First Saturday of Lent

Today you are making this agreement with the LORD: he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees, and to hearken to his voice. And today the LORD is making this agreement with you: you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you; and provided you keep all his commandments, he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory above all other nations he has made, and you will be a people sacred to the LORD, your God, as he promised.

When we celebrate the sacraments, from baptism to reconciliation to communion to confirmation to marriage to ordination to the anointing of the sick, we reaffirm our covenant with God. We promise to remain good and faithful servants to our Heavenly Father and in return God promises us a special place in Paradise. He makes us co-heirs with Christ to His Heavenly Kingdom. Both sides have duties and obligations to each other in our Holy Covenant and as we know, God cannot fail in his obligations, but we can. This is exactly why we have the sacrament of reconciliation. It helps repair our relationship with God and gives us the graces we need to resist and avoid temptations and remain holy.

Are we living up to our agreement with God? Are we using the sacraments to strengthen our relationship with God so we do not stumble and fall in sin? Do we appreciate what it means to be part of a Covenant with God?

O Lord, raise us high and make us a people sacred to you.

Amen.