CCC Cross Reference:
Heb 11:1 146; Heb 11:2 147; Heb 11:8 145; Heb 11:17 145, 2572; Heb 11:19 2572
Lk 1:73 706
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Reading 1
Heb 11:1-2, 8-19
Brothers and sisters:
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for
and evidence of things not seen.
Because of it the ancients were well attested.
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place
that he was to receive as an inheritance;
he went out, not knowing where he was to go.
By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country,
dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise;
for he was looking forward to the city with foundations,
whose architect and maker is God.
By faith he received power to generate,
even though he was past the normal age
- and Sarah herself was sterile -
for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy.
So it was that there came forth from one man,
himself as good as dead,
descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky
and as countless as the sands on the seashore.
All these died in faith.
They did not receive what had been promised
but saw it and greeted it from afar
and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth,
for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland.
If they had been thinking of the land from which they had come,
they would have had opportunity to return.
But now they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one.
Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God,
for he has prepared a city for them.
By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac,
and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son,
of whom it was said,
Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.
He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead,
and he received Isaac back as a symbol.
Responsorial Psalm
Luke 1:69-70, 71-72, 73-75
R. (see 68) Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel; he has come to his people.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
R. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel; he has come to his people.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old.
that he would save us from our sins
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
R. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel; he has come to his people.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the bonds of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
R. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel; he has come to his people.
Gospel
Mk 4:35-41
On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples:
“Let us cross to the other side.”
Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.
And other boats were with him.
A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,
so that it was already filling up.
Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.
They woke him and said to him,
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
He woke up,
rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!”
The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified?
Do you not yet have faith?”
They were filled with great awe and said to one another,
“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Hebrews 11:1-2,8-19
Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen. It was for faith that our ancestors were commended.
It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the call to set out for a country that was the inheritance given to him and his descendants, and that he set out without knowing where he was going. By faith he arrived, as a foreigner, in the Promised Land, and lived there as if in a strange country, with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. They lived there in tents while he looked forward to a city founded, designed and built by God.
It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that he who had made the promise would be faithful to it. Because of this, there came from one man, and one who was already as good as dead himself, more descendants than could be counted, as many as the stars of heaven or the grains of sand on the seashore.
All these died in faith, before receiving any of the things that had been promised, but they saw them in the far distance and welcomed them, recognising that they were only strangers and nomads on earth. People who use such terms about themselves make it quite plain that they are in search of their real homeland. They can hardly have meant the country they came from, since they had the opportunity to go back to it; but in fact they were longing for a better homeland, their heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, since he has founded the city for them.
It was by faith that Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He offered to sacrifice his only son even though the promises had been made to him and he had been told: It is through Isaac that your name will be carried on. He was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead; and so, figuratively speaking, he was given back Isaac from the dead.
Responsorial Psalm:
Luke 1:69-75Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up for us a mighty saviour
in the house of David his servant,
as he promised by the lips of holy men,
those who were his prophets from of old.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
A saviour who would free us from our foes,
from the hands of all who hate us.
So his love for our fathers is fulfilled
and his holy covenant remembered.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
He swore to Abraham our father
to grant us that free from fear,
and saved from the hands of our foes,
we might serve him in holiness and justice
all the days of our life in his presence.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
Gospel Mark 4:35-41
With the coming of evening, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let us cross over to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind they took him, just as he was, in the boat; and there were other boats with him. Then it began to blow a gale and the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was almost swamped. But he was in the stern, his head on the cushion, asleep. They woke him and said to him, ‘Master, do you not care? We are going down!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Quiet now! Be calm!’ And the wind dropped, and all was calm again. Then he said to them, ‘Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no faith?’ They were filled with awe and said to one another, ‘Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Saturday of the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time
From: Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
The Good Example of the Patriarchs
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[1] Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. [2] For by it the men of old received divine approval.
