We can all recall moments in our lives where we did something, tried something or got something new for the first time. We can remember monumental moments in our lives where we experienced something new and we go back to those memories quite often for strength and renewal.
For instance, I was in scouting for many years and set up many tents, but the only experience of that I really recall is the First time I did it. I can still remember the smell of that musty old tent, the coolness of the poles in my hands, the dampness of the ground and the air around me and the darkness of the night. It is that First tent that has and always will stick in my mind.
I also played hockey for a number of years. I spent many many hours on the ice, but the memory that sticks in my mind the most is that First time I stepped on the ice. I can still hear my blades hitting the ice for the first time. I can still smell the cold ice. I can still feel my legs getting their balance and eventually, after getting used it, hearing that crisp sound of the sharp blades slicing the ice. All the senses were engaged and I will always remember that moment.
We can also remember our first car. No matter how nice of car you acquire in the future, that old clinker will always hold a special place in your hearts.
The first time we met our spouse, our first child, our first kiss, our first day of school... Life is peppered with these moments of doing or getting something new or for the first time. These moments anchor us, support us, are a source of meaning, joy and happiness in our lives. These are the moments we go back to when we've lost focus or enjoyment in whatever area of life.
Jeremiah is promising us something New! He is promising that the old law, the old way of life will no longer be the same. For now, God will establish a new covenant with us and we will be closer to Him than we've ever been. The Law will no longer be distant or a foreign object or creed, but will be inscribed on our very hearts - God will be in our hearts and we will be in HIm! No longer will we be alienated by a chasm of sin and darkness for He will forget all our sins and love us evermore.
In the Gospel, Jesus tells us that His Hour has come. His Hour is when everything He came to do will be fulfilled; everything He was will be more real and everything Jeremiah promised will be realized.
It is this Hour that Christ has come to that we will celebrate next week in Holy Week, the holiest week of the entire year. His Hour is where everything that was Old is made New, where everything we did not have, we receive. The Hour is the memory, the moment, where we recall who we truly are as human beings and Catholics! Everything that we are and profess is made real and new in His Hour: Our Church, the sacraments, the priesthood, the Eucharist, salvation, eternal life, forgiveness of sins - Everything! This is where the source and font of all meaning, joy, love and happiness we experience as Catholics.
This is the last week of Lent before we enter into the Hour of Christ. This week should be a time of reflection and preparation to enter it more deeply and wholly. But, we can't just think of it, we need to enter into it. What is one way that is Real is reflecting on our relationship to the Hour - where do we stand in relation to all we profess and believe?
Just as in relationships that have gone cold or are strained for any reason, we go back to those moments of "Firsts" or "New" and remember those moments that truly define the beauty and love of those relationships. We remember those moments that remind us why we're together and what really matters.
The same is true with our relationship to Christ and the Church - our faith. We need to acknowledge and admit where we have doubts, what we don't understand, what we don't want to believe or what we just don't care about. It is good and healthy to acknowledge those realities in our lives. Then bring all that to the Hour of Christ - Holy Week - and encounter and experience those moments and memories of who we really are and Catholics, of what we really believe and of What God has given us.
If we come the Hour of Christ honest and seeking to encounter His passion, then you will have new life, you will see the awesomeness and beauty of all He has given to us and made New. He has promised it and it will be true.
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