took the cup, gave thanks, offered it to them and said ‘This is the blood of the covenant (the promise), which is poured out for many.’" (Mk 14:22-24)
And finally, the promise made when we serve others:
“Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do for me.” (Matt. 25:31)
This Friday is the Feast of the Sacred Heart whose devotion was promoted by our St. Margaret Mary. In his revelations to her, Jesus shared 12 promises for those who pray this Sacred Heart devotion. These promises can be found on our website at https://stmargaretmary.org/devotion-to-the-sacred-heart. I would encourage you to read and reflect on these beautiful promises this week, always remembering the words of our scripture today:
“For however many are the promises of God, their Yes is in him.”
