This Is My Covenant With You

Reading I
Genesis 17:1, 9-10, 15-22

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him
and said: "I am God the Almighty.
Walk in my presence and be blameless."

God also said to Abraham:
"On your part, you and your descendants after you
must keep my covenant throughout the ages.
This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you
that you must keep:
every male among you shall be circumcised."

God further said to Abraham:
"As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai;
her name shall be Sarah.

I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her.
Him also will I bless; he shall give rise to nations,
and rulers of peoples shall issue from him."

Abraham prostrated himself and laughed as he said to himself,
"Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old?
Or can Sarah give birth at ninety?"
Then Abraham said to God,
"Let but Ishmael live on by your favor!"

God replied: "Nevertheless, your wife Sarah is to bear you a son,
and you shall call him Isaac.
I will maintain my covenant with him as an everlasting pact,
to be his God and the God of his descendants after him.

As for Ishmael, I am heeding you: I hereby bless him.
I will make him fertile and will multiply him exceedingly.
He shall become the father of twelve chieftains,
and I will make of him a great nation.

But my covenant I will maintain with Isaac,
whom Sarah shall bear to you by this time next year."

When he had finished speaking with him, God departed from Abraham.

Gospel
Matthew 8:1-4

When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.
And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said,
"Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean."
He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,
"I will do it. Be made clean."
His leprosy was cleansed immediately.

Then Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one,
but go show yourself to the priest,
and offer the gift that Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them."

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There is something missing from Abraham’s life: he longs to be a father. He is already the father of Ishmael, the son of Hagar the maidservant in the family home, but certainly not a legitimate member of the family.

Then, God appears to Abraham, and speaks to him: “You must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you, for all the generations to come. This is the sign of the covenant you are to keep: every male among your people must be circumcised.” God also says to him, “As for your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai, but Sarah. I will bless her and you will be given a son by her. She will be the mother of nations, among her offspring, there will be kings.

Abraham fell facedown laughing. He said to himself. “How can a man who is a hundred years old have a son born to him? Or Sarah, at the age of ninety, bear a child?” Then he spoke to God: “If only Ishmael could have your blessing!”

Then God said, “Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish an everlasting covenant with him and his descendants. As for Ishmael, I have heard your prayer, and I will bless him. I will make him fruitful, and his numbers will increase. He will be the father of rulers, and I will make of him a great nation. But my covenant shall be established with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God rose up from him.

There is something more obviously missing from the life of the man who approaches Jesus in today’s gospel: he has leprosy. “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.” Jesus extended his hand, touched him and said, “Of course I want to. Be made clean!” His leprosy vanished immediately.

Then Jesus said to him, “See to it that you tell no one what has happened; but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed. That will be proof enough.”

There is emptiness in the life of Abraham, and in the life of the leper, that God, and only God, can touch. God fills the void not just by removing a handicap – in these cases infertility or disease – but by opening himself to an intimate relationship with each of the petitioners.

God’s response to Abraham, and to each of us, is the same as it is to the leper: “Of course I will. Be healed.” As the intimacy of our relationship with the Lord moves closer and closer to the center of our life, we will become more aware of the many moments when God is responding to our personal needs – not necessarily to our personal wishes, wants or desires, mind you, but our needs. You say you don’t have an intimate relationship with God? You did at the moment you were born. And it became even more intimate at the moment you were baptized. If you and God are not as close as you were as an infant, who moved? Does God want to build a close and intimate relationship with you? He answer is the same:
 “Of course I want to!”