[8] By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance and he went out, not knowing where he was to go. [9] By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. [10] For he looked forward to the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. [11] By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. [12] Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
[13] These all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. [14] For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. [15] If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. [16] But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
[17] By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, [18] of whom it was said, "Through Isaac shall your descendants be named." [19] He considered that God was able to raise men even from the dead; hence he did receive him back, and this was a symbol.
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Commentary:
1. Although the text does not aim to provide a precise definition of faith, it does in fact very clearly describe the essence of that virtue, linking it to hope in future things and to certainty concerning supernatural truths. By means of faith, the believer acquires certainty concerning God's promises to man, and a firm conviction that he will obtain access to heaven. The Latin translates as "substantia" the word the RSV translates as "assurance"; "substantia", which literally means "that which underlies", here refers to the solid basis provided by hope.
This verse indicates that faith, which is a type of knowledge, is different from other types of human knowledge. Thus, man can know things by direct evidence, by reasoned proof or by someone else's testimony. As regards knowledge based on information provided by someone else, that is, knowledge based on faith, we can distinguish two types--human faith, when it is another human being whose word one relies on (as in the case of pupil/teacher, child/parent), and supernatural faith (when the testimony comes from God himself, who is Supreme Truth). In this latter case the knowledge provided is most certain.
However, the object of supernatural faith, that is, what one believes in (God and the unchanging decrees of his will), is not something that is self-evident to man, nor is it something that can be attained by the use of unaided reason.That is why it is necessary for God himself to bear witness to what he reveals. Faith, then, is certain knowledge, but it is knowledge of things which are not self-evident, things which one does not see but which one can hope for.
The verse also says that faith is "conviction" concerning things not seen. It is therefore different from opinion, suspicion or doubt (none of which implies certainty). By saying that it has to do with things unseen, it is distinguishing faith from knowledge and intuitive cognition (cf. "Summa Theologiae", II-II, q. 4,a. 1).
Summing up, we can say that "when God makes a revelation, we are obliged to render by faith a full submission of intellect and will. The faith, however, which is the beginning of human salvation, the Catholic Church asserts to be a supernatural virtue whereby, with the inspiration and help of God's grace, we believe that what he has revealed is true--not because its intrinsic truth is seen by the natural light of reason, but because of the authority of God who reveals it, of God who can neither deceive nor be deceived" (Vatican I, "Dei Filius", chap. 3).
It is, therefore, a feature of faith that it makes as certain about things which are not self-evident. That is why in order to believe one must want to believe, why the act of believing is always free and meritorious. However, faith can, with God's help, reach a certainty greater than any proof can provide. 'This faith", St John of Avila comments, "is not based on reasons [...]; for when a person believes on the basis of reasons, he is not believing in such a way that he is totally convinced, without any doubt or scruple whatever. But the faith which God infuses is grounded on divine Truth, and it causes one to believe more firmly than if one saw it with one's own eyes, and touched it with one's hands--and to believe more certainly than he who believes that four is greater than three, the sort of thing that is so obvious that the mind never hesitates a moment, nor can it even if it wants to" ("Audi, Filia", chap. 43).
The faith which God gives a person--supernatural faith--is necessarily the point of departure for hope and charity: it is what is usually called "living faith".
When one lives with this kind of faith it is easy to see that the three "theological" virtues (faith, hope and charity) are bound up with one another. Faith and hope lead a person to unite himself to God as the source from which all good things flow; charity unites us to God directly, by loving affection, because God is the supreme Good. Faith is as it were the first step: it means accepting what God says as true.
We then unite ourselves to him through hope, insofar as we rely on God's help to attain beatitude. The goal of this process is charity, the fullness of which is eternal possession of God, the Supreme Good. "Let us grow in hope, thereby strengthening our faith which is truly 'the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen' (Heb 11:1).
Let us grow in this virtue, let us beg our Lord to increase his charity in us; after all, one can only really trust what one loves with all one's might. And it is certainly worthwhile to love our Lord" (St J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 220).
