MACHPELAH

Genesis 23:1-4, 19; 24:1-8,62-67; Ps 106 Give thanks tot he lord, for he is good; Matthew 9:9-13

In today's  first reading we encounter one of the first transactions or purchases in the bible.  Abraham bought land from the Hittites so that he could procure a place of burial for his wife Sarah.

This is a very common thing today, where plots are purchased in advance to assure a place of rest for the body of the deceased.

This piece of land is considered the 2nd most sacred place in the Jewish faith, second only to the Temple Mount.

It is believed that the remains of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebeccah, Jacob, and Leah are all buried in the cave of Machpelah.

Already in the biblical record we get this reverence for the body of the deceased.  They are not just discarded but with great care and concerned they are kept from desecration by burial.

These bodies represent God's intervention in history.  God uses ordinary people, he calls name by name and guides them and directs them daily so that salvation can unfold through them.

It is important for us to remember that one of the primary ways God makes himself known to the world is through individual men and women has called forth and sent out.

As he did with family of Abraham, so God wishes and desires to do with our family.


God continues to call people forth.  In the gospel with experience the call of Matthew while he was sitting at the customs post.   While he was working, doing his job, he is invited to follow Jesus.

Just like with Abraham and Matthew, we too are being called to let salvation be made known by the lives we lead.

The dead continue to remind us of the voice of God that has broken the silence and calls forth from one generation to the next, even now in ours.

May our families become like those of the patriarchs and matriarchs, bearing witness to the call of God and his presence daily in our life.