Genesis 17:3-9 / John 8:51-59 (2020)
Whenever we talk about promises, we may have this expectation that the fulfillment will be in our lifetime.
That is the obvious expectation, otherwise there would be nothing much to look forward to in the promises.
Such is the case with marriage - Till death do us part - and also the promises made in priesthood.
So, when promises are broken, how can there not be disappointments?
In the 1st reading, when God made a covenant with Abraham, let us remember that Abraham never got to see the fulfillment in his lifetime.
But his faith and trust in God made him see something more and understand something deeper.
In a word, it is eternity. Abraham was not expecting to see hordes and hordes of his descendants to appear before him in his lifetime. It was going to be something beyond the present.
It is with that perspective that we can understand what Jesus meant when He said: Whoever keeps my word will never see death.
That's a divine promise. It is a promise of eternity for eternity.
When we believe in that promise, then death is not a finality.
Rather, life will have the final word and it will be for eternity.