Faith Father of all

The life of faith and trust is presented today in the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary as the relationship with the Divine that links the many nations descendant from Abraham, who Paul describes in the Letter to the Romans as the father of all. Friar Jude Winkler traces the blood inheritance of this “Father of Many Nations” to the Jewish nation through Isaac and the Arab peoples through Ishmael. The fatherhood of Abraham for the Gentile people is through faith. Paul proclaims our reconciliation with God through our faith and trust in His Love. The faith of Abraham that he would bring his people to the land of milk and honey and have descendants as many as the stars, Friar Jude reminds us, was not fully realized during his life. The trust in God that requires the believer to act without signs and evidence and to give ourselves to action, the consequence of which is beyond our knowledge or comprehension, is the faith of Abraham and the faith of the Mother of Jesus, Mary. The faith in which Christians attempt to live is the faith of Mary which accepts that the will of God be done. The Gospel of Luke today reassures the faithful that Jesus stands with them as they seek to live and witness to others the trust in God of Abraham and Mary. Friar Jude reminds us that the Love between Father and Son is the Holy Spirit. This Love is forgiveness. The decision to reject the forgiveness of God is the blasphemy which Luke describes as unforgivable. The steps in faith begin with acceptance of the Divine invitation to intimacy through the Spirit.