Jeremiah 31:35-37: The Certainty of God’s Covenant
Thursday, January 16, 2025
A Favorite from January 3, 2008.
We have seen this chapter of Jeremiah before – the beautiful promise of the New Covenant – the gift of God’s eternal and all-saving love for us, God’s bride. We have only to invoke God’s name to think of this covenant.
Today is the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus and the Meditation in MAGNIFICAT is apropos. Here is a piece of the citation from Fr. Raneiro Cantalmessa, O.F.M.CAP., the preacher to the papal household.
The invocation of the name Jesus helps, above all, to crush at the onset thoughts of pride, self-gratification, anger or impure thoughts. All we have to do is observe our own thoughts as if they weren’t ours and follow their development. . . What really spoils our heart is our self-seeking and the search for our own glory. Those who contemplate God turn away from themselves: they are obliged to forget themselves and lose sight of themselves. Those who contemplate God do not contemplate themselves!
Of course, we can swing too far in this direction as well . . . refusing to think about what needs sorting out about ourselves. We can choose to ignore the things we need to work on and we can use the contemplation of God as an excuse. Balance. Spiritual and personal maturity always has balance.
Jesus himself spent days in the desert balanced by days wading among the people as he cured and healed them both physically and spiritually. We can follow his example. We can set aside a time during our activity-packed day to – as Jeremiah urges – contemplate the evil and good we see around us . . . and to meditate on the goodness of our God whom we call Lord of Hosts.
Dearest, abiding Lord,
You who are greater than the natural laws, the foundations of the earth and the people . . .
You who are more immense than skies which contain the sun, the moon and the stars . . .
You who stir the waves of the sea to roar, who protects forever his people . . .
You who promise to hold us forever, who forgives us when we turn to you . . .
You maintain the balance of your immense universe yet you remember each one of us each day.
Fortify us in the certainty of your promise . . .
Bless us with the light of your love . . .
Answer us when we invoke your holy name . . .
Bring us the fire of your spirit. Amen.
Cameron, Peter John. “Meditation of the Day.” MAGNIFICAT. 3.1 (2008). Print.
Click on the shepherd and flock image to find more about God’s covenant with the people, or visit: http://charleslstanley.com/the-forever-covenant-that-created-a-king/
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