mcoleman117@hotmail.co.uk
REMEMBERING THE COVENANT
"The Lord called me from birth,
from my mother’s womb he gave me my name."
"The favours of the Lord I will sing forever; through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness. For you have said "My kindness is established forever"; in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness: "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant: Forever I will confirm your posterity and establish your throne for all generations."
Psalm 89:1-4Let them always keep in mind
That they belong
by a gracious choice
to the family of the Blessed Mary, Mother of God,
from whose name they are called Marists,
and whom they have chosen from the beginning
as their model
and their first and perpetual superior.
Colin. Constitutions of the Society of Mary. ‡49. 1872
INSTRUCTION
1. With this session we begin to look at a text which is precious to Marists. It is the section on the Spirit of the Society in the original Marist Constitutions. It is a text that gives us a series of exercises to help us open ourselves to Mary’s spirit, which is the basis of Marist life.
2 The first exercise that Fr Colin invites us to do is to remember. In the Old Testament the people of Israel were told to remember the words and the deeds of the Lord, indeed to bind them to their bodies.
3 Every time we celebrate the Eucharist we remember the great deeds god has done for us in Christ.
4 Marists are invited to remember the gracious choice whereby we have been called to be Marists, and also to remember the response we have made, choosing Mary as our model and superior.
5 The double set of choices, an initiative of God and the response of the human person, brings about covenant. Not a new covenant, rather it is the way we Marists experience in a uniquely personal way the covenant established in creation, then with Noah, with Abraham, with the people of Israel at Mount Sinai, and finally established anew in Christ’s blood.
6 This unique experience of covenant results in Marists being given a new name, the name of Mary. Just as Abram was given a new name, Abraham, and Simon was called Peter, and just as these new names indicate a new way of being and a new task or mission, so this new name, Mary, that we bear as Marists, indicates our new mission and the new way we are to live our lives.
7 Remembering is a mental act, but it is much more. Marists remember covenant by fidelity to what we have agreed: we model our lives on Mary, we carry out what she asks of us, we do her work in the Church. In this we show ourselves worthy of her name.
PRAYER
Pray to know more clearly the action and call of God in your life.
ACTION
1 What has led you to believe that you are called to be a Marist?
2 How has Mary been involved in your call?
3 Share your reflections with a spiritual companion or with others learning the Marist Way.