…Abraham obeyed when he was called .

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The author of the Letter to the Hebrews writes:  “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was to go” (Heb 11: 8). Behold:  Abraham, whom the Apostle calls “our father in faith” (cf. Rom 4: 11-16), believed in God, trusted in the One who called him. He believed in his promise. God said to Abraham:  “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing…. by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves” (Gn 12: 1-3). Are we talking about the route taken by one of the many migrations typical of an era when sheep-rearing was a basic form of economic life? Probably. Surely though, it was not only this. In Abraham’s life, which marks the beginning of salvation history, we can already perceive another meaning of the call and the promise. The land to which human beings, guided by the voice of God, are moving, does not belong exclusively to the geography of this world. Abraham, the believer who accepts God’s invitation, is someone heading towards a promised land that is not of this world.

HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER COMMEMORATION OF ABRAHAM (Wednesday, 23 February 2000)


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