The Sign of God’s Covenant  

February 20, 2025 – Thursday Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022025.cfm)

When I was assigned in Sumba Island in Indonesia in 2014, it was my first time to see a double rainbow in the sky. And it did not disappear immediately. I was so amazed because most of time there would only be one rainbow and would just easily disappear after few minutes.

This phenomenon is due to the reflection of the sun to the raindrops in the sky. And as the sunlight reflects twice in a raindrop, thus, creating another reflection above the primary rainbow.

Today, the rainbow has also become a sign of pride, unity and diversity of the LGBTQ+ community. Yet, at the very beginning, as to be found in the Holy Scriptures, it was God the Creator who first made this bow from above, which now we call as rainbow, as a sign of God’s covenant and faithfulness to us.

Let us explore a bit our readings today, and discern how God invites us to grow in our relationship with one another, with the whole created world and with the Lord.

In the story of Noah, we have heard how the Lord renewed the covenant with the whole human family. The Lord God still sees hope in us. And the wonder of this renewal of the covenant with God, as God says, “I am now establishing my covenant with you,” carries with it the call and responsibility to nurture, cherish, develop and give life.

What does it mean? As the Lord renews the covenant, God also demanded an accounting for the life of every animal and every human life. This is not a threat from God but rather the Lord wants us to value every life. This is how the Lord wants us to flourish and discover the wonder of life here on earth and be embraced by life itself through the whole creation of God. Every creature of the Lord reflects God’s goodness and love and every human being also reflects and carries God’s image.

In this way, we understand the call to be fertile and multiply within the context of life, in nurturing, cherishing, developing and giving life. This calls us to defend life from anything that will suppress life, abuse life and destroy life.

The very covenant that we have with God is a testament of that life and promise of the fullness of life. The rainbow is not just some ideological color, however, it is a biblical sign of God’s presence among us, a sign of life and a sign of renewal.

This calls us further to commit ourselves into that covenant with God so that we too shall become cooperators of God’s action and presence in the world in bringing and giving life, in recreating and renewing our community.

We can fully express this in our homes, communities and organizations, and into our relationships. Every time we give hope to those who are hopeless, every time we give a helping hand to those who need it, every time we give more attention in taking care of animals and of nature, every time we defend and nurture every human life – these are simple ways of expressing that covenant and call to give life.

In a way, the Gospel today tells us also how Peter recognized the fullness of life in Jesus as he confessed that certainly, Jesus is the Christ. However, after realizing that Jesus is to be persecuted, will suffer and die, Peter retreated from his commitment to be with Jesus, the Christ.

Like Peter, if we confess that Jesus is the Christ, our Lord and Savior, then, this implies commitment and risk. After all, when we commit ourselves to somebody we love, risks and sacrifices are implied.

As we embrace the covenant God made with us, may we come to fully commit in that relationship with the Lord. Let us therefore, allow our human relationships and relationship with the rest of the created world to be fertile where we can multiply love and multiply life. Hinaut pa.