Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Mass Readings
Today’s gospel reading from Matthew is one of those that makes us pause and reexamine our faith. Many people undoubtedly think that they are doing the will of God; many people believe themselves genuine in their prayer. But are we really doing God’s will? And are we really praying in earnest? Jesus calls us, as his disciples, both to listen to his words and to act on them. If we can do this then we are like a man who built his house on rock – a solid foundation. Unfortunately, it is easier said than done. Just look at our first reading. Here is the man who becomes known as Abraham, a patriarch, honored as a great father in our tradition. Our readings this week from Genesis have showed him to be a man of solid faith, a man who worships well, a man who is generous, a man who listens to the word of God and acts on it. How, then, can we explain the drama in our first reading today?
Abram has been promised many descendants by God; he and we can only assume that these descendants will be from his wife Sarai. Abram has heard God promise him these descendants, but yet it only takes a little persuasion for his wife to convince him to have sex with her maidservant in the hopes of conceiving a child. What Sarai requests here was not unusual for the time period. These were days without fertility treatments, and so an infertile woman turned to her maid to provide her with children. But while this was a standard way of coping with infertility, it was still immoral according to the Hebrew tradition. And so it should surprise us that Abram was so easily persuaded.
Like all sins, this one also causes division. Sarai regrets her decision as soon as Hagar is pregnant, and Sarai blames Abram. Abram, meanwhile, proves how little Hagar and his unborn child mean to him by allowing Sarai to abuse Hagar to the point that Hagar actually runs away.
Like all sins, this one also provides an opportunity for redemption, i.e. a space in which God can act. Hagar receives a promise like that of Abram – she too will have many descendants, starting with this son Ishmael. Although Sarai and Abram treat her badly, God answers Hagar’s prayers and the son born to her grows into a healthy man.
Both the division caused by the sin and the redemption that is God’s grace working through the sin will continue, and, indeed, this is an overarching theme of the entire Bible as ultimately our sin finds its final redemption in Jesus the Christ – in his life, death, and resurrection. And so we are instructed both to listen and to act. Like Abram, we may fall short of this. We may sometimes do what is wrong at someone else’s insistence. Like Sarai, we may want something so badly that we’ll do something immoral to get it. And the worst part is that we may sin while all the while thinking we are being faithful. Perhaps Abram and Sarai thought that their descendants – promised by God – would only come through Hagar?
Today, let us take some time to reexamine our faith. Let us think about some of our daily actions and try to see them as God sees them. One way to do this is to consider the Church’s teachings and compare them with our actions. Another way to do this is to look to holy people, most especially the communion of saints, but sometimes people that we know at our own parish. We cannot afford to discount the possibility that we are not actually doing God’s will when we think we are. As we continue our daily walk with Jesus, let us ask God to help us see our lives and actions clearly that we might truly listen to Jesus’ words and act on them like a real disciple.
- Maria Morrow