If hope in general is the conviction of being able to obtain something worthwhile in the future, something difficult to obtain, theological hope is the conviction of being able, with the help of God, to attain heaven. And faith is precisely what provides certain knowledge of those two truths--that heaven is our goal and that God wants to help us to get there (cf. "Summa Theologiae", II-II, q. l7, a 5 and 7). Therefore, nothing should dishearten us on this road to our ultimate goal because we put our trust in "three truths: God is all-powerful, God has a boundless love for me, God is faithful to his promises. And it is he, the God of mercies, who enkindles this trust within me, so that I never feel lonely or useless or abandoned but, rather, involved in a plan of salvation which will one day reach its goal in Paradise" (John Paul I, "Address", 20 September 1978).
8. Abraham, "our father in faith", is the greatest example, in the Old Testament, of faith in God (cf. Gen 12:1-4; Rom 4:1ff; Gal 3:6-9; Heb 6:13ff). It is not surprising that the author pauses to dwell on the faithful life of the father of the chosen people. Putting all his trust in the divine word, Abraham gave up all the security and comfort of his native land in Ur of the Chaldeans, to set out for a distant and unknown place, the land of Canaan, which God had promised to give his descendants. "Neither the love for his homeland nor the pleasure of his neighbors' company nor the comforts of his father's home were able to weaken his resolve. He set out courageously and ardently to where God willed to lead him. What self-abasement and abandonment! One cannot love God perfectly unless one renounces all attachment to perishable things" (St Francis de Sales, "Treatise on the Love of God", book 10). Abraham symbolizes the need for detachment if one is to obtain redemption and to be a good servant of God and of others.
"Never forget that Christ cannot be reached without sacrifice. You have to get rid of everything that gets in the way [...]. You have to do the same in this battle for the glory of God, in this struggle of love and peace by which we are trying to spread Christ's kingdom. In order to serve the Church, the Pope and all souls, you must be ready to give up everything superfluous" (St J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 196).
9-10. Abraham, and his son Isaac and grandson Jacob like him, far from settling down comfortably in a permanent place, lived a nomadic existence a stranger in a foreign land (cf. Gen 23:4). By faith the patriarch "looked forward to the city which has foundations", the city God would build. Instead of the provisionality of tents and the weak foundations of cities built by men, a heavenly city was being established, eternal and permanent, built by God on solid foundations, which Abraham hoped one day to possess. The promised land was a symbol of the definitive fatherland to which God called the father of Israel. There was even a late Jewish tradition which spoke of Abraham being given a vision of the heavenly Jerusalem after he ratified his covenant with God.
Christians live in the world by the will of God, and they love the world, but at the same time they realize they should not settle down in it as if it were the final goal of their lives. "They are residents at home in their own country but their behavior is more like that of people who are passing through [...]. For them any foreign country is a homeland, and any homeland a foreign country" ("Letter to Diognetus", V, 5).
11-12. Sarah, like Abraham, was very elderly when God announced that she was going to have a child. At first she was puzzled and even sarcastically skeptical (cf. Gen 18:9f), but soon her attitude changed into a faith which God rewarded by her conceiving Isaac. The faith of Sarah and her husband can be said to exceed that of the earlier patriarchs because what God promised could come true only by means of a miracle, since Abraham, like his wife, was old and incapable of begetting children. That is why it says that from one man "and him as good as dead" innumerable descendants were born. God is generous in rewarding man's faith. "'Si habueritis fidem, sicut granum sinapis"! -- If your faith were the size of a mustard seed!...'
"What promises are contained in this exclamation of the Master!" (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 585).
The conception of Isaac is also a "type" of that of Christ. "All the miraculous conceptions which occurred in the Old Testament were prefigurements of the greatest of all miracles, the Incarnation of the Word. It was fitting that his birth from a Virgin should be prefigured by other births so as to prepare people's minds for faith. But there is this difference: God miraculously enabled Sarah to conceive by means of human seed, whereas the blessed Virgin conceived without it" (St Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on Heb.", 11, 3).
