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Thursday of the
Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Genesis 22:1b-19;
Matthew 9:1-8)
A few years ago Pope
Francis expressed the need to change one of the petitions in the Lord’s
Prayer. He said that God would never
“lead (anyone) into temptation.” He felt
that a better wording for the petition would be, “…do not let us fall into
temptation.” The pope’s idea was
criticized. Biblical scholars insisted that
the Greek words really do say “lead us not into temptation.” Traditionalists opposed the change just
because it was a change. In light of
this controversy, it can be asked of today’s first reading: Is not Abraham being led into temptation when
he is told to sacrifice his son?
Abraham, however, may
not believe that God is really going to allow him to go through with the human
sacrifice. When Isaac asks, “’…where is
the sheep for the burnt offering?’” Abraham tells him that God will provide. After all, Abraham knows that God has always
shown Himself as just and beneficent. In
the end Abraham is proved correct. God
has only tested him to see if he is obedient.
God may test us as well. He may call a child to Himself which would cause the child’s parents extreme distress. The parents may want to curse God and turn bitter toward their neighbors. We pray that this never happens to us. We pray every day, “Do not lead us into temptation.”
