Thursday – 5th Week of Lent – A

And my brothers and sisters, the first thing that we hear of in the Book of Genesis from today's reading is how God changes his name from Abram to Abraham. “No longer shall you be called Abram; your name shall be Abraham, for I am making you the father of a host of nations” (Genesis 17:5). So what's the difference in the two names? What did Abram mean and what does Abraham mean? Well, we heard what Abraham means, but what does Abram mean? Abram means an exalted father, a respected father. And so there's quite a number of men who could be considered men who are exalted and dignified, like David to Solomon, and Joseph, Saint Joseph, right? He was an exalted father.

But God is saying to Abraham, I'm changing your name to Abraham, because now you're not just an exalted father, but you're going to be a father of a host of nations, a multitude of nations. And why did God adorn Abraham with such a lofty dignity? Because of Abraham's faith, because he trusted something so precious to the heart of God. Abraham trusted when what was being asked of him seemed to be impossible, but he trusted.

And so in the Gospel today, we hear about the persecutors of Jesus, who are told by Jesus that “whoever keeps my word will never see death” (John 8:51). My brothers and sisters, because we breathe our last breath in this life, the body goes into the ground, lifeless from where it came, but “the dust returns to the earth as it once was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). The spirit lives on. This is why, when Protestants accuse us of praying to the saints, that we're praying to dead people, they got it wrong, because the saints are more alive than you and me, because their spirit in heaven lives on.

But God said that he would also resurrect our bodies that went into the ground lifeless on the last day. But when we breathe our last breath in this life, my brothers and sisters, we either open them in the next life in a state of eternal life, even if we have to go through purgatory, or in a state of eternal death, if we are condemned to the eternal hellfire which awaits all those who would not let go of their evil ways.

My brothers and sisters, in today's Gospel, Jesus says, “whoever keeps my word will never see death” (John 8:51). So the Jews said to him, “Now we know that you are possessed. Abraham died, as did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death’” (John 8:52). “Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?” (John 8:53). See, my brothers and sisters, they had no idea that the Messiah standing before them was, A, the Promised One, the Messiah, but B, and more importantly, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, the one who out of nothing created the universe, the one who out of nothing created human nature, endowed with his Spirit, with a soul.

The one who from all eternity knew that our spirit separates from our mortal body at death, but that he would raise up even our mortal body at the end to reunite with our spirit, either saved and safe for all eternity, or lost, doomed, condemned for all eternity—the darkness of death or the joy of life.

And so they thought, who are you? You're not greater than Abraham. In fact, he is. He was greater than Abraham. And they said to him, “Who do you make yourself out to be?” (John 8:53). Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; it is my Father who glorifies me” (John 8:54). In fact, at the Last Supper, Jesus prays, “Father, glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you” (John 17:1).

“Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56). Now how did Abraham see the day of Jesus? Abraham was blessed because of his faith, his trust in God, and he could see that when God said, all nations will be blessed in you (Genesis 12:3), and you will be a father of many nations, he knew it was connected to his faith, and that one day the Promised One of God would dawn upon the world, and whoever accepted him, no matter whether they were Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female, but not being a respecter of persons, God would bless anyone who embraced, received, loved, and listened to his precious, beloved Son, Jesus.

Yes, my brother or my sister, you are a son or a daughter of Abraham. You are the new Israel of God (Galatians 6:16), if you've embraced Jesus as our Blessed Mother did, as the apostles did, as Saint Joseph did, so many martyrs and saints and even angels who did not rebel at the Incarnation when Jesus descended from heaven to assume a human nature.

My brothers and sisters, may you be blessed this day and continue to discover more and more how much you too are a son or a daughter of Abraham.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.