Wednesday, June 26, 2013


Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 15:1-12.17-18; Matthew 7:15-20)

In order to stem the tide of divorce in the late twentieth century, some American couples entered “covenant marriages.”  The two parties agreed to counseling before marriage and to limited grounds for divorce once married.  The arrangement takes its name from the type of relationship between Abram and the Lord witnessed in the first reading today.

At the basis of the relationship is Abram’s faith in God which was “credited to him as an act of righteousness.”  As long as Abram maintains that faith, he can be assured of the Lord’s assistance.  God, of course, has not failed in giving Abram innumerable descendants.  Today they include not only the millions of Jews throughout the world, but the billions of Christians and Muslims as well.

We have entered into a new covenant with God through Jesus Christ.  By being baptized in his name we become heirs to the promise of his resurrection from the dead.  But it is not an imperishable legacy  in the sense that we too must keep faith in him.