Day 8: God Forms His People

Through the prophets, God forms his people in the hope of salvation, in the expectation of a new and everlasting Covenant intended for all, to be written on their hearts. The prophets proclaim a radical redemption of the People of God, purification from all their infidelities, a salvation which will include all the nations. Above all, the poor and humble of the Lord will bear this hope. (Catechism 64)

 

In today's reading, we get more of God slowly revealing himself to man. We start with Abraham, whom Scripture recognizes will become of "Father of Many Nations" (Gen 17:5). But first, he is Abram of Ur, from which God will call him out to leave and travel to a land unknown to him (Gen 12:1). It's a great story in Genesis, with all the trials & tribulations he endured with his wife and kin, due to a strange, unknown God. This is especially true when you recall just how old he and his wife were at this time. How incredibly scary the whole thing must have been for them, and disruptive to what they had known all their lives up to this point. An unknown god tells you to leave the place you've lived all your life and take your elderly wife and all your kin into the wilderness to settle a land you may not have ever heard of before. The level of trust and faith one would have to have is enormous (don't even get me started on the story of the sacrifice of Isaac!). He and others must have thought that he was stark raving mad at times. Yet he did it through God's grace, as did his wife and all his kin who traveled with him which is why we still honor him today, thousands of years later.

The Catechism next briefly mentions the "patriarchs, prophets and certain other Old Testament figures" who followed and are "saints in all the Church's liturgical traditions" (I like this part; Sts. Abraham, Sarah, & Isaac). "God forms his people Israel" from whom the Scriptures would be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Their story and example gives us a "great cloud of witnesses" that surrounds us and helps us to "persevere in running the race that lies before us" (Heb 12:1).

All in all a good synopsis of Old Testament people and events, especially if one has read the stories.  I like how this section ends by listing the great women of the Old Testament and ends with "the purest figure among them is Mary," which as Theotokos she certainly is.