"I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you; you became mine, says the Lord God.  Then I bathed you with water, washed away your blood, and anointed you with oil.  …But you were captivated by your own beauty, you used your renown to make yourself a harlot…  Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl, and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you…  when I pardon you for all you have done." Ezek. 16:8c-9, 15a-b, 60

These are the ruminations of Ezekiel, the priest-prophet deportee whose graphic visions are depicted as occurring during the Babylonian Exile, some six centuries before the birth of Jesus.  So convinced was Ezekiel that older notions of a punishing God enacting quid pro quo justice on the people were obsolete, he insisted that God would restore the people with a new and everlasting covenant.

As a lover forgives an unfaithful spouse, so God would wholeheartedly embrace Israel, redeeming the people, binding wounds of infidelity with a transformative love.  Deutero-Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and some of the minor prophets continued this tradition of prophetic hope in God's unfailing mercy and love for the people.  The old pre-Mosaic notion of lex talionis, the law of retaliation, grew outdated as God was revealed more fully to the people.

In the words and deeds of the historical Jesus, God's mercy and healing were linked inextricably with the revelation of God's Word made flesh.  Sinners were forgiven and healed as one seamless reality.  "Your sins are forgiven…  Rise, pick up your mat and go home." (Matt. 9:2b, 6b)  The idea of a God whose mercy toward sinners was limited in any way was untenable.  Jesus had initiated the new Covenant, the everlasting reign of God, when sinners suffered not retributive justice, but restorative justice in the hands of their loving Abba.  Their sins were forgiven; their illnesses were healed.  They were no longer outcasts!  They were restored to health, wholeness, belonging to God and others, as God always intended.

The Good News is this:  the Holy Spirit continues this ministry of healing and forgiveness today!  Women and men of faith, whose hands caress and bless those who are ailing in body and spirit continue the saving work of Jesus on earth.  We are sent to proclaim God's healing, restorative justice to all people!  No longer are we bound by the inevitable entropy of an "eye for an eye" retributive justice.  We, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can end violent retribution through forgiveness, as Jesus did when He forgave others.  We can restore each other and creation to God's original purpose:  human beings, created to be in union with one another, with all of creation, and with God.  That is truly Good News!

In Matthew's rendering of Jesus' teaching on divorce in today's Gospel, Jesus tells the Pharisees that it was "hardness of heart" that conditioned Moses' permission of divorce.  Jesus, whose mission was to fulfill the Law, taught that divorce was not God's intention.  Entering into a covenantal love requires forgiveness, specifically the radical, magnanimous, unconditional forgiveness tendered by God.  Using the marriage covenant as an example, we ought to enter into our relationships with others with the intention of forgiveness and healing, mirroring the restorative justice of God.  It is a daunting prospect, this new Covenant!  We must love those who do not love us, forgive those who harm us, pray for those who persecute us, and wash their feet.

Today, I pray for the grace and humility to allow God to soften my heart, to forgive flagrantly, to heal whatever ails, and to serve unreservedly.  In doing so, I trust completely that the fullness of God's revelation is love, and by loving others in this way, God's love triumphs.