Second Sunday of Lent
Reading I
Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18
God put Abraham to the test.
He called to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am!” he replied.
Then God said:
“Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love,
and go to the land of Moriah.
There you shall offer him up as a holocaust
on a height that I will point out to you.”
When they came to the place of which God had told him,
Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it.
Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.
But the LORD’s messenger called to him from heaven,
“Abraham, Abraham!”
“Here I am!” he answered.
“Do not lay your hand on the boy,” said the messenger.
“Do not do the least thing to him.
I know now how devoted you are to God,
since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.”
As Abraham looked about,
he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket.
So he went and took the ram
and offered it up as a holocaust in place of his son.
Again the LORD’s messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said:
“I swear by myself, declares the LORD,
that because you acted as you did
in not withholding from me your beloved son,
I will bless you abundantly
and make your descendants as countless
as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore;
your descendants shall take possession
of the gates of their enemies,
and in your descendants all the nations of the earth
shall find blessing—
all this because you obeyed my command.”
Responsorial Psalm
116:10, 15, 16-17, 18-19
R. (116:9) I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
I believed, even when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted.”
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
O LORD, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people,
In the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
Reading II
Rom 8:31b-34
Brothers and sisters:
If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare his own Son
but handed him over for us all,
how will he not also give us everything else along with him?
Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones?
It is God who acquits us, who will condemn?
Christ Jesus it is who died—or, rather, was raised—
who also is at the right hand of God,
who indeed intercedes for us.
Verse Before the Gospel
Cf. Mt 17:5
From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard:
This is my beloved Son, listen to him.
Gospel
Mk 9:2-10
Jesus took Peter, James, and John
and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them,
and his clothes became dazzling white,
such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses,
and they were conversing with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
“Rabbi, it is good that we are here!
Let us make three tents:
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them;
from the cloud came a voice,
“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone
but Jesus alone with them.
As they were coming down from the mountain,
he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone,
except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept the matter to themselves,
questioning what rising from the dead meant.
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
In much the same way Abraham was put to the test by God we are confronted with tests throughout our lives that will shape and forms us. It can be argued that there really is no pass or fail regarding these but instead they are experiences that are gained which will serve to form us and strengthen us into a better Christian. Our relationship with God will also be affected; it hopefully being strengthened throughout the many processes. Some may ask if these tests originate from God or from some other source; maybe from an internal struggle between doing something we know is wrong and what we know is right. The answer to the question can be either one depending on the circumstances. Even though that is the case much time should not be placed on the question of the origin of the test but on enduring the test itself. Abraham may have known it was God who was testing Him but He certainly did not know why. Even when God revealed that Abraham had indeed passed the test and proved himself to be a devoted servant there is a startling question that still remained: “Why did God have to test Abraham in the first place if God would already know the end result and already had a plan for Abraham?” For an answer to that question we need to refer back to the opening sentence of this reflection and apply it to the situation: “We are confronted with tests throughout our lives that will shape and form us.”
Abraham was completely trusting in God and benefited from a close, intimate relationship with Him. He completely trusted in what God had to say to Him and followed Him without question. An open, trusting relationship with God will always produce good results. As long as we keep God central in our thoughts and our actions things will work out for the better instead of for the worse. Putting God first ensures that whatever we face we will overcome and we will be better off because of the experience. It is not hard to imagine what thoughts were going through Abraham’s mind as he slowly climbed the mountain to the place where he was to sacrifice his son. Human nature would all but insure that Abraham’s actions were filled with doubt and despair. There was also trust and obedience which then ultimately revealed love. Could we have done what Abraham had done? Only God knows the answer to that but we can be assured He would be there to guide us to the proper result because nothing evil comes from God; so it would be impossible for anything bad to result from the commands of God. Only good comes from God which does not include the innocent death of someone’s son by His hand.
This brings us to Divine Revelation and a precursor to The Crucifixion of Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ. The exchange between Abraham, Isaac, and