St. Joseph of the Lakes

The LORD said to Abram:
"Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you."
Gen.12:13

This morning we hear God’s call to our father in faith, Abram. His father Terah was already on his way to the land of Canaan, taking Abram and his wife and his grandson Lot (the son of Abram’s brother Haran) with him. They got as far as the land of Haran and decided to settle there. It was after Terah’s death that God called Abram to continue the journey to the land of Canaan. Today we hear the promise that God gives to Abram; that he will become a great nation, with a name so great that he will be a blessing. He goes on to tell Abram that all communities of the earth will find blessing in him.

After some time and events pass, God once again appears to Abram and He intensifies his promise by making a covenant with Abram: He shall be the father of a multitude of nations. In this covenant God changes Abram’s name to Abraham telling him that He is going to make Abraham most fruitful. God tells him: “I will make you into nations, and your issue shall be kings.” (Gen. 17: 6). At this point in history the gods were very much connected to the land that people lived in. One of the great revelations to Abraham is that his God is not connected to any land, but instead He has connected himself to a human person. God’s way of showing this independence is to
promise Abraham that He will give him and his descendants the land that he (Abraham) is living in. (Gen. 17:8)

This story comes to a magnificent conclusion in the Gospel as we hear once again of the transfiguration of Jesus. It is here upon the mountain, before Jesus suffers His death, that He reveals Himself to his disciples as a human who contains all of the Law and the Prophets. In Him Divinity and humanity have come to a total merger. As it has happened over and over again throughout the story of the Exodus the Divine presence reveals itself in a cloud proclaiming: “This is my Beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” God no longer must be sought in some Divine location, instead he now makes himself completely available in the physical presence of His Son.

The story does not end there! After His resurrection, Jesus, after ascending into heaven, sends His Holy Spirit upon his followers making them all Godbeareres. He fulfills His promise to Abraham making all of us (the descendants of Abraham) a source of blessing to the world that we live in.