Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
(Genesis 16:1-12.15-16; Matthew 7:21-19)
If Abram showed himself in yesterday’s reading to be a
man of faith, he betrays that faith in the sequel today. Rather than trusting in God to bring about a
great nation, Abram acts against God’s will as it is implied in nature. He accedes to Sarai’s treacherous plan to
give him progeny by means of her maidservant. It is wrong because, as Jesus reminds
the Sadducees in the gospels, from the beginning one man and one woman were
created to form one partnership.
Some background to Abram’s adulterous consent helps to
appreciate what the story intends. Abram
and Sarai sojourned for a while in Egypt where Abram coaxed Sarai into doing
something similar to what she has him do in the reading today. Out of fear for his life when Pharaoh takes a
shine to the beautiful Sarai, Abram asks Sarai to join his harem. After Pharaoh experiences hardship, he gives
Abram back his wife and chastises him for his deceit. In the reading today, of course, Sarai turns
table on Abram by suggesting that he sleep with another woman.
We should draw at least two lessons from the
stories. First, marriage has a sanctity
that is not to be violated. Wife and
husband form an inseparable union that demands sacrifice even, if necessary, of
one’s life. Second, and no less insufferable
to contemporary ears, we are not to do evil to bring about good. Abram commits a grave sin by acceding to
Sarai’s scheme. Although we are to move
with God’s promptings, we must never think that God wants us to do what is
wrong.
