God Entered History Through the Faith of a Man Who Believed "Against all Hope"
VATICAN CITY, FEB 23 (ZENIT).- Today the Holy Father began his pilgrimage to the places of Revelation in a unique way. His odyssey began in Rome, in St. Peter's Square and in the Vatican General Audience Hall, which was brimming with pilgrims. On these two sites, the distant echoes of Ur of the Chaldeans resonated - the place from which Abraham departed for the Promised Land.
As he announced last week, on the day before his trip to Egypt, the Holy Father travelled "spiritually" to places visited by "our Father in faith." The ceremony became a thought-provoking interweaving of sacred places and images, chosen with care by the Pontiff himself.
It began when the Pope greeted 12,000 pilgrims in St. Peter's Square in several different languages. It ended by referring to different places in contemporary Iraq. Those who were unable to be inside the Auditorium were able to follow the proceedings on giant screens outside.
Live from Iraq A highlight of the meeting was the moment when Rome joined Iraqi Christians in St. Joseph's Cathedral in Baghdad, live via satellite. This was the final act of immediate preparation for the Jubilee pilgrimage that these Iraqi Catholics will make to the Eternal City on March 18, led by Patriarch Raphael I Bidawid of Babylon of the Chaldeans.
Abraham's faith dominated the entire event. From his obedient exile in Ur, following God's will in search of an unknown land, he arrived at the culminating point when God asked him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, symbolized today by an altar stone placed in the Auditorium. Abraham's faith was mature, total, and prophetic. The history of salvation was mysteriously given decisive impetus by the voluntary adherence of this man to God's will.
But, according to the Holy Father, Abraham's journey represented something much more important than a simple exodus over the age-old migratory roads of shepherds of old. "The land to which this man was headed, guided by the voice of God, does not belong exclusively to the geography of this world. Abraham is the believer who welcomes God's invitation, he is the one who moves toward a promised land that is not here," the Holy Father stressed.
Against All Hope It was not enough for the faith of the Father of a multitude of peoples and nations to be based on this one act of obedience. After granting this elderly patriarch the joy of fatherhood, God asked him to offer up his son Isaac in sacrifice. This was "the culmination of Abraham's faith, a dramatic test that directly challenged his faith," John Paul II explained.
"In that tragic instant (from the human point of view), in which he was at the point of executing the mortal blow to his son, Abraham did not stop believing. What is more, his faith in God's promise reached its culmination. He thought: 'God is able to resurrect the dead.' "
As is true with the abandoning of Ur, his own land, the meaning of the sacrifice of Isaac also goes beyond a simple act of obedience. It is "an analogy of the salvific event of the death and resurrection of Christ," the Pope said. Tradition assures us that the place where Abraham was at the point of sacrificing Isaac is intimately connected to the acceptance of God the Father of the offering of his Son, Jesus. Therefore, unconsciously, Abraham "in a certain sense introduces all believers to God's eternal plan, in which mankind's redemption is carried out."
This is the perennial lesson that after five millennia continues to be given to us, a lesson that St. Paul summarized in these words: "He had faith, hoping against all hope."
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