Abram (Abraham)

I suspect that we all know how God called Abram to leave his homeland and to travel with his family to the land of Canaan which God had promised to give to him.  Perhaps we are not as familiar with the fact that God asked the same thing of Abram’s father, Terah.  The story of Abram begins with chapter twelve of the Book of Genesis.  If, however, you check the final verses of chapter eleven, you will read there of how Terah also was called out of the land of Ur of the Chaldees.  He started to make the journey with his son, his grandson and their wives.  However, once they reached Haran, they stopped and settled there.  As chapter twelve opens God calls Abram to continue the journey started by his father.

I cannot be too hard on Terah.  Who of us hasn’t started something that we have failed to finish.  How many times have we resolved to quit smoking only to start up again?  How many times have we begun a new diet only to abandon it after a few days?  How many dollars have we spent on gym memberships with a resolve to get into shape only to cancel the membership shortly thereafter?  How many Lenten penances have ended before they really get started?  I suspect that we all can relate to the experience of Terah.

There is no doubt that Abram (Abraham) has become a major figure in our salvation history.  He is the only person in the Hebrew Scriptures to be called a “friend” of God.  All of the other major figures are called “servants.”  Abram, however, earns the title friend because he trusts in God without hesitation.  Everything God asks of him is completed.  This is not to say that Abram did not have doubts.  However, he was able somehow to set aside his doubts and do exactly what God expected of him. 

Abraham is the one person that all Jews, all Christians, and all Muslims revere.  He is common to all three faiths.  His faith in God is a beacon to all of us, an inspiration, a goad, a motivation.  St. Paul tells us that Abraham’s faith is credited to him as righteousness.  In other words, Abraham was in “right relationship” with God.  We all aspire to righteousness.  The Scriptures today hold him up as an inspiration for us all.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator