Again the LORD's messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said:
"I swear by myself, declares the LORD,
that because you acted as you did
in not withholding from me your beloved son,
I will bless you abundantly
and make your descendants as countless
as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore...
By any measure the story of Abraham's sacrifice is stunning. If we attempt to explain the patriarch's behavior or analyze his motive, we only scratch the surface of its vast dimensions. Explaining or defining God's motives is equally pointless.
Like the Crucifixion of Jesus, the Sacrifice of Isaac stands as a challenge and invitation to everyone who hears of it. Would we know, love, and serve the Lord with such conviction? Clever preachers create other stories to describe the challenge of faith but none match this one. Our first reaction should be like that of the three friends who came to visit Job as he sat in ashes and scraped his sores with a potsherd:
...when, at a distance, they lifted up their eyes and did not recognize him, they began to weep aloud; they tore their cloaks and threw dust into the air over their heads. Then they sat down upon the ground with him seven days and seven nights, but none of them spoke a word to him; for they saw how great was his suffering. Job 2:12
But if our astonishment only renders us mute, and we do not study either story for the direction they give us, they would finally disappear. Unremarked and forgotten, they would inspire no faith and the Church itself would disappear from the earth.
The Sacrifice of Abraham is copied in every century by saints like Maria Goretti. Which is to say, even a child can understand it while the wisdom of this world dismisses it as sheer nonsense. That child, like all the martyrs, found in her love of God the courage and willingness to die rather than surrender her virginity and innocence. The Spirit of God rose in her as she fought her killer. And even as she died she spoke a graceful word to him while her resistance offered him a path to sanctity. It was a path the young man would finally pursue. He attended her canonization with her mother after serving his prison sentence.
As we hear the story of Abraham and gaze upon the Cross of Jesus, we pray that our thoughts, words, and deeds might be directed by the spirit of Maria Goretti. For the world still needs martyrs, and still finds them among the willing.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.