29th Week in Ord. Time, Monday – 23rd October 2023 – Romans 4,20-25; Lk 12,13-21
Believing Beyond Sight
In the first reading, Paul continues to stress on Abraham’s trust in God and in the divine promises. He devotes the whole chapter to highlight him as a model of good behaviour which won God’s favour. Paul writes that Abraham experienced no unbelief. He didn’t waver in trusting God. Instead, he grew stronger in his faith and continued to give glory to God. Abraham did not always understand the “why” behind God’s requests, but he believed, and did what was asked of him. This became a source of blessing for Abraham and his spiritual descendants. Promises are key aspects of relationships. They are built upon trust. One of the things which destroys relationships is the breaking of promises. What even takes a greater amount of trust is believing that the promise will be kept and fulfilled, even though one does not see how or when it will happen. This faith of Abraham was undeniably remarkable. He sinned as all do. But he believed that the God who spoke to Him would do exactly what He promised even as year after year passed without that promise being fulfilled. God promised Abraham a land and many descendants but Abraham never saw that happen during his sojourn on earth. His only permanent land holdings at the time of his death was the burial place he had purchased for his wife and himself. Yet his faith in God’s promises was credited to him as righteousness.
