Mary amidst the Jewish Messianic expectation (I)

"The days are coming when I will make a new covenant" (Jer 31:31).

In the prayers of Israel and of the Virgin, who were both meditating on the hopeful words delivered by the prophets, the coming of the Messiah was to renew all things: "The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah… I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people… For I will forgive their wickedness" (Jr 31:31). "You renew the face of the earth" (Ps 104, 30). "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God, that they may follow my judgments, and observe and practice my laws; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God" (Ezek 11:19-20). "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezek 36:26-27). "In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh (Jo 3:1); “Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days" (Jo 2:28-29).

The Marie de Nazareth Team