Suscipe Me Domine and I shall Live

Kindness and Truth Shall Meet

January 21, 2005 KINDNESS AND TRUTH SHALL MEET (psalm response) Heb 8:6-13

Brothers and sisters: Now our high priest has obtained so much more excellent a ministry as he is mediator of a better covenant, enacted on better promises.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, no place would have been sought for a second one.
But he finds fault with them and says: Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they did not stand by my covenant and I ignored them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and I will write them upon their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his fellow citizen and kin, saying, "Know the Lord," for all shall know me, from least to greatest. For I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sins no more.

When he speaks of a "new" covenant, he declares the first one obsolete. And what has become obsolete and has grown old is close to disappearing.

God is pulling us into the new covenant with a tender love: "I will put my laws in their minds and I will write them upon their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be my people." Our hearts know the way of love. Our minds know it too. God has forgiven our old faults and foolish wrongs. Jesus is our new life our salvation. All will know the Lord, none will need to be taught this. We have it given to us from the smallest and weakest to the largest and strongest from the youngest to the oldest. The gift, the love, the graces that God has given us are all inside each one of us. It is just to us to have faith and listen to the our mind and heart that was gifted us. Listen with the ear of your heart as St Benedict said in the Rule.

My heart is heavy today, drained with grief. I know and trust in the Lord,but it still is a sadness to have a loved one die. I believe that she is in heaven where she is happy to be but I have a sorrow. I am grateful when there is a supported, peaceful environment for those who are dying but there it is still a loss for us that still remain. There is a hole where a vibrant life was once a part of the fabric of our days giving to our simple ways with a steady charity and kindness. I can not really write any more at this point. I want to be private in my grief for now and share a little more maybe at our services with the Sisters if the Holy Spirit moves me that way.