Abram and Sarai lived about 18 centuries before the Lord. Their time was much different than the time when the Lord lived. Most people believed in several gods. People thought that once they died, they totally disappeared. No religion of the time promised life after death. No philosophical movement considered the possibility of the immortality of the soul. So, the only hope people had for some existence after death was their descendants. 

Abram and Sarai, a young couple from modern day Iraq, formed a family with the hope of becoming parents. However, they did not count on infertility. Not being able to have children would have been agonizing for Abram and Sarai. Furthermore, since having children was a common way to realize the blessing of their gods on a married couple, Abram and Sarai would have felt cursed. Not having children was the paramount existential issue for Abram and Sarai. And time was not in their favor.

Then, the true God of the universe entered the scene of human history. Earlier in the book of Genesis before our first reading today, God originally promised Abram several things including to make of him a great nation. However, God had not specifically promised a child of his own. There were other ways to make a great nation out of him, for instance, through his nephew Lot.

Today’s first reading from the book of Genesis is the moment when God specifically promised Abram that he will become a father. Yet, the promise is not as specific for Sarai. In fact, the promise was fulfilled much later when Abram had a child, Ishmael, with his servant Hagar. A long time passed before the promise was fulfilled in Sarai. Their son Isaac was born, and through his line, not of Ishmael, the Messiah would be born.

Before God entered in their lives, Abram and Sarai, I argue, did not fully know the reason why they were together. They had an ardent desire to become parents. Today, in contrast, a few married couples do not want to have children. Children are being perceived as obstacles for professional advancement and as heavy burdens. Being open to having children is an essential aspect of a Church marriage. Still, Abram and Sarai’s desire to become parents is not the main reason to have a family according to God’s plans.

We assume Abram and Sarai loved one another. Still, love alone would not be the main reason to have a family according to God’s plans. Citing love for each other is not the main reason to have a marriage in the Church. People who marry civilly also cite love as the main reason for their marriage. Couples pursuing a Church marriage need to have something else beyond love.

And here is where the entrance of God into the existence of the love relationship between a man and a woman is so important. The presence of God in a relationship is what makes a relationship holy; it is what sublimes the love they have; it is what makes the sacrament of matrimony. In fact, only the celebration of marriage in the Church is what proves that God is indeed present in a relationship; it is what shows that the couple is truly welcoming God into their relationship.

And here is the real reason a couple should ask for the sacrament of matrimony. It is because they understand God’s plan for them as a couple and they decide to help with, cooperate with, better yet actively work for the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth. The mission of a married couple in the Church is not for their own sake but for God’s sake. This is what Abram and Sarai learned the hard way. This is what Joseph and Mary also learned. Both couples had to completely discard their initial plans for marriage and actively worked on God’s plan for them. How much more exciting their lives were following God’s plan! Human plans alone are boring. Their full cooperation with God’s plan, which is called faith, made their families holy and their lives an adventure.

The family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph is the supreme Holy Family, without blemish. The family of Abram, Sarai, and Isaac is also a model for us of a holy family, though they simply foreshadowed the real Holy Family. Let us humbly ask the Lord to grant us the wisdom and grace to imitate the Holy Family, especially in making room for God to come and reveal to our families his loving plan for them.