In the Year of faith we accept the invitation of the prophet and look at this rock from which we Christians are also being cut. Let us fix our gaze to this "our father in faith" (Rom 4:12) lived four thousand years ago.  Much has been said about exemplary faith of Abraham.

Paul spoke with great admiration (cf Rom 4,3.11.18 Gal 3:6-9), the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, in the eulogy of the faith of their ancestors, lays special emphasis on Abraham's faith (Heb 11 8:17). The Catechism of the Catholic Church sees in him a model for excellence in obedient faith (Nos. 143-147). We are here, reading the biblical pages of Abraham, rather than emphasizing his response of faith, we focus on how God, in a wonderful way, arouses faith in our great "father of all believers".

Love abounds over sin

      In Genesis, the story of Abraham is situated on a dark background. The story of the vocation (Gen 12) immediately follows that of the construction of the tower of Babel (Genesis 11), which marks the culmination of the series of sins. Despite the great love of God, the man turns his back and walks away from Him. Through a series of events evil grows and spreads up to take shape in the universal dimension.

     From the sin of Adam and Eve to Cain's fratricide, to violence of Lamech, the irrepressible wickedness of Noah's generation and pride cheeky of the builders of the Tower of Babel, the links in the chain of evil thicken and become more robust.

    The love of God, however, is stronger than sin. He, just and merciful, even punishing, has gestures of surprising tenderness: the coats of skins, which plays Adam and Eve (Gen 3:21), the sign of protection required to Cain (Gen. 4:15), the ark of Noah (Gen 6:14 ff) and the rainbow (Gen 9.12 to 17). These are all expressions of a surprising and satisfying love, secure guarantees that creation can still have a beautiful future, indisputable evidence that between crime and punishment there is no pure and simple symmetry. Paul says, "Where sin abounded, grace abounded all" (Rom 5:20).

    The God who made the earth beautiful and good and made fruitful for the man did not desist from his original plan, even though the answer "negative” of man to his gratuitous love. He still wants to ensure happiness to humanity, dignity and freedom on this earth. He is still loving life, he still has confidence in man and in his potentiality for good. For this He reprises his plan in new terms with the election of Abraham.

    With the construction of the tower of Babel seems that the break between man and God and the loss of unity of humanity are now definitive, but this is not the end of history. Among the scattered groups there is the clan of Terah, from which God will call Abraham as the one in whom all the nations will be blessed (Gen 12:3). Between the story of the tower of Babel and the call of Abraham there are elements in clear contrast. The men take the initiative, saying to one another, "Come, let brick ... “, “Come, let us build a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven" (Gen 11:3), while God says to Abraham: "Go ... to the land that I will show you" (Gen 12:1). The reason for the construction of the tower is: "Let's have a name lest we be scattered over all the earth" (Gen 11:3), what God has to Abraham instead is: "I will make your name great, ... in thee shall all families of the earth blessed" (Gen 12:2-3). The conclusion of the episode of Babel: "The Lord scattered men over all the earth" (Gen 11:9), on the contrary, that the call of Abraham, "In thee shall be blessed all the families of the earth" (Gen 12:3).

     The promise exceeds the desires

       The Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you" (Gen 12:1). The Lord is presented without preamble, so will with Moses, with Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and many other biblical characters. He does not impose himself with his Creator and powerful Lord, but He makes feel like a mysterious presence, an attractive force, opening fascinating, a challenge that awakens energies, resources and desires in man. He meets the man at the exact moment in which man strives to be a man, that when he cultivated in himself authentic ideals and struggle to achieve them.
Abraham goes. This response to the invitation of God does not automatically translate into a holy man; simply his life takes on a new depth, a new sense, a new determination and impregnated with a new presence. From nomadic wandering in the world he becomes a citizen of the promised land. It is known the comparison between the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas between Ulysses and Abraham. Ulysses, at the end of a long journey,  finds himself in his own home, to the point of departure; Abraham, instead, relying completely on his journey to the mysterious presence that precedes it, and the end is in a new land, living space designated to him and to his descendants.

     After all, for a nomadic like Abraham, leading a precarious and unstable at the edge of the great empires of the twentieth century BC, the greatest dream was to have a safe life, a fertile land, peaceful pastures, numerous children. God comes to meet him right here. It so happens a hug between divine promise and human hope. Entering in the desires and dreams of man, God does not suffocates them, do not freeze, but expands them, elevates them. With His promises He encourages man to transcend himself, to aim higher. "I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you, ... in thee shall all families of the earth blessed "(Gen 12:2-3). The promise of God exceeds the desires. Abraham realizes that what awaits him beyond his fragile life, his short history, his family and his little timid dreams of prosperity and security.

     In upward and forward

      God's promises to Abraham can be summarized in these words: "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if you count them" (Gen 15:5), "Lift your eyes and from the place where thou art northward push his gaze to the and southward, and eastward, and westward "(Gen 13:14). These words are very beautiful, symbolic, evocative, poetic, words of friendship and trust. The Lord invites the father of His chosen people to go outside, to look up and look forward. God communicates with man in the wide open spaces of love and beauty, not in the anguish of rights and duties. He wants the people of His land just look big and facing up, they are capable of dealing with the infinite with the innocence and simplicity of a child who began to count the stars.

      The Fathers of the Church, reflecting on the dignity of man, point out that unlike animals, man has the erect body, thrown upwards and not creeping on the ground like the snake, or curved or bent his head and look down. We are creatures made to look up, but unfortunately not enough to develop this gift. We are like most animals do not know if looking into the sky. In the book of the prophet Hosea, the Lord said with regret: "My people are bent to convert: called to look up, no one knows to look up" (Hos 11:7). In the Eucharistic liturgy, the celebrant, at the beginning of the Eucharistic prayer, invites the assembly: "Sursum corda - Top your heart!" Because it is necessary to approach the mystery with a high heart. We respond with tranquility and obvious: "I turned to the Lord". It is a response that does not always correspond to reality. And we count the stars? Our life is marked by a lot of numbers and codes, and we must always do the accounts. What do we expect? Many of our contemporaries can not count more than money. The count the stars says wonder, innocence and simplicity, fantasy and beauty, breadth of horizon, greatness of heart, hope and joy, playful and poetic sense of life.

     God is compromised

     The trust of God in man gives rise the trust of man in God and in himself. The promise of God to man gives him joy and gratitude, courage, and optimism, and urges him to give himself generously to others. Thus we see that Abraham left everything behind and leaves according to the instructions of God, raises an altar in thanksgiving to God, is generously with Lot, welcomes guests with love, receives the unexpected gift of his son Isaac, and is ready to offer him as a sacrifice, albeit with immense pain. The promise of God has done great things in the father of the people of Israel.

     There's still more. God promises not only goods, but is compromised personally, get into a deeper relationship, establishes links of proximity and communion, holding an alliance with man. He declares: "I will be your God" (Gen 17:8). "I will make your name great, and will be a blessing" (Gen 12:1), yet God promises to Abraham. This does not mean that God, in addition to material goods, guarantees fame and glory to the patriarch. The name of Abraham will be made and a source of great blessing because God himself hired by the moment of his self-presentation. God wanted to qualify under the name of Abraham, was pleased to be proclaimed and called for "the God of Abraham" (Ex 3:15). Here lies the greatness of the name of Abraham is joined in the business card of God. Here is mainly the greatness of God, a God who is not ashamed to bind to the name, the face, the life and history of his creatures, a God who trusts, is compromised, knowing human frailty. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews says it well: "God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them" (Heb 11:16).

Maria Ko Ha fomg FMA
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