There was a news item the other day that a group of Republicans are calling themselves the “Abraham Lincoln Republicans.” They are going back into their history to understand who they are and what they stand for. The New Testament does something similar to this — looking at the history of Israel to understand what is happening in the present. For example, St. Luke uses the themes from the story of the birth of Samson to understand the birth of John the Baptist. The past illuminates the present. This is one reason that the Church holds up the saints before us. They are remarkably like us, flaws and all, but they were able to live totally dedicated to God. As they were so we can be.
