Abraham and Sarah

No fixed feast day in the calendar

Abraham and Sarah: the back of the card, with its short story, lesson and a QR code that opens it in the Catholic Information app. The full text is below.

Flip the card and scan the QR code on the back to open it in the app

Abraham and Sarah, a couple who trusted God to keep his promise and were given a son, Isaac.

Who are they?

Saint Paul calls Abraham “the father of all who believe” (cf. Rom 4:11), and Sarah was his wife. From their family, God formed the people of Israel, the people into which Jesus was born. The Letter to the Hebrews praises them both for their faith.

Life story

One day, God said to Abraham: “Go forth from your land, your relatives, and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you” (Gn 12:1). The couple packed their belongings, took their servants and their flocks, and set out, even though they did not know where they were going (cf. Heb 11:8). In the new land, they lived in tents like strangers.

One night, God took Abraham outside and told him to look up at the sky: “count the stars, if you can.” Then God said: “Just so will your descendants be” (Gn 15:5). Abraham believed God. But the years went by, and they still had no child, and they were growing old.

One hot afternoon by the oaks of Mamre, they hurried to welcome three strangers: Sarah kneaded dough to bake bread, and Abraham chose a fine calf to serve the guests (cf. Gn 18:1-8). The visitors announced that by next year Sarah would have a son. Standing behind the tent door, Sarah laughed to herself, because it seemed impossible. But God asked: “Is anything too marvelous for the LORD to do?” (Gn 18:14).

Just as God had promised, when Abraham was one hundred years old, Sarah gave birth to a son, and Abraham named him Isaac (cf. Gn 21:1-5). Sarah said joyfully: “God has given me cause to laugh” (Gn 21:6).

Why does the Church honor them?

They believed God’s word even when everything seemed impossible. The Letter to the Hebrews says that Sarah was able to have a child even though she was old, “since she considered him faithful who had promised” (Heb 11:11). In her song of praise (the Magnificat), Mary also remembers God’s mercy “to Abraham and to his descendants forever” (Lk 1:55).

A lesson for you

When you pray and don’t see God answer yet, don’t give up: God has his own time.
Welcome guests to your home cheerfully and share with others, as Abraham and Sarah did at Mamre.
Each evening, look at the stars and thank God, because he always keeps his promises.

Identifying marks

Sarah holding baby Isaac: the child of the promise, born when they were both old (cf. Gn 21:1-5).
Abraham with a walking staff and white hair: he left his homeland and set out when God called him (cf. Gn 12:1).
A nomad’s tent: all their lives, they lived in tents like travelers (cf. Heb 11:9).
The first stars in the sky: God promised that Abraham’s descendants would be as many as the stars (cf. Gn 15:5).
Three visitors at Mamre (*): they welcomed three visitors and heard the promise that they would have a son (cf. Gn 18:1-14).

(*) Only in some pictures and statues.

The text on this page is the card in the Catholic Information app, word for word.