00:00A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Hebrews chapter 11, verses 1-2, 8-19.
00:06Brothers and sisters, faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not
00:11seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was
00:17called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, he went out, not knowing where
00:23he was to go, by faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling
00:28in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise, for he was looking forward to the city
00:33with foundations, whose architect and maker is God. By faith he received power to generate,
00:39even though he was past the normal age, and Sarah herself was sterile, for he thought that the one
00:44who had made the promise was trustworthy. So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good
00:50as dead, descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and as countless as the sands on the
00:56seashore. All these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised, but saw it and
01:03greeted it from afar, and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth, for those who
01:09speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land from which
01:14they had come, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better homeland,
01:20a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for
01:25them. By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the
01:31promises was ready to offer his only son, of whom it was said, Through Isaac descendants shall bear
01:36your name. He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a
01:43symbol.
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