Second reading
Brothers and sisters: The promise that Abraham would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
For this reason the promise depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham.
He is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations.” Abraham believed in the presence of the God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
Hoping against hope, Abraham believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.”
Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.”