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The Holy Family
Genesis 15
The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying:
“Fear not, Abram! I am your shield;
I will make your reward very great.”
But Abram said,
“O Lord God, what good will your gifts be, if I keep on being childless
and have as my heir the steward of my house, Eliezer?”
Abram continued,
“See, you have given me no offspring, and so one of my servants will be my heir.”
Then the word of the Lord came to him:
“No, that one shall not be your heir; your own issue shall be your heir.”
The Lord took Abram outside and said,
“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.
Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”
Abram put his faith in the Lord, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.
The Lord took note of Sarah as he had said he would; he did for her as he had promised.
Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age,
at the set time that God had stated.
Abraham gave the name Isaac to this son of his whom Sarah bore him.
Psalm 105
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;
make known among the nations his deeds.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
Look to the LORD in his strength;
constantly seek his face.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations
which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
Hebrews 11
Brothers and sisters:
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance;
he went out, not knowing where he was to go.
By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age
- and Sarah herself was sterile -
for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy.
So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good as dead,
descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore.
By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac,
and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son,
of whom it was said, “Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.”
He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead,
and he received Isaac back as a symbol.
When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses,
they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord,
Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,
and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,
in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.
This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit
that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.
He came in the Spirit into the temple;
and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him,
he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:
“Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word,
for my eyes have seen your salvation which you prepared in sight of all the peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.”
The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
“Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted
—and you yourself a sword will pierce—
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.
She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
And coming forward at that very time,
she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.
When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him.
The long journey starts from the faith/trust that Abraham placed in the divine promise. Sure, it's 'history', but real history attested to in continuity over thousands of years. The stories might be quaint and over-simplified a bit, but no one can deny there was a man who felt called to 'go west' where he would find a land of promise. He wouldn't be the only one, but in a way he was the first.
The letter 'To the Hebrews' describes the trust that Abraham managed against all the odds, against setbacks and delays, in terms equivalent to our 'monumental quantum leap of evolution'. It's the same giant step every couple makes when they choose to have a baby. It's the leap of faith with unknown consequences that Mary took when she gave her consent to whatever it was she understood as her future. What did she feel that day in the temple when both Simeon and Anna said strange things? Scared, I imagine.
But we overcome fear with faith. This 'faith' is not to agree with some framework of ideas but to surrender one's anxiety into the care of someone greater. We do it when we sign that paper before going to surgery. We put our fear in a box and firmly lock it down, and seal it with the faith/trust we have in the team. We do it over and over when we take our new baby back for regular check-ups. We made that same act of faith/trust when we surrendered our precious independence in marriage, committing ourselves to be no longer ours but yours. To do that you have to be enormously trusting of me. Coming towards the end, when every morning we wake with surprise in finding another day given us to enjoy, and every moment we know the one will come soon that will be the last. What can you do about that except to do it graciously.
It's the great faith/trust surrender of Jeshua in the dark shadows of the ancient olive trees on a moonlit night: 'What good could my death be to anyone. I want to live. If you're there you can save me...' And a comforter did make his presence felt, but only so Jeshua could say his 'Fiat' like his mother had done to set him on this path. He surrendered his precious freedom to follow the will of the one who is greater. That is faith.
Trusting faith is not a discursive planning, plotting expedition. It comes as a stillness in which we see everything at once and it all fits together and makes sense. We say Yes in full awareness...
If I may share some points of my awareness lately:
Just to be aware...
To be aware that holding your family's new-born in your arms is holding the latest incarnation of the divine.
To be aware that in our close relationships in family communion the divine is revealed.
To be aware that a wholesome family is a holy family as God is enfleshed in it.
To be aware that incarnation was not a one-off in that special anointed one but everyone is divinely anointed.
To be aware that God comes to us in every other that we meet, full of grace and truth for us.
To be aware that giving presents around the family tree is giving the divine in love.
To be aware that the love that chokes your voice is divine love that will not be held hostage to words.
To be aware that we are the awareness of the cosmos as it evolves in the dark of pre-dawn coming light.
To be aware that we are to lead this evolution by intelligently evolving towards the likeness of God.
To be aware that the babies we have are the next step of our evolving.
To be aware of the importance of surrounding infants with loving care and security.
To be aware that our primary mission is to reproduce so our kind can evolve by further steps.
To be aware that the progress of our evolving is the glory God would want to realise in us.
To be aware that Jeshua, anointed with divine Spirit, has overcome the evil of our broken humanity.
To be aware of divine love enfolding each and all.
Just to be aware...