Word to the Wise
Saturday, October 19, 2019 - Saturday in the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rom 4:13, 16-18 and Luke 12:8-12]It was not through the law that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants that he would inherit the word, but through the righteousness that comes from faith. For this reason it depends on faith, so that it may be a gift, and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not to those who only adhere to the law but to those who follow the faith of Abraham......He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not exist. [Romans]
OCTOBER 19 STS. JOHN deBREBEUF, ISAAC JOGUES AND COMPANIONS, martyrs
The tremendous leap in the conversion of St. Paul took him beyond Moses and the Mosaic law to the figure of Abraham. But it is not Abraham per se that matters but his faith! It might be helpful to go to Genesis 12 and re-read the story of Abraham and his response to God's revelation. That story is particularly important to three major religious groups: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. But the promise is also made to those who acknowledge God in some way. In ancient Judaism, there was a category of persons called "God-fearers," who had some understanding of God "who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not exist." We will find these people all over the world. Some would call them "God-seekers."
In the Letter to the Romans, St. Paul "levels the playing field" theologically to include those who come to faith without any background or acceptance of the Mosaic tradition of Judaism. He preaches Christ as the one who delivers all believers from the Law of Moses. In my pastoral experience, I have met students who were raised in families where there was no religion practiced in the ordinary sense of the word. When they meet someone who is a religious person, they are like the Greeks in Acts 17, who seemed to be curious about any kind of religious belief.
What we offer in our religious faith is hope in a life that extends beyond our mortal years. This hope and life was offered to Abraham and his descendants in faith. If we recognize the spark of that faith in another person, we can offer the breath of the Spirit to bring it to flame. That, in turn, may open the way to faith in Jesus Christ as a revelation as great as the one originally made to Abraham. St. Paul calls this a gift and it is one we, by virtue of our baptism, can pass on to other descendants of Abraham. AMEN