Covenantal Love
by Ron Shegda
What holds the world together? What forms bonds between people that rivals an atom’s integrity? And do these powers relate to the vocational state of priest, religious and married?
The answer for each of these questions is one Biblical word: covenant. Its Latin root, convenire, means “to agree, to come together.” More than an oath or promise, a “covenant” implies a lasting and all-inclusive pact. God has continually taken the initiative for establishing and updating His covenant with the people of the earth.
In Genesis, upon His magnificent creation, Yahweh establishes a covenant with our first relatives. This is the original “fertility and dominion” covenant. Yahweh later renews this covenant with Noah, his family and descendants. In this “rainbow covenant,” God firmly declares: “When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, I will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings” (Gen. 9:14-15).
by Ron Shegda
What holds the world together? What forms bonds between people that rivals an atom’s integrity? And do these powers relate to the vocational state of priest, religious and married?
The answer for each of these questions is one Biblical word: covenant. Its Latin root, convenire, means “to agree, to come together.” More than an oath or promise, a “covenant” implies a lasting and all-inclusive pact. God has continually taken the initiative for establishing and updating His covenant with the people of the earth.
In Genesis, upon His magnificent creation, Yahweh establishes a covenant with our first relatives. This is the original “fertility and dominion” covenant. Yahweh later renews this covenant with Noah, his family and descendants. In this “rainbow covenant,” God firmly declares: “When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, I will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings” (Gen. 9:14-15).
God’s fidelity again stands true with Abraham and Sarah. Yahweh and Abraham establish both the covenants of the Promised Land (Gen. 15) and of circumcision (Gen. 17). The curious part of the Holy Land covenant is the strange ritual in Genesis 15:7-21. The covenant between Abraham (he was actually not yet renamed from Abram) and God concerning the Promised Land takes place between the divided carcasses of sacrificed animals. The prophet Jeremiah later explains the significance of this bizarre practice.
Parties who establish a covenant invoke upon themselves a similar fate as these dismembered animals if they fail to keep their word. In other words, making a covenant includes the expectation that “my body will be ripped apart or sacrificed if I willingly break this covenant.” (See Jeremiah 34:18f.) We will note in a moment that taking religious or marital vows harkens the same dramatic seriousness of commitment.
As an aside, it's interesting to note that present-day Middle Eastern conflicts originate in the struggle between Abraham’s sons Ishmael and Isaac living out the covenant of just who “wedded” this land.
Perhaps the most famous of God’s pre-Christian covenants was made on Mount Sinai with Moses. There, God gave the world the 10 Commandments. For the nation Israel, the sum of their Law would follow. Then in further anticipation of Jesus, God updates His covenant with King David: “Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever” (2 Samuel 7:16). Psalm 89 subsequently affirms both the enduring dimensions and new expectations of the Davidic covenant.
So how do these strong and sturdy covenants with the Chosen People become transformed for reaching out to all people? Quite simply, the Old Covenant could only give way to the New and Everlasting Covenant of Jesus if one of the members died. "Until death do them part" is the strength of a covenant. It's not a mere contract from which you may walk away, perhaps with a financial penalty or jail term. Covenants are unbreakable as long as the two members live.
God therefore took it upon Himself to die on a cross and form the New Covenant. The Father has not abandoned His Chosen People. He has opened His arms through His Son on the cross to now include all people in His family.
This is why in the Church---Holy Orders and Marriage---as sacraments, are covenantal signs of Jesus unto death. Priests and religious enter a covenantal relationship with the Church that lasts in perpetuity. Spouses establish a permanent covenant with each other.
Pope John Paul II lovingly called married people, who have temporarily lost touch with their vows, to a renewed state of fidelity: “Reconciliation in the sacrament of Penance, which would open the way to the Eucharist, can only be granted to those who, repenting of having broken the sign of the Covenant and of fidelity with Christ, are sincerely ready to undertake a way of life that is no longer in contradiction to the indissolubility of marriage” (The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World, ¶84).
From the beginning of salvation history, God has revealed true love to His people. He wrote His everlasting love letter known as The Holy Bible. God holds the world together in love. No force in nature rivals this love. He reveals His awesome and gentle power through a history and presence of covenantal love.
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Parties who establish a covenant invoke upon themselves a similar fate as these dismembered animals if they fail to keep their word. In other words, making a covenant includes the expectation that “my body will be ripped apart or sacrificed if I willingly break this covenant.” (See Jeremiah 34:18f.) We will note in a moment that taking religious or marital vows harkens the same dramatic seriousness of commitment.
As an aside, it's interesting to note that present-day Middle Eastern conflicts originate in the struggle between Abraham’s sons Ishmael and Isaac living out the covenant of just who “wedded” this land.
Perhaps the most famous of God’s pre-Christian covenants was made on Mount Sinai with Moses. There, God gave the world the 10 Commandments. For the nation Israel, the sum of their Law would follow. Then in further anticipation of Jesus, God updates His covenant with King David: “Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever” (2 Samuel 7:16). Psalm 89 subsequently affirms both the enduring dimensions and new expectations of the Davidic covenant.
So how do these strong and sturdy covenants with the Chosen People become transformed for reaching out to all people? Quite simply, the Old Covenant could only give way to the New and Everlasting Covenant of Jesus if one of the members died. "Until death do them part" is the strength of a covenant. It's not a mere contract from which you may walk away, perhaps with a financial penalty or jail term. Covenants are unbreakable as long as the two members live.
God therefore took it upon Himself to die on a cross and form the New Covenant. The Father has not abandoned His Chosen People. He has opened His arms through His Son on the cross to now include all people in His family.
This is why in the Church---Holy Orders and Marriage---as sacraments, are covenantal signs of Jesus unto death. Priests and religious enter a covenantal relationship with the Church that lasts in perpetuity. Spouses establish a permanent covenant with each other.
Pope John Paul II lovingly called married people, who have temporarily lost touch with their vows, to a renewed state of fidelity: “Reconciliation in the sacrament of Penance, which would open the way to the Eucharist, can only be granted to those who, repenting of having broken the sign of the Covenant and of fidelity with Christ, are sincerely ready to undertake a way of life that is no longer in contradiction to the indissolubility of marriage” (The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World, ¶84).
From the beginning of salvation history, God has revealed true love to His people. He wrote His everlasting love letter known as The Holy Bible. God holds the world together in love. No force in nature rivals this love. He reveals His awesome and gentle power through a history and presence of covenantal love.
# # # 03/10/01
