The 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time | Sunday 7 August 2022

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Today is Sunday the 7th August, the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time.

The King’s Singers sing Spem in Alium by Thomas Tallis. ‘I have never put my hope in any other but in you’. As I begin this time of prayer today, can I speak those words to God? Can I place all my hope, all my trust, all my faith in him?

Spem in alium nunquam habui

Praeter in te, Deus Israel

Qui irasceris et propitius eris

et omnia peccata hominum

in tribulatione dimittis

Domine Deus

Creator caeli et terrae

respice humilitatem nostram

I have never put my hope in any other

but in Thee, God of Israel

who canst show both wrath and graciousness,

and who absolves all the sins

of man in suffering

Lord God,

Creator of Heaven and Earth

Regard our humility

Today’s reading is from the letter to the Hebrews.

Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, ‘as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.’

All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, of whom he had been told, ‘It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named after you.’ He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead—and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

If you have been praying with Pray As You Go for the last few days, you’ll have seen some examples of faith in action. Peter walking on the water. The Canaanite woman refusing to take no for an answer from Jesus. Perhaps your own faith has been challenged by the demands that God makes on those close to him in the Old Testament and in the New. If someone asks you about your faith in Christ today, how might you reply?

In the Roman Catholic Mass, Abraham is called “our father in faith”. This passage speaks repeatedly of his confidence in God. What do you make of his example?

Listen again to the first part of the passage in the light of your awareness of your own faith, or lack of it.

As the prayer draws to a close, speak to God of your faith, thanking him for it or asking for it to be deepened.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.