[ Today's Readings ]
I will deliver them from all their sins of apostasy,
and cleanse them so that they may be my people
and I may be their God.
My servant David shall be prince over them,
and there shall be one shepherd for them all;
they shall live by my statutes and carefully observe my decrees.
The LORD wants to deliver us from our sins and apostasy. He wants to cleanse us so that we may be more perfectly his people. We follow Jesus, our shepherd, through Holy Week, trusting in him to transform us. If we feel like all attempts at holiness and change on our parts are one step forward and two steps back we need to trust in ourselves less and Jesus more. The transformation he promises is profound and permanent.
I will make with them a covenant of peace;
it shall be an everlasting covenant with them,
and I will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever.
My dwelling shall be with them;
The source of the transformation is his presence with us. It is Jesus himself dwelling with his people in his Church. Let us enter into this current of grace this easter.
He offers himself to die for our sakes. This unleashes for us the current of grace that unites and gathers the dispersed children of God. Let us follow him to the cross as he offers himself for us. Let us receive the grace that flows from his heart to transform us, to cleanse us, and to united us as one in him. The unity he promises is one that can only exist because of the holiness he makes possible in us. Unity is more than a matter of being near one another and tolerating one another. It is only through the Holy Spirit that we can experience the whole human race united by love just as we are meant to be.
He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
he guards them as a shepherd his flock.
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