March 20, 2021
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In the six years that I have been here at St. Andrew, I have witnessed so many different occasions where one of our parishioners responded to the need of someone else without any hesitation at all. Members of our St. Vincent de Paul Society have delivered food to someone on a moment's notice. Many have increased their weekly donation so that our parish can continue its vital work. Many stepped forward to donate their time to help with all of the tasks necessary to allow our parish to function. I have seen people giving one another rides to church. People have made dinners when others were sick. I am sure you have seen it as well. People seeing a need, and without hesitation, filling that need.
Whenever I see that happen, I always think, "Wow, what if the whole world acted this way all the time. There would be no hunger. No one would be lonely. Suffering would be reduced so greatly. Everyone would have increased hope and joy in their lives."
In this week's reading from the Old Testament, the prophet Jeremiah tells of a covenant between God and all of us. A covenant is an agreement that you will do everything in your power to help whoever your covenant is with. In this case, it is between you and God! The prophet Jeremiah knew that there had been many covenants that the people had with God, but each time, the people did not live up to their part. They did not take care of each other. They did not feed the hungry or visit the lonely. They treated each other poorly. All this because they were paying no attention to the covenant between themselves and God. Jeremiah tells the people in today's reading that God will make a new covenant with them, but this one will be different. It will not just be told to them, it will be "written on their hearts." That covenant, that writing on our hearts, happened when Jesus became man, died, and rose from the dead. That covenant is written on your heart!
That covenant, etched on their hearts, is what caused each of the people doing the good works that I just mentioned. It is what caused members of our St. Vincent de Paul Society to help the poor. It is what caused so many to increase their financial support of our parish, so many to volunteer their help. That covenant, written in their hearts is what let them know who needed the help, and it guided them to set aside other things to accomplish the good work of cooking for someone, or giving them a ride, or visiting with them.
That covenant that is etched into your heart is what causes you to do the good that you do. And it provides you great joy in doing it, which is God's part of the covenant. And God's part goes way beyond giving you joy and happiness here and now, it provides you Eternal Life.
That covenant, etched in your heart, is always there, and you always know the right thing to do. Usually, all you need to do is get out of the way and allow that idea of helping someone else, of doing the right thing, flow through you as action!
Enjoy these remaining weeks of Lent as an opportunity to let Christ's love flow through you towards those whom you help!
God's Peace,
Deacon Dave