Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 373
Reading 1GN 15:1-12, 17-18
The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
“Fear not, Abram!
I am your shield;
I will make your reward very great.”
God appeared to Abram in a vision. And God said to Abram, "do not be afraid, I will be yur protector. And I will make you a great man upon the earth."
But Abram said,
“O Lord GOD, what good will your gifts be,
if I keep on being childless
and have as my heir the steward of my house, Eliezer?”
But Abram objected because he wanted to pass down his wealth to his own children. But God had not blessed him with any children. He would have to pass his wealth down to one of his servants.
Abram continued,
“See, you have given me no offspring,
and so one of my servants will be my heir.”
Then the word of the LORD came to him:
“No, that one shall not be your heir;
your own issue shall be your heir.”
He took him outside and said:
“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.
Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”
Abram put his faith in the LORD,
who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.
But God said, "No, Abram, one of your own children will be your heir. And your family will be as numerous as the stars."
He then said to him,
“I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans
to give you this land as a possession.”
“O Lord GOD,” he asked,
“how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
And Abram, believing God, asked God for a sign to show that he would truly receive the great gift which God was offering him.
He answered him,
“Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat,
a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
Abram brought him all these, split them in two,
and placed each half opposite the other;
but the birds he did not cut up.
Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses,
but Abram stayed with them.
As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram,
and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him.
And God ordered Abram to make a pact with Him. A Covenant. He commanded that Abram bring a cow, a ewe goat, a male sheep, a dove and a pigeon and cut them in half. Abram awoke from his first vision and did as God commanded him. Then he had another, fearful vision as he fell into a trance.
When the sun had set and it was dark,
there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch,
which passed between those pieces.
It was on that occasion that the LORD made a covenant with Abram,
saying: “To your descendants I give this land,
from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River the Euphrates.”
Then he saw a fire pot and a flaming torch pass between the animal pieces and the Covenant was sealed. As the Scripture says:
Hebrews 6:13-20
King James Version (KJV)
13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself 14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. 17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Responsorial PsalmPS 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9
R. (8a) The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;
make known among the nations his deeds.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations—
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
If we are not faithful, God is faithful. We can count upon His promises to come true. We hope in the Lord's salvation. As it is written elsewhere:
1 Thessalonians 5:8
But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
GospelMT 7:15-20
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing,
but underneath are ravenous wolves.
By their fruits you will know them.
Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
A righteous person keeps the Commandments. A righteous person is recognized by the things he says and does. False prophets do not practice what they preach.
Just so, every good tree bears good fruit,
and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,
nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down
and thrown into the fire.
So by their fruits you will know them.”
And like the rotten tree which is cut down and cast into the fire, the false prophet will have a place amongst the wicked on the last day:
Matthew 25:46
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
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