Unbreakable Promises

𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟐𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐀𝐜 𝟏𝟏:𝟏𝟗-𝟐𝟔

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟖𝟕:𝟏-𝟕 “𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟏𝟎:𝟐𝟐-𝟑𝟎

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “... 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞,” (𝐯.𝟐𝟖) 

Are promises meant to be broken? Ideally, it shouldn’t be. But that is what is happening today. In fact, you can say it has become the new culture especially in the political realm where political candidates make promises they can’t keep.

Breaking promises made has been recognized as a behavioral weakness that oftentimes leads to disappointments and fractured relationships. Sadly, such behavior is not only evident among politicians but even among friends, relatives, in the workplace, and worst even among couples who vowed to be true to one another in good and bad times, in sickness and in health, richer or poorer till death.

But in today’s Gospel reading, we will be treated to an unbreakable promise, three promises made by God which should bring us joy and comfort knowing that we have a God in whom our lives depend.

            What are these three promises that only Jesus who is one with the Father (𝐯.𝟑𝟎) can make? These are: (𝟏) 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞; (𝟐) 𝐇𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 (𝟑) 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬.        

These promises are ours for the taking but not so easily because we can only take possession of these promises if we will abide by the condition that Jesus has set – that is to believe in him (𝐯.𝟐𝟓). He promised to give us eternal life, but this is premised on our accepting Him as our Lord and Master.

            To follow him is to become members of his flock which means that we need to become active in the practice of our faith in the Church especially in the liturgical celebration and our reception of the Sacraments and when the opportunity arises to become part of a community of believers.

To fill our days with prayer and good deeds will allow us to live in the world but detached from worldly concerns and this would open for us the prospects of living under the splendor and magnificence of life in God.

             Jesus also assures us that if we accept him as our Lord and Savior and obey his commandments, he will provide for us a life that knows no end (𝐯.𝟐𝟖).

This means that our physical and mortal bodies may pass on to death but this would not be the end but the beginning of life that is yet to come – a life spent in the company of the angels and the saints. It is only in believing in him that we will come to know the glory of the indestructible life.

            He promised us a life that is secure when he said: “𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬.” (𝐯.𝟐𝟗) which means that there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that can snatch us from his hand.

We will enjoy an eternal protection not only from temptations but even from the devious designs and deceitful schemes of the devil but again this is preconditioned on our believing and yielding our lives to him who ransomed us at such a great cost on the Cross.

            When Jesus gives this assurance of being secured in his hands, it doesn’t mean we will be spared from experiencing sorrow, pain and suffering. What Jesus’ assurance means is that amidst all the setbacks that we face in life, we can be doubly sure that we can always find peace and serenity in him who will provide us shelter from all the storms that we may experience.

            We should also know that when Jesus made this assurance he was also speaking on behalf of the Father since he and the Father are one (𝐯.𝟑𝟎). This was probably one of the many claims of Jesus that got him into trouble with the religious leaders of his day.

But even today, there are still some who could not reconcile the fact that there could be three persons in one God and because of the difficulty in finding an explanation for such they would rather not talk of the Trinitarian God at all.

            Is it really hard for anyone much less the religious leaders such as the Scribes and the Pharisees to grasp the truth behind the claim of Jesus to be one with the Father? Because even if you turn to the Bible for interpretation, you will find that this claim is so simple that even the simplest mind would be able to comprehend it.

            If you turn to the gospel of John and reflect on the prayer of Jesus before his arrest: “𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞.” (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟕:𝟏𝟏) and as we go down further, we will read that Jesus again repeated this unity of man with God: “𝐌𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞. 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞.” (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟕:𝟐𝟎-𝟐𝟐)        

Today’s gospel is a reminder for all of us that we can claim as our own the three promises that Jesus made for as long as we remain united to God, to him and to one another.

The true essence of today’s gospel is that we should all remain connected to him who is the source of joy and unity the proof of which lies in our subservience to him.

            Christians must be one not only with God but with one another and this bond of unity can only become real when love is shared with one another and when we obey the words of Christ. Jesus is one with the Father not only because he is God’s Son but more so because of his obedience and love for God. This bond of unity between the Father and the Son is a unity that is engraved in perfect love arising from perfect obedience.

            Let us not forget that Jesus was one with God because of his love for the Father that was perfected in obedience and that he became incarnate not only to redeem us from our sins, provide us eternal life, a life that will not perish and a life that is secure in him but more importantly to transform us into becoming like him.

            Sure we can all say that we can live our lives the way we want it but the alternative is frightening because if we miss our Way that is in Jesus, we have to be prepared to a life that has little or no direction on earth, death as a result of our sins that will separate us from the love of God, a life that is in a state of confusion and go through physical death in eternal condemnation.

            On the other hand, a life spent in complete obedience to Jesus assures us of a fulfilled life even in the absence of material comforts, forgiveness of our sins, a loving and close relationship with God, a clear direction in life and a guarantee of an eternal life with all the glory of heaven. Because life is a choice as they say it, the choice is yours. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 28, 2026)