Suspend Disbelief

A part of the Book of Genesis where Abram is given a new name, Abraham, and is told of the Promise from God that under the Covenant with His people would result in Abraham having many descendants who would occupy the land is presented today in the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary. Friar Jude Winkler comments on the symbolism of a name change in Biblical accounts to indicate a great change from God which is associated with that person. Our practice of having baptismal names and names for religious continues this idea. The faith of Abraham who had only two sons and who ended his life with only the land he was buried in is an example of the level of trust in God to which the spiritual heirs of Abraham, Jew, Christian and Muslim are called. We see from our time that the comment of Marcia Shadle Cusic of Creighton University, echoing the psalmist today, is that God’s Covenant lasts forever. The commentary on Isaac and Ishmael in a Jewish History blog shows how the Arab people and the Jewish people have descended from this common father in faith.As Jesus, in the Gospel from John, confronts the Jewish authorities with the proclamation that He had seen Father Abraham and explains this in His declaration of I AM that this is through His nature as Divine Son, we get a sense of the call to trust like that of Abraham which is associated with accepting this truth. Our suspension of disbelief is the first step to realizing our participation in the Divine Life here and now. Through this truly name-changing transformation to trust in God we prepare for the fulfillment of the Kingdom where we once again bring all people together in the celebration of our common lineage in faith as sons and daughters of God.