What a Bargain!!!!

For married couples it is their wedding bands. For religious it is their scapular, habit, tonsure, rosary or three knots. For priests it is when we put our folded hands in the bishop's hands promising to pray, preach, serve the people of the Church, and obey our bishop. For Moses it was those two tablets of stone. For Noah it was a rainbow. For all Christians it is always the Cross. These are all signs and symbols of our covenant with God. We are and will always be a people in a covenant with one another and with God.These holy covenants are promises between us and God, and God and us.

In the first reading this weekend from the Book of Genesis, God makes Noah and his family a promise in their covenant. "I will be your God." "I will be with you always." (and) "I will never destroy the earth, again." The sign for this promise from God was the rainbow he showed them.

The thing about these Godly covenants that strikes me is that God always makes the bigger commitment. "Always" is a long time. Yet God is true to His Word. He promises to love, support and even give us life ALWAYS. Nothing we do can match that commitment. In Jesus Christ he shows an even larger commitment to us. On the Cross, the Son of God gives us the gift of forgiveness and redemption from our sins forever. Our small part of that bargain is only to admit that we do indeed need God's forgiveness. Following His Death is of course His Resurrection. We receive freedom from the fear of death, hope that God is bigger than every sin and obstacle in life, and a Godly purpose for which to live. God receives us calling Christ our Lord and letting God be the God of us. Again, God does the big stuff. We just have to trust more.

On this First Sunday of Lent I invite you to spend some time thanking God for His generous commitments to us. And, I invite you to also pray prayers that lead you to trusting Him more.

Happy Lent!
Fr. Chuck