Wednesday of the 13th week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorials of St. Anthony Zaccaria and St. Elizabeth of Portugal
Optional Memorials of St. Anthony Zaccaria and St. Elizabeth of Portugal
Readings of the day: Genesis 21:5, 8-20a; Psalm 34:7-8, 10-11, 12-13; Matthew 8:28-34
“Which of you desires life, and takes delight in prosperous days”? This question is asked in the last verse of our Responsorial Psalm today. Unless somebody is truly not of sound mind, who would not desire life and prosperity, both for him or herself and for one’s nation?
Yesterday we celebrated across this nation a lovely Fourth of July, Independence Day. We have celebrated our nation’s deep desire for life and prosperity. And our first reading today, from Genesis is, at its heart, a story of desire for life and prosperity. Prior to the events of today’s reading, God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of “a great nation”; of descendants to number as the stars. After a long wait—Abraham is already one hundred years old by the time “Isaac [is] born to him”— Abraham finally has a son, Isaac, with his wife Sarah. The problem is that Abraham had also had a son, Ishmael, with the slave Hagar. Could we not imagine that, like Sarah for Isaac, Hagar would have had great dreams for Ishmael: Dreams of “a great nation” of her and his family lineage; dreams of life and prosperity?
But those dreams of Hagar for Ishmael seem to become all but crushed as Hagar is banished through the jealousy of Sarah. Then again, we may ask, why does God not intervene on Hagar’s behalf here? Why does God not defend Hagar and Ishmael against this act of injustice by Sarah against them? If we are troubled by this question, we are not alone. Abraham, Genesis says, “was greatly distressed, especially on account of his son Ishmael.” Instead of defending Hagar and Ishmael, though, God says to Abraham, “Heed the demands of Sarah, no matter what she is asking of you.” Why does God seem to go along and even encourage this injustice of sending Hagar and Ishmael away? Did God not know that Hagar’s and Ishmael’s water supply would quickly run out under the desert heat, putting Ishmael’s life in danger? Of course, God finally intervenes on Hagar’s and Ishmael’s behalf, giving them water, but only when Ishmael is near death from thirst.
Yet almost hidden in the middle of this reading from Genesis is God’s reassurance to Abraham that, as he had promised of Isaac, God “will make a great nation of [Ishmael] also.” God’s justice, it would seem is not always our justice. Here, though, God’s way of assuring justice for Hagar and Ishmael, that Ishmael and Isaac both will give rise to great nations because they are both Abraham’s sons, seems simply bizarre.
Might God’s promise to Hagar and Ishmael, though, be an invitation to us? We rightly celebrate this “great nation”; these United States of America. We, like the Psalmist, desire “life and [take] delight in prosperous days.” But do peoples of other nations not also desire “life and [take] delight in prosperous days”? The invitation to us is to aid peoples of other nations both abroad and those who seek refuge among us, as God came to the aid of Hagar and Ishmael thirsting in the desert, to realize most fully their God-given human dignity; their desire for life; for prosperity; for peace. May we not impede them in their pursuit of life; of prosperity; of peace, desires God has given peoples of other nations just as he has given us.
Yesterday we celebrated across this nation a lovely Fourth of July, Independence Day. We have celebrated our nation’s deep desire for life and prosperity. And our first reading today, from Genesis is, at its heart, a story of desire for life and prosperity. Prior to the events of today’s reading, God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of “a great nation”; of descendants to number as the stars. After a long wait—Abraham is already one hundred years old by the time “Isaac [is] born to him”— Abraham finally has a son, Isaac, with his wife Sarah. The problem is that Abraham had also had a son, Ishmael, with the slave Hagar. Could we not imagine that, like Sarah for Isaac, Hagar would have had great dreams for Ishmael: Dreams of “a great nation” of her and his family lineage; dreams of life and prosperity?
But those dreams of Hagar for Ishmael seem to become all but crushed as Hagar is banished through the jealousy of Sarah. Then again, we may ask, why does God not intervene on Hagar’s behalf here? Why does God not defend Hagar and Ishmael against this act of injustice by Sarah against them? If we are troubled by this question, we are not alone. Abraham, Genesis says, “was greatly distressed, especially on account of his son Ishmael.” Instead of defending Hagar and Ishmael, though, God says to Abraham, “Heed the demands of Sarah, no matter what she is asking of you.” Why does God seem to go along and even encourage this injustice of sending Hagar and Ishmael away? Did God not know that Hagar’s and Ishmael’s water supply would quickly run out under the desert heat, putting Ishmael’s life in danger? Of course, God finally intervenes on Hagar’s and Ishmael’s behalf, giving them water, but only when Ishmael is near death from thirst.
Yet almost hidden in the middle of this reading from Genesis is God’s reassurance to Abraham that, as he had promised of Isaac, God “will make a great nation of [Ishmael] also.” God’s justice, it would seem is not always our justice. Here, though, God’s way of assuring justice for Hagar and Ishmael, that Ishmael and Isaac both will give rise to great nations because they are both Abraham’s sons, seems simply bizarre.
Might God’s promise to Hagar and Ishmael, though, be an invitation to us? We rightly celebrate this “great nation”; these United States of America. We, like the Psalmist, desire “life and [take] delight in prosperous days.” But do peoples of other nations not also desire “life and [take] delight in prosperous days”? The invitation to us is to aid peoples of other nations both abroad and those who seek refuge among us, as God came to the aid of Hagar and Ishmael thirsting in the desert, to realize most fully their God-given human dignity; their desire for life; for prosperity; for peace. May we not impede them in their pursuit of life; of prosperity; of peace, desires God has given peoples of other nations just as he has given us.
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