Saturday, week 3 in Ordinary Time

Brothers,
faith is a way of possessing what is hoped for,
a means of knowing realities that cannot be seen.
And when Scripture bears witness to the ancients,
it is because of their faith.

By faith, Abraham obeyed God's call:
he set out for a land
that he was to receive as an inheritance,
and he departed without knowing where he was going.
By faith, he lived as a foreigner in the Promised Land,
as in a strange land;
he lived in tents,
along with Isaac and Jacob,
heirs of the same promise,
because he was waiting for the city with true foundations,
the city of which God himself is the builder and architect.
By faith, Sarah herself, despite her age,
was made capable of being the source of a lineage,
because she believed that God is faithful to his promises.
That is why, from a single man already as good as dead,
a lineage could be born as numerous
as the stars in the sky
and the sand on the seashore,
an innumerable multitude.
It was in faith, without having seen the fulfillment of the promises,
that they all died;
but they had seen and greeted them from afar,
affirming that, on the earth,
they were strangers and travelers.
Now, to speak in this way clearly shows
that one is searching for a homeland.
If they had thought of the one they had left,
they would have had the opportunity to return to it.
In fact, they longed for a better homeland,
the heavenly one.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God,
since he has prepared a city for them.

By faith, when he was put to the test,
Abraham offered up Isaac as a sacrifice.
And he offered up his only son,
although he had received the promises
and heard this word:
It is through Isaac that a lineage shall bear your name.
He thought, indeed,
that God is able even to raise the dead;
that is why his son was given back to him:
there you have a foreshadowing.

– The word of the Lord.

He has raised up a mighty Savior for us,
in the house of David his servant,
as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones,
through his prophets, from of old:

salvation from our enemies,
from the hand of all who hate us,
showing mercy to our fathers,
remembering his holy covenant,

the oath he swore to our father Abraham
to make us free from fear,
so that, delivered from the hand of our enemies,
we might serve him in holiness and righteousness,
    in his presence, all our days.

That day, when evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples:
"Let us cross over to the other side."
Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them, just as he was,
in the boat,
and other boats accompanied him.
A violent storm arose.
The waves crashed against the boat,
so much so that it was already filling up.
He was sleeping on the cushion at the back.
The disciples woke him and said to him:
"Teacher, we are lost;
do you not care?"
Awakened, he rebuked the wind and said to the sea:
"Peace! Be still!"
The wind ceased,
and there was a great calm.
Jesus said to them:
"Why are you so afraid?
Do you still have no faith?"
Filled with great fear,
they said to each other:
"Who then is this,
that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

– Let us acclaim the Word of God.