Father Thomas Welbers' Homily	Jump back to Homily Index
Feast of the Holy Family, December 29, 2002 Luke 2:22-40	Listen to Audio

The story of Abraham and Sarah that we heard in the first reading from the book of Genesis provides a counterpoint to the stories of the infancy of Jesus.

First of all, what is “counterpoint”?  It’s a musical term for a secondary tune or melody that goes along with the main melody of a piece, creating an interplay of harmonies, sometimes supporting and reinforcing it, sometimes contrasting with it.  Counterpoint is more than just an accompaniment, or background notes played in harmony.  In the music of Bach or Brahms, or even classic jazz, the use of counterpoint can be fascinating, with each melody entering into a conversation with the other, each one illuminating the other in a lively, dynamic relationship.

The concept of musical counterpoint can help us understand the relationship of the whole Old Testament with Jesus as presented to us in the New Testament.  It’s not merely that the events and writings of the Old Testament point to Jesus.  God is acting to reveal himself and to form a people to be his own and to bear his message of saving love.  We can learn much from the Old Testament if we accept it for what it is, and not try to downplay its importance nor approach it in an overly literal, fundamentalistic way.  Similarly, the Church presents the three readings at Sunday Mass, to paint a more complete picture of Christ through the way they relate to one another as distinct melodies in counterpoint in the same piece of music.

Today we hear God repeating a promise to Abraham that he had made several times before – that Abraham would be the father of a great nation.  “Well,” says Abraham, “that’s well and good, but Sarah and I are already old and childless.”  And God says, “Go out and look at the stars in the night sky on a moonless night way out in the desert.  That’s how many descendants you will have.”  And Abraham says, “God, you’re not listening.  I told you Sarah’s beyond childbearing age.”  And God says, “No, Abraham, you’re not listening, trust me.”  Abraham did, and Sarah got pregnant, and gave birth to Isaac.

What’s the lesson here?  The lesson really is that God specializes in the impossible.  It was only when Abraham stopped trying to impose his logic on God that he began to discover what faith is.  Faith that trusts God only insofar as God fulfills our expectation or does what we want isn’t faith at all.  It’s self-delusion.  Faith says yes to God – yes, I trust you – in the face of the hopeless and impossible, in the face of pain and confusion.

This is the faith that gave Mary and Joseph the courage to pack up and flee into Egypt, a harsh and unwelcoming land, when warned that Herod was after Jesus’ life.  This is the faith that kept Simeon and Anna coming to the temple in their old age, privileged only at the end of a long life to see what they waited patiently for years and years.

The First Eucharistic Prayer calls Abraham “our father in faith” – and so we have a family relationship with him.  Like a good father, he has shown us that it’s OK to trust in God, especially when our own designs and plans, hopes and dreams, are dashed to the ground.  Like a good father, Abraham is an example to us that faith works only when tested.  Thus when confronting the challenges, injustices, attacks, and dangers of our world and our own lives, when we want to say, with Abraham, “God you’re not listening”, can we, also with Abraham, hear the voice that says, “No, it’s you who aren’t listening.  Place your trust in me.”

© 2002 Thomas Welbers