(11: 39-40) God reserved better
[39] All these deserve to be reminded of their faith, but by no means achieved the object of the promise. [40] is that God reserved for something better, and should not reach the end without us.
(CIC 147) The Old Testament is rich in witnesses to this faith. The letter to the Hebrews proclaims the praise of the exemplary faith by which the former "were praised" (Heb 11.2. 39). However, "God had foreseen something better": the grace of believing in His Son Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith "(Heb 11.40, 12.2). (CIC 543) All men are called to enter into the Kingdom. Posted first to the children of Israel (cf. Mt 10, 5-7), this messianic kingdom is intended to welcome people of all nations (cf. Mt 8, 11, 28, 19). To enter it, it must receive the word of Jesus: "The word of God is compared to a seed planted in the field: those who listen with faith and join the small flock of Christ have received the kingdom, then seed by itself, it germinates and grows until harvest time "(Lumen Gentium 5). (CIC 545) Jesus invites sinners the banquet of the Kingdom: "I came to call the righteous but sinners "(Mk 2, 17, cf. 1Tim 1, 15). It invites them to conversion, without which it can enter the kingdom, but shows them in word and deed with no mercy limits of his Father to them (cf. Lk 15, 11-32) and the vast "joy in heaven over one sinner who repents" (Lk 15, 7). The ultimate test of that love is the sacrifice of his own life "for the remission of sins" (Mt 26, 28). (CIC 637) dead Christ in his soul united to his divine person, descended to the abode of the dead. He opened the gates of heaven to the righteous who had preceded him. (CIC 658) Christ, "the firstborn from the dead "(Col 1, 18), is the beginning of our own resurrection, even now by the justification of our souls (cf. Rom 6: 4), later by the quickening of the body (cf. Rm 8, 11 ).
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