Fr. Michael Williams

Abraham, ‘our father in faith’, and his wife Sarah, are presented to us in the letter to the Hebrews as people of faith. God had promised Abraham that he would lead him into the Promised Land; and God had promised Sarah a child, even though she was ‘past the age’. These promises of God’s were not immediately forthcoming. Indeed the promise made to Abraham did not manifest itself in his own lifetime. But both Abraham and Sarah learnt put their trust and faith in God, who had promised these blessings to them. We too have to learn to put our faith and trust in God, even though we cannot yet see all that the Lord has promised us.

To develop a mature faith, like Abraham and Sarah, we first need to have a true knowledge of God. Abraham came to know that God was omnipotent, all powerful; and so Abraham ‘was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead’. To have a true knowledge of God is to know that God is the Creator of all that is seen and unseen; it is to know that God is infinite wisdom and eternal being. When we realise who God truly is we will have confidence in Him and in His plans. Abraham and Sarah, through faith, came to know the all knowing God, and so they placed their trust in Him, even though they did not always understand God’s ways.

Abraham and Sarah also had self knowledge. They knew that they were lacking and limited, unlike God. As Pope John Paul II once said, ‘Our vision of God is always fragmentary and impaired by the limits of our understanding. Faith alone makes it possible to penetrate the mystery’ (Fides et Ratio).

Because we do not have a comprehensive understanding of God’s Being, or His ways, we are called to put our faith in Him. And putting our faith in God, is to be obedient to Him. ‘It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the call’. Obeying God does not mean that we sycophantically serve Him. It means that we do what He is asking of us, because He is the Creator of all that is seen and unseen, including us; it means we do what He is asking of us because He is infinite and we are finite; it means being like Abraham and Sarah, who obey God’s will, rather than their own, even though they were sometimes baffled by God’s will; it means entering into the mystery of God’s will.

So often in the ‘Our Father’ we say ‘Thy will be done’, yet when God tries to do His will in our lives, we often rebel against it and tell God where He is going wrong. ‘What we are ultimately praying for in this petition of the Our Father is that we come closer and closer to God, so that God’s will can conquer the downward pull of our selfishness and make us capable of the lofty heights to which we are called’.

Inspired by the example of Abraham and Sarah, and countless other men and women of faith, let us put our faith in God who seeks to lead us to ‘our heavenly homeland’. And as we make our journey of faith, through this fragmented world, let us serve the Lord with our hearts and minds and wills.