13-16. After speaking about the faith of Abel, Noah and Abraham, the sacred writer goes on to give a brief panoramic account of the entire history of the Patriarchs and the Exodus. It does not deal with events in chronological order. By recalling that the Patriarchs left their own country to journey abroad "seeking a homeland", he brings in the exodus from Egypt. Between Abraham, who left Ur to travel to the land of Canaan, and the people of Israel, who left Egypt for the promised land, there is an obvious parallel, which is even more marked if one bears in mind that neither Abraham nor the Israelites led by Moses were destined to take possession of the land: that was reserved to their descendants. The only thing Abraham managed to do was to purchase the cave of Machpelah, near Hebron, and the land immediately around it, for which he had to pay a very high price in silver. The cave became the burial ground of Sarah, Abraham himself, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. But Abraham publicly admitted he was "a stranger and a sojourner" in Canaan when he bought the cave from the Hittites (Gen 23:4). Nor did the Hebrews of Moses' generation manage to enter Canaan. The nearest they got to it was descriptions brought by their spies; and Moses himself was only able to view it from a distance, from Mount Nebo, just prior to his death (cf. Deut 32:49-52; 33:1-4). Abraham, and later Isaac and Jacob (who led a nomadic existence in Canaan), like the Israelites in the wilderness, prefigure Christians, who are also in search of a land of their own, a better homeland, that is, heaven (cf. Heb 13:14). It certainly is moving to recall the Patriarchs and the Exodus, and very helpful to the faith and hope of Christians amid the difficulties they encounter in this world. Those men of faith are said to have "seen" what was promised: this may be a reference to some special grace God gave them, as was the case with Abraham(cf. Jn 8:56), or else to the intuitive vision of supernatural things which faith provides (cf. "Commentary on Heb, ad loc."). "They greeted it from afar," happy to do so. "They greeted the promises and rejoiced," St John Chrysostom says, "for they already had such faith in those promises that they could make signs of greeting. This comparison is taken from seafaring: when from afar sailors espy the city they are making for, even before entering the port they cheer in greeting" ("Hom. on Heb.", 23).
The Patriarchs' attitude was a true indication of their faith in a future life, for, as St Thomas points out, by describing themselves as strangers and sojourners (Gen 23:4; 47:9; cf. Deut 26:5) they showed they were heading towards their homeland, the heavenly Jerusalem. They did not set their hearts on an earthly homeland, or on their parental homestead, for if so they could in fact have chosen to return to it (cf. "Commentary on Heb, ad loc."). Thus the promises made to them found their fulfillment not in something earthly but in the eternity of heaven: "Therefore God is not ashamed" to be called the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob: seeing their faith and fidelity, he overlooked their sins and faults. And he is disposed to act in the same way towards Christians.
In vv. 14 and 16, in the Greek text and the New Vulgate--and in the RSV – the verbs are in the present tense, as distinct from the past (aorist) used generally in this passage. This is because the whole paragraph is recalling the life of the Patriarchs, but with the intention of stressing that their faith is an example to all generations. What we have here is a mixture of history and sapiential writing, using verbs which indicate that the action--or at least some of its effects--is still going on.
17-19. It is very difficult for us to imagine what Abraham thought when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac, the son of the promise, his only son, in the mountains of Moriah (cf. Gen 22:2). The Old Testament shows how resolute Abraham was, his absolute docility, his serenity even in the midst of suffering his trust in God (cf. Gen 22:1-18). This is revealed in the touching conversation between the Patriarch and his son, when Isaac asks him where is the lamb for the offering and Abraham replies, "God will provide himself with the lamb for a burnt offering, my son". In St Paul's epistles generally Abraham's faith is proposed as an example (cf. Gal 3:7; Rom 4:3, 11-12; 4:17-22); but that was in the context of his faith in God's promise that he would have a multitude of descendants. Here, however, the Patriarch's faith is to be seen in the way he approaches a commandment which seems to negate that promise: how could God possibly ask him to sacrifice his only son? The answer lies in the fact that God knew that Abraham had faith in his ability to bring the dead back to life.
