Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament

January 24, 2025

Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales

The author of Hebrews writes to an early Jewish-Christian Community—and to us—that the Lord will place his covenant in our minds and hearts: I will be their God, and they shall be my people. For the Jewish members of this community, this would have harkened back to the covenant made to the Israelites. For the Christians in the community, it would reinforce the idea that this special covenant—now in Jesus—was for them as well.

The Hebrew word for covenant is hesed. It is a difficult word to translate. The prophets Hosea and Jeremiah would have spoken from their own experience of an intimate marriage or friendship to get at the meaning. For it connotes a steadfast love with deep feeling and emotion. Think of a tender fondness a person has for a lifelong friend or spouse, even a child. And here, the Lord says in effect, I will pencil in this kind of a relationship in your (my) heart.

Perhaps the psalmist for today’s Responsorial can help us understand this idea of the covenant when we hear the words, Kindness, and truth shall meet, justice and peace shall kiss. The imagery conjured here is one of a most lovely and sweet relationship. And the Lord will fill our minds and live in our hearts with this tender kind of love.

Referencing my last reflection, Saint Peter Julian Eymard clearly experienced this kind of relationship with God and felt it mostly deeply in the Eucharist. We experience this hesed physically and spiritually when we receive the Eucharist at Mass.

As we continue to feel the glow of the birth of Emmanuel (God with and within us), let us continue to live lives of kindness, truth, justice, and peace.

Let Us Pray:

Be at peace. Do not look forward in fear to the challenges of life; rather, look to them with full hope as they arise. God, whose very own you are, will deliver you from them. He has kept you safe thus far and will lead through all things. When you cannot stand, He will carry you in his arms. (A Prayer of Saint Frances de Sales)