Change to trust

The Covenant between God and Abraham is detailed in the text today from the Book of Genesis in the Roman Catholic Lectionary. God changes the names of both of both Abram and Sarai to mark the change in their lives and to indicate that they have become “father” and “woman”. Friar JudeWinkler notes that we are changed by our encounter with God. The name change isa sign of the deeper life change. The attitude of Abraham to laugh in the Presence of God is not a sign of disbelief but it does present the free disposition of Abraham in relation to God. The depth of the trust of Abraham in the promise of God is not based on any physical evidence. He trusts the Covenant that he will be the father of a multitude, yet in his life, he will know only Isaac and Ishmael as his children. We are offered this “fear of God” as the character of our relationship with the Divine. The psalmist declares the realization of the fullness of life in relationship with God through the fruit of being blessed by a good wife and children around your table. In the vocation of family builders, we are partaking in the Covenant initiated with Abraham.The Gospel of Matthew is written by a Jew to Jews in the last quarter of the first century. Friar Jude notes that after the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus teaches His fulfillment of the Law of Moses, Matthew shows the Divine authority of Jesus through ten actions which are in the realm of God. The passage today is the confirmation of the Divine power of healing in Jesus as He cures the leper. The fulfillment of the Law of Moses is in the extension of the Love and healing of God to the ritually unclean. The adherence of Jesus to the Law is demonstrated to the audience of Matthew by the instruction to the leper to show himself to the priest. The tension of change as a result of living a relationship with God is evident in the Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. Our path is shown by Jesus as one which honours and keeps the Tradition as it also fulfills our mission to be Jesus to all people. We participate through the trust of Abraham that our efforts, largely unseen, will assist to gather the family of God as numerous as the stars.