Abraham Persisted`

July 2, 2007

Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

By Beth De Cristofaro

“Please let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time. What if there are at least ten there?” He replied, “For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it.” (Gn 18:32-33)

The Lord is kind and merciful…He redeems your life from destruction. (Ps 103:4, 8)

Jesus answered him, “Follow me and let the dead bury their dead” (Mt 8:22)

Piety

Dear God, I come before you in this day to renew my “yes”, my desire to follow you. Help me choose your path at each step I take. Forgive me for my missteps and, in receiving your mercy, may I offer your mercy to others. Holy is your Name, I rejoice in your kindness toward me. Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/070207.shtml

Jesus’ message of discipleship in today’s reading is a continuation of recent readings that the way to salvation is difficult and to say “yes” is to engage in something radical and unique. A life in Jesus is to experience all things as new – and to leave the old, tried and expected. Jesus must have shocked his listeners as he threw away one of the highest held filial duties for both the Jewish and pagan peoples: to bury their father. “Follow me and let the dead bury their dead.” (Mt. 8:22) However, Jesus’ point is that he came to fulfill the new and one must make a choice. One can choose to be alive spiritually or remain dead.

Abraham heard the same message from God’s lips. God singled (Abraham) out that he may direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just…(Gn 18:19) Abraham said “yes.” The people of Sodom, however, chose to turn from God. They chose spiritual death. Abraham sought God’s mercy even to the point of, perhaps, annoying God with his constant beseeching. “Let not my Lord grow impatient if I go on. What if only thirty are found there?” But God’s patience and mercy is boundless to those who have said “yes” to God’s will. He replied, “I will forbear doing it if I can find but thirty there.” (Gn 18:30) Abraham’s persistence was for life, for God’s will, for mercy and love. And God heard him as God will hear our persistence for life, God’s will, for mercy and love. We must renew our desire again and again as both God and Son knew.

This daunting message is given a hopeful, glorious ring in the psalm. The Lord is kind and merciful. He pardons all your iniquities; he heals all your ills. He redeems your life from destruction; he crowns you with kindness and compassion. (Ps 103:3-4) The way is truly difficult, the rewards are truly unimaginable. Empty yourself and be filled.

Action

This week the US celebrates Freedom. How do I use my freedom to glorify God? Or is my god the freedom that our culture glorifies? That defines “freedom” as “American”? That classifies “others” as deserving of a freedom that I determine for them?

Reflect on a time that you met someone whom you thought of as “other” or “stranger” only to find her/him as someone much like yourself, a person with assets and faults’ a person loved by God. What gift did God give you in this encounter?