In the First Reading for this Sunday, we see God Himself visit Abraham. His choice to come in the form of three men points toward the mystery of the Holy Trinity, the deepest mystery of our faith, the doctrine that God is wholly one, and yet has three distinct persons. God assuming the shape of three men for visiting Abraham also points toward the mystery of the Incarnation, foreshadowing that God would take on human nature and become one of us, which we see fulfilled in the coming of Christ among us.
Many years before this visit, God had promised Abraham that he would have a son with his wife Sarah and that he would have innumerable descendants. But Sarah had proved to be barren and in time she grew too old to have children. Despite everything, however, Abraham continued to trust. God now tells him that the promise is about to be fulfilled. Within a year, his son Isaac is born. Abraham indeed becomes the father of many nations and he is the spiritual forefather of Christians.
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Photo Credit: Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary by Harold Copping, from Wikimedia Commons.
