God's Invitation: Meditations on a Covenant Relationship

by Thomas Flowers SJ

Overview

“This is a book about God: the God I know, the God whom Israel knew, the God who longs to be known ever more deeply.” Thomas Flowers makes the startling claim that impiety, rather than piety, seems to be necessary if we are to be in a deep relationship with the Lord. People in the Old Testament “do not simply pray…: they talk with God, and even talk back to God.” Each chapter of God’s Invitation is based around one of the great covenants God made with the people of Israel—covenants that were no mere legal documents but promises steeped in God’s love for his people. The meditations within the chapter are each followed by a verse reflection inviting you to consider your own relationship with the Lord.
In his searingly honest narrative, the author describes the deepening of his own relationship with God; and yet, what for many writers would simply remain at the level of spiritual autobiography becomes at Flowers’ hands a mirror held up to your face—and what you see there is not only your own reflection but also that of God, holding you, challenging you, at times even laughing with you.
†

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780809147120
Publisher:	Paulist Press
Publication date:	05/02/2011
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.38(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Preface: When I Talk about God v

I Introduction: Christian Character and Faith 1

II When I Bring Clouds 13

Prelude: Covenant Beauty 13

First Medication Creation 14

Second Mediation The Garden of Eden 17

Third Medium: The Flood 23

Fourth Meditation: The Covenant with Noah 27

For Further Reflection 30

III Look Toward Heaven 32

Prelude: Covenant of Stars 32

Fifth Meditation: The Call of Abram 33

Sixth Mediations: Promise of Isaac 36

Seventh Meditation: The Sacrifice of Isaac 40

Eighth Meditation: The Covenant with Abraham 45

For Further Reflection 49

IV The Voice of the Lord 51

Prelude: Covenant of Words 51

Ninth Meditation: The Egyptian Exile 52

Tenth Meditation: The Infancy of Moses 54

Eleventh Meditation: The Burning Bush 58

Twelfth Meditation: The Covenant with Moses 62

For Further Reflection 67

V A Father to Them 69

Prelude: Covenant of Kings 69

Thirteenth Meditation: Hannah 70

Fourteenth Meditation: King David 73

Fifteenth Meditation: David's Sin 78

Sixteenth Meditation: The Covenant with David 83

For Further Reflection 85

VI Upon Their Hearts 87

Prelude: Covenant of Hearts 87

Seventeenth Meditation: The Babylonian Exile 88

Eighteenth Meditation: Zechariah 95

Nineteenth Meditation: Elizabeth 99

Twentieth Meditation: The New Covenant 101

For Further Reflection 104

Appendix: Connections to the Sunday Readings 106