Verbal Agreement
Oct. 21: Saturday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
We live in a literate society, and expect important things to be written down. But that wasn’t always the case, as we’ll see in Paul’s writings about Abraham’s faith.
Reading 1
Rom 4:13, 16-18
Brothers and sisters: It was not through the law that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants that he would inherit the world, but through the righteousness that comes from faith. For this reason, it depends on faith, so that it may be a gift, and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not to those who only adhere to the law but to those who follow the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us, as it is written, I have made you father of many nations. He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not exist. He believed, hoping against hope, that he would become the father of many nations, according to what was said, Thus shall your descendants be.
Logically, salvation can’t come solely through the Law, because not everyone had access to the law. We can’t assume Abraham, not to mention the other patriarchs and matriarchs, is lost, simply because the Law didn’t exist yet.
Abraham doesn’t need a written contract; God made a covenant with him. Abraham has faith that God won’t break that covenant. We can have that same hope.
Responsorial Psalm
PS 105:6-7, 8-9, 42-43
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations –
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
For he remembered his holy word
to his servant Abraham.
And he led forth his people with joy;
with shouts of joy, his chosen ones.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
This is the beginning and end of a very long psalm, telling the story of the Torah, from Abraham through the Exodus. To Abraham, God promised Canaan. Through Moses, God fulfilled that promise. Israel lost the land and regained it centuries later, thanks to the Lord.
Alleluia
Jn 15:26b, 27a
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Spirit of truth will testify to me, says the Lord,
and you also will testify.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We should do our best to conform ourselves to God, because He is not only true to His promises, but He is truth itself.
Gospel
Lk 12:8-12
Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.
"Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say."
How can a sin be unforgivable? What about God’s mercy?
The Catechism explains it clearly: “There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.”1
The only way to not be forgiven is to refuse forgiveness. God promises to take care of us, whether we’re publicly speaking or being persecuted by the empire. Our part is to accept what He offers us.