Abraham's obedience to God in this episode is the most striking proof of his faith. Here most of all the Patriarch "believed against hope [...]; he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God" (Rom 4:18, 21). "The Patriarch hears words which deny the promise; he hears the very author of the promise contradict himself, but he is not dismayed; he is going to obey as if everything were completely consistent. And in fact the two things were compatible: the two things God said were contradictory as far as human logic was concerned; but faith brought them into agreement [...].
"God tested Abraham's faith. Did he not know the strength and integrity of that great man? Undoubtedly he did, very well. Why, then, did he put them to the test? He did not do it to prove to himself the Patriarch's virtue; he did it to show the world how excellent Abraham was. The Apostle, moreover, shows the Hebrews one of the causes of our temptations, so that anyone who is afflicted should not think that God has abandoned him" ("Hom. on Heb.", 25). we know, moreover, that precisely on account of Abraham's generosity and faith, God renewed his promise to him, now ratifying it with an oath (cf. Gen 22:16; Heb 6: 13-18).
19. "Hence he did receive him back, and this was a symbol": after offering Isaac, Abraham was given him back, because God stepped in before Isaac was sacrificed (Gen 22:11-12). And he received him as "a symbol" (literally, as "a parable"). Tradition has always seen the sacrifice of Isaac, the only Son, as a symbol of the redemptive sacrifice of Christ; and, particularly, it has seen God's intervention on Mount Moriah as a symbol of the Resurrection. "He saw it as a symbol," Theodoret comments, "that is, as a prefigurement of the Resurrection. (Isaac) was brought to death by his father's will, and then brought back to life by the voice which prevented his death. All this amounts to a prefiguring of the passion of the Savior, and that is why the Lord told the Jews, 'Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad' (Jn 8:56)" ("Interpretatio Ep. ad Haebreos, ad loc.").
Origen, a writer of Christian antiquity, reflects this tradition very beautifully when he says that the sacrifice of Isaac helps us to understand the mystery of Redemption. "Isaac carrying the wood for the burnt offering is a symbol of Christ, who carried his (own) cross. But it is also the function of the priest to carry the wood for the burnt offering [...]. Christ is the Word of God, but the Word made flesh. Therefore, there is in Christ an element which comes from above and another which comes from human nature, which he took on in the womb of the Virgin. This is why Christ experiences suffering: he suffers in the flesh, and he dies, but what suffers death is the flesh, and the ram is a figure of this, as St John said, 'Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world' (Jn 1:29) [...]. Christ is at one and the same time victim and high priest. Thus, according to the spirit he offers the victim to his father, according to his flesh, he himself is offered on the altar of the cross" ("Homilies on Genesis", 8, 6 and 9).
For all these reasons, Eucharistic Prayer I links Christ's sacrifice with those of Abel, Isaac and Melchizedek.
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From: Mark 4:35-41
The Calming of the Storm
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[35] On that day, when evening had come, He (Jesus) said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." [36] And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them just as He was, in the boat. And other boats were with Him. [37] And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that the boat was already filling. [38] But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care if we perish?" [39] And He awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. [40] He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?" [41] And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey Him?"
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Commentary:
35-41. The episode of the calming of the storm, the memory of which must have often helped the Apostles regain their serenity in the midst of struggles and difficulties, also helps us never lose the supernatural way of looking at things: a Christian's life is like a ship: "As a vessel on the sea is exposed to a thousand dangers--pirates, quicksands, hidden rocks, tempests--so man in this life, is encompassed with perils, arising from the temptations of Hell, from the occasions of sin, from the scandals or bad counsels of men, from human respect, and, above all from the passions of corrupt nature [...]. This should not cause him to lose confidence. Rather [...] when you find yourself assaulted by a violent passion [...] take whatever steps you can to avoid the occasions [of sin] and place your reliance on God [...]: when the tempest is violent, the pilot never takes his eyes from the light which guides him to port. In like manner, we should keep our eyes always turned to God, who alone can deliver us from the many dangers to which we are exposed" (St. Augustine, "Sermon 51; for the Fourth Sunday After Epiphany").
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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