Our first reading comes from the eighteenth chapter of Genesis, in which Abraham steps into the breach to intercede for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, asking the Lord to spare them. Eventually, the Lord’s mercy won the day, replying to Abraham that for the sake of only ten just and innocent souls, He would not destroy them. The amazing thing about this biblical account – other than the astounding mercy of God – is the critical role of the intercessor.

God requires a leap of faith at some point in our lives He is going to ask us to move beyond what we understand, and believe that He will be there to catch us when we start to fall or doubt. Faith is belief seeking understanding, and I think that is important to dwell on. Faith is present before we start our journey into the mind and will of God. It is a gift that emboldened Abraham to leave all he knew and set out for the promised land. Faith allowed him to trust that God’s promise of offspring would be fulfilled, faith allowed him to march Isaac up a mountain to sacrifice him, and at the last moment was given a sacrificial lamb to die in Isaac’s place (a foreshadowing of Christ’s sacrifice for you and me).

This same gift of faith, through our lifetimes, is bolstered by trusting God with our hearts in prayer. If we have the gift of faith and are working on trusting God, then the sacraments we receive will move us ever closer to the goal Jesus sets before His apostles: readiness.

None of us knows the number of days we are blessed with. We must strive for an active faith, so that when God calls to us to live out our faith, it is something we are already praying about and contemplating. For those of us still discovering our vocation, ask God to speak to you in a way you can understand. If we are already living out our vocations, ask for the courage to be worthy of the love you have, so that God may not find us asleep at the wheel when calls on us to return to Him.

May the Love, Peace and Grace of God be with you,

Fr. Adam