Abraham

“When we speak of courage we always think of apostolic courage – going out to preach the Gospel, these sort of things…But there’s also a kind of courage demonstrated before the Lord. That sense of paralysis before the Lord: going courageous before the Lord to request things. It makes you laugh a bit; this is funny because Abraham speaks with the Lord in a special way, with this courage, and one doesn’t know: is this a man who prays or is this a ‘Phoenician deal’ because he’s bartering the price, down, down…And he’s tenacious: from fifty he’s succeeded in lowering the price down to ten. He knew that it wasn’t possible. Only that it was right…. But with that courage, with that tenacity, he went ahead.”

“To convince the Lord with the Lord’s own virtues! That is beautiful! Abraham’s appeal goes to the heart of the Lord and Jesus teaches us the same: ‘the Father knows things. The Father – don’t worry – sends rain down on the just and the sinners, the sun for the just and for the sinners.’ With that argumentation, Abraham forges ahead. I will stop here: praying is negotiating with the Lord, even becoming inappropriate with the Lord. Praying is praising the Lord in the beautiful things he shares and telling him that he bestow these beautiful things on us. And (appealing to him) who is so merciful, so good, to help us!”