Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Every generation seeks a sign that God is present, and every generation receives the same recurring sign: who is Jesus Christ, our Savior, who was crucified and rose again from the dead. By his own testimony, Jesus is a sign greater than the prophet Jonah. We can understand this sign as not only his miraculous resurrection on the third day, but more fundamentally, as the best answer to the perennial question of whether, on a broad scale, salvation will supersede sin, whether God will be merciful toward all people – even all non-Jewish people – all those who repent.
Because we are incorporated into Christ – into his death and resurrection – each person in the Church is given the mandate to be a sign also, so as to proclaim by word and deed the Good News of God concerning his Divine Son. This role of apostleship – of being sent forth to bear witness – is not limited to certain handpicked men and women who existed during the public ministry of Christ and then the early leaders of the Church. Rather, it is a task – a favor or gift really – belonging to everyone who belongs to Christ.
When it comes to doing one’s part and making known the Good News of salvation, we must not harbor a defeatist attitude and say, “What can anyone like me ever do?” We should say, rather, “I must do what I can.” The only failure that is truly unfortunate is not to try one’s best and yet fail, but instead to fail even to try!
The theology which Paul espouses in his Epistle to the Galatians can easily be understood if we recall that, according to ancient marriage contracts, if a wife proved sterile, she must allow her husband to take a substitute wife for child-bearing so that he could have a legal heir. This explains why Abraham first had a son, Ishmael, by Hagar, Sarah’s personal servant girl. Later, though, when Sarah bore for Abraham the boy Isaac, that one replaced the son of the slave girl as the rightful heir. Thus, Paul compared Ishmael to the Old Covenant, and Sarah’s son Israel to the New Covenant. His concluding point is this: Christians are reborn into the New Covenant and are saved by faith in Jesus.
We became members of the New Covenant on the day of our Baptism, when we were infused with the Holy Spirit and the gift of faith. So, my friends, let us appreciate that gift and rely upon it always to help us become better spiritual descendants of Abraham.
Reflection by Fr. Quentin Kathol, OSB
Posted in Articles for Lent, Daily Reflections, Lenten Resources