He Is Trustworthy
August 12, 2007

Readings for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1: Wis. 18:6–9

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 33:1, 12, 18–19, 20–22

Reading 2: Heb. 11:1–2, 8–19 or 11:1–2, 8–12

Gospel: Lk. 12:32–48 or 12:35–40

Link to Readings

By Father Frank Pavone

“For he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy.” So the second reading today describes Abraham, our father in faith. God made an oath to Abraham, that though elderly and without children, he would have descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore.

Abraham trusted the oath and acted accordingly—not because what he was told made sense to him, but because he trusted the one who was telling him. He didn’t see the evidence according to our human way of seeing, measuring, and analyzing things. The evidence he had was his faith, “the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen,” as the second reading tells us.

Not only Abraham but the people of Abraham likewise trusted God. The first reading tells us, “With sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith, . . . your people awaited the salvation of the just and the destruction of their foes.” What was the evidence that their foes would be destroyed? It was not any apparent weakness of their foes, but rather their faith, the “evidence of things not seen,” because there was one who did see, and told them.

We, too, are commanded to have that same faith, now rooted in the oaths God has sworn to us through the blood of Christ. We, too, are to have “sure knowledge” that we will be delivered from all our foes, all that oppresses the human family, all our sins, and death itself.

The faith by which we are certain of these things is not an arbitrary hope or a random belief because of the comfort it brings us. Certainly we have a need to believe that we will be freed from our oppressors. But if faith were based only on that need, we would be susceptible to believe any “messiah” that came along. Our Lord, in fact, told us that there would be many false saviors trying to gain our trust.

The Church, however, has always pointed out that there are “motives of credibility” behind our faith. In other words, our faith is not divorced from reason. Rather, reason points in the direction of faith and provides a solid basis for believing the God who speaks. The witness of the life and works of Jesus and of those who have believed in Him through the centuries, and the evidence of His power at work among us today, are among those motives of credibility. It is reasonable to trust Him and His Church, that we may embrace truths that transcend the reach of reason.

The Oaths of God

God swore an oath to Abraham; He swore an oath to us in Christ. He sets us free from error, sin, and death through the Cross and Resurrection of Christ—a cross and resurrection in which we share. Every one of the sacraments, in fact, is an oath (which is what the word “sacramentum” means). When, for example, our sins are forgiven in the Sacrament of Penance, God gives us His oath that we are forgiven and also that His grace is with us to resist temptation in the future. When we are confirmed, the oath of God is that the power of the Holy Spirit will enable us to bear witness to Christ and stand faithful to His truth in every circumstance of our interaction with a sometimes-hostile world. In the Sacrament of Marriage, the spouses are not the only ones making oaths. God makes an oath, that He will provide every ounce of grace and strength they will need to be faithful.

And He makes the oath that He is coming back. The Gospel makes it clear that Christ will return, as really and truly as when He came the first time. At this second coming, which will occur on a day and at a time that nobody knows, all our trust will be rewarded and all our hope fulfilled. Total freedom from darkness, sin, and death will be ours, with the resurrection of the dead, and the final separation of good from evil. All the good that has been done but unacknowledged will be rewarded; the evil that has been done and not corrected will be set right.

On that day, not only will we be called to rejoice in this liberation, but we will be asked to give an account of our trust and of how that trust shaped our daily lives. Did we live in a way that showed we trusted in ourselves and our worldly security (possessions, reputation, worldly cunning, etc.) rather than in the one who swore an oath that He would set us free? Did we always try to fix things ourselves, even if it meant resorting to lying, cheating, or stealing, or did we do what was right, with trust in God for what we couldn’t fix? The Culture of Death is one in which our society resorts even to the taking of life by abortion and euthanasia in order to fix things in its own eyes, rather than trusting in the God who makes and fulfills promises.

We Have to Trust

Abraham and all our forefathers in faith were called to trust God’s oath. But we have even more reason to trust. “Still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” Many of those who lived before the coming of Christ were entrusted with the example of Abraham, and the further blessings of the covenant with Moses. They had the Law and the Prophets to show them the way and bolster their trust in God. Much will be demanded of them.

But even more will be demanded of us. We not only have the law and the prophets. We have Christ, the Gospel, the Church, and the example of the saints, past and present! How much the Lord expects us to trust!

I once asked Mother Angelica, “How does a person do great things for God?” She said to me that too many people, before they take action to do good in the world, think they have to see every step of the way and know exactly how they will deal with every risk. These people are paralyzed by their analysis and never get to step one. God is already in our future. When we see the next step we should take now, we should take it, trusting Him for the rest.

That’s exactly what Abraham did. “For he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy.”

Father Frank Pavone is the national director for Priests for Life and a member of CUF's advisory council. He is a contrubutor to Lay Witness magazine.

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