Fr Jordi Rivero
As you ponder the Word, ask the Holy Spirit to give you understanding and the ability to live it. Following are two examples from my own prayer time.
A new covenant
Jeremiah 31,33
"This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people".
Jeremiah prophesies a new covenant much superior because God will change people's hearts to love Him and therefore his law.
The covenant that Jeremiah foresaw is the most precious gift of God's love for us. He wants to make us his own family. But for this to happen our hearts must be transformed. It was fulfilled by Jesus Christ at the cross where his own heart was pierced. It is applied to our personal lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. By this grace our heart is transformed from stone to flesh. It is united to the fire of divine love and it desires to respond with love. Then we listen and obey God.
We could not do this before. We desired to love but our love was too weak. We where overwhelmed by our own selfishness and the desires of the flesh. We could not stop indulging the flesh because we were trying with our own self will. Example: We wanted to pray but instead we read a magazine or talked to friends. We could justify ourselves thinking that we needed the rest, that these activities are not bad. Our relation with God was based on an effort to achieve a legalistic observance of the law.
Life in the new covenant does not mean freedom from struggle. After receiving the Holy Spirit the battle is not over. In a way it grows bigger because the enemy sees that we are making progress and presents more opposition. When the desires of the flesh begin to loose their dominion over us they put on a stiff fight, seeking to re-conquer whatever ground they lost. We cannot become complacent but must imitate St. Paul running the race. This means a life of continuous attention to the Holy Spirit and of discipline to over-rule the flesh.
Paul's prayer that we be transformed
Hebrews 13:20-21
I pray that the God of peace, who brought our Lord Jesus back from the dead to become the great Shepherd of the sheep by the blood that sealed an eternal covenant, may make you ready to do his will in any kind of good action; and turn us all into whatever is acceptable to himself through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen.
This seems very complicated at first. Remember it is a translation from Greek. So let us break it down and see what we get.
-St Paul prays to "the God of peace". Peace is harmony of wills. He wants us to enter into this peace by entering in harmony with his will.
He prays for 2 things:
1- that God may make us ready to do his will "in any kind of good action".
2- that God may "turn us all into whatever is acceptable to himself".
Notice that the two petitions are related: To do his will we first need to be turned into what is acceptable to him. Once transformed we can act.
Paul is sharing this prayer with us in the hope that we too may desire it and respond to God.
To encourage us, St Paul teaches us the works that God has already done so that his two petitions may be realized in us:
-God "brought our Lord Jesus back from the death". -God is all-powerful. He has triumphed over the powers of sin and death in our behalf. Before we were unable to do God's will because we were trying with our own resources. Now, He who rose Jesus from the dead, wants to raise us to new life. He will "turn us into whatever is acceptable to himself" Then we can do the will his will.
-He made Christ our Shepherd. -God has established Christ's authority over us, not only to do some good works of our own choice but to "any kind of good action" that the Shepherd commands. We can rely on his power, love and authority and trust him, being obedient sheep in all things.
-God sealed "an eternal covenant" - The two petitions of St. Paul need to be realized for us to live the covenant: In Christ we do God's will and give ourselves as an acceptable sacrifice.
-"by the blood" - The blood of Christ offered at the cross manifests his powerful love that overcomes the power of our sin. Sin separates us from God; Christ's blood unites us and seals the covenant.
Paul wants us to know the price that Christ paid and the power that is available in his blood so that we join him praying and live in the covenant.
-St Paul finishes his prayer saying "Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever". When Paul's two prayer petitions are realized in us, Christ's glory is manifested because we become like him. He always did the Father's will and was turned into the acceptable victim of love for our salvation.
May our blessed Mother Mary, perfect reflection of God's glory, pray for us.
