Sunday Vigil

Reading of the Word of God

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

Deuteronomy 26,16-19

'Yahweh your God commands you today to observe these laws and customs; you must keep and observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. 'Today you have obtained this declaration from Yahweh: that he will be your God, but only if you follow his ways, keep his statutes, his commandments, his customs, and listen to his voice. And today Yahweh has obtained this declaration from you: that you will be his own people -- as he has said -- but only if you keep all his commandments; then for praise and renown and honour, he will raise you higher than every other nation he has made, and you will be a people consecrated to Yahweh, as he has promised.'

 

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

We are faced with one of the central points of the theology of Deuteronomy and the books that follow, from Joshua to the Second Book of Kings. The whole history of Israel is marked by the vision of the close relationship that God has chosen to have with Israel and demands to be reciprocated. The Lord chose that little people to 'consecrate' them to his name; that is, he 'set them apart' (this is the meaning of the word 'holy') from the other peoples of the earth to make them his own people, as we read in chapter seven of Deuteronomy: "It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you-for you were the fewest of all peoples. It was because the Lord loved you" (Deut 7:7-8). The covenant with God implicates fidelity to the Law, as it clearly is written: "He will be your God; and for you to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, and his ordinances, and to obey him." Everything hinges upon listening, on mutual listening. Israel's profession of faith, still today recited by all Jews, begins with the words: "Hear Oh Israel: The Lord is your God, one is the Lord" (Deut 6:4). To observe the laws, to walk the ways of God, becomes possible only if we have an attitude of listening. The time of Lent is a suitable time to put ourselves before the Lord and listen to his word of life. Only in this perspective will the conversion of our hearts and the entrusting our lives to God be possible, so that he may be the only Lord of our lives.