6/25/2015 – Thursday of the 12th week in Ordinary Time – Genesis 16:1-12, 15-16, Matthew 7:21-29

      Sometimes the stories in the Bible can be disconcerting and difficult to figure out, especially some of the books in the Old Testament.  This week we go back to the book of Genesis in our first readings, to the story of Sarah and Abraham and the birth of the nation of Israel.  Today, we hear about Hagar and Sarah, of Sarah sending her Egyptian handmaid to have a child with her husband because Sarah herself was barren, of Sarah thinking that she would be able to raise that child as her own.  But we know that God hears that prayers of Sarah and she will bear a son herself, which sets up a rivalry and jealousy between Sarah and Hagar and the sons to be born – Ishmael and Isaac.  What can we take away from today’s reading from Genesis?  That’s a good question, isn’t it?  With Hagar and her son, cast out and in exile, we see Hagar seeking out God in the midst of that suffering and that harsh reality, believing that God would save her and her son.  Hagar is a mother who would do anything to save and protect her son.  And we could say that same about Sarah. In some way, both Sarah and Hagar are women whose faith helps them overcome the challenges and the heartaches that they have in life.  As a priest, I have encountered many mothers who suffer when they see their children get into trouble or see their children in lives that are spiraling out of control. We turn to the Lord in our prayers and our pleas. 

       We can do what we think is right in life for ourselves and for our families.  We can build our houses on solid rock, as the Gospel explains in that parable told by Jesus, hoping that it will sustain any storms that hit it.  But some of the storms are bad.  Some of them are very bad.  Sometimes we hit rock bottom and don’t think we will survive. But in our faith and in our prayers, God will not abandon us.   He will be there in that reality, no matter how bad it is, just like he was there for Sarah and Hagar.