Covenant

I will be your God,

and you shall be My People

When I made my Confirmation--in the sixth grade--we were told that meant that we were from that time forward, soldiers of Jesus Christ; we were to "stand up" for Jesus and defend our Catholic faith.  The Bishop was supposed to "slap" us on the cheek as a symbol that would suffer and die if necessary for Jesus.

At that time, I felt the incongruity of the image of a "soldier" in my soul, which felt more like a small, weak seed just being put into the ground....not yet even beginning to grow.  Now, I better understand the imagery being offered to us ---- but my Irish teachers, accustomed to the harsh life and to the concept of "Cowboy Up!", skipped a step in their explanations.  Now, I understand "Con - firmation" (with strength) as more yielding to the process of allowing God to train us up, to make the weak strong, as He did with David against Goliath.  David did not go out to meet Goliath clothed with armor and a sword, in his own strength.  He went out with faith and confidence in the power and strength of the Lord of hosts/ armies.  His hope was in the Lord, not in himself.

When we enter into a covenant with God, He does all the work.  Isaiah gives the sign of the convenant:

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened

and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Then will the lame leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the dumb shout for joy (35:5-6).

"Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob,

O little Israel,

for I myself will help you," declares the Lord,

your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

"See, I will make you into a threshing sledge,

new and sharp, with many teeth...(41:14-15).

Entering into a covenant with God, allowing Him to be our God; saying "Yes" to being His child means allowing Him to make us strong, to pour His Strong Spirit into us, to raise us up from the "dung heap," in the words of Isaiah, to clothe us with splendor, to change our deserts into fertile fields, to give us peace, quietness, and confidence, peaceful dwelling places, secure homes, and undisturbed places of rest (Is. 32:15-18).

If we read Isaiah, we will know for a fact that, as some Christian song-writer put it years ago, "Inside this suit of armor is a child."  Isaiah was sent to comfort God's people, telling them, "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will put him to flight" (59:20) (although some translations read a little differently.)

When God "cut a covenant" with Abraham in Genesis 15, He followed the rituals of the land in doing so, asking Abraham to bring him the sacrificial animals.  But then, He put Abraham into a deep sleep, and He Himself Alone passed through the split carcasses, allowing Abraham only to watch from a deep sleep/dream.  He did not require the second party, Abraham, to walk through the ceremony, as was the custom of the land.  God Himself took on the whole responsibility of fulfilling the covenant.

Our part in the covenant is allowing God to build up our ramparts, secure the walls of our personalities, and establish our foundations.  Then, and only then, might it be said that we are "soldiers of Jesus Christ" and "confirmed"/ made strong in the Holy Spirit.  Like Mary, we say "Yes, do what You have said You will do in me," and then we watch what God can make of a weak seed, just planted in good soil.