Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church

 Lectionary: 322

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.

Those who follow the link above will open the USCCB website where today's readings and psalm are found. They'll find another link for the first reading, Heb 11:1-2, 8-19, and discover the missing verses, 3-7 with the names Abel, Enoch, and Noah, who preceded Abraham. Although we call Abraham "our father in faith," he inherited a strain of faith from his gentile ancestors. 

So long as God has existed the Holy Spirit has called humans to prayer, devotion, and sacrifice; and to trust in the innate goodness of life and its Creator. If today's thinkers stand on the shoulders of giants as they reach for the stars, we stand on the shoulders of saints as we reach for the infinite goodness of God. 

With Abraham, the LORD inserted himself into human history and anchored our faith in time, place, and people. The maps found in our Bibles are not like Tolkien's map of Middle-earth; they describe the topography of the mountains, valleys, rivers, and shores of planet Earth. They still familiar to residents and pilgrims. Our history of faith is not fabricated like Robert Jordan's implausible Wheel of Time where cities are stable and generations of rulers remain firmly ensconced for thousands of years. Real human history is turbulent on a dynamic planet, and leadership often changes hands. 

If the genealogies of Jesus in Matthew and Luke differ, they nonetheless affirm our belief in the God who inspires and guides real human beings through many centuries of difficult human life. It's never been easy; it was never meant to be easy; but God has always traveled with us. 

The Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that our ancestors... 

...died in faith.
They did not receive what had been promised
but saw it and greeted it from afar
and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth,
for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland.

The Letter urges us to keep the faith as our ancestors did, especially because we now live in "the city" -- that is the Church -- they saw from afar. Where they saw only the morning sky turning from black to dark blue, we see the brilliant dawn of our sacraments and expect the sunrise at any moment. They knew the Lord God traveled with them in a pillar of fire and a column of smoke. We know God is with us in the Body and Blood of Jesus. 

If it is not easy to be Catholic, we are given far more assurance than our faithful ancestors knew. If they kept the faith through hardship, we can keep the faith through our present difficulties. They will pass as surely as time has always proceeded from bad to good and good to better; and through endless setbacks and innumerable switchbacks. 

Since the Letter to the Hebrews was written, we also have an additional history of saints and martyrs. God has selected men and women of every century and every nation to inspire us. We know them as people like ourselves; some were notoriously sinful before their conversion, and all faced insurmountable challenges. They not only kept the faith; they flourished. 

With the same Holy Spirit, we are holy as they are holy. And our children will stand on the shoulders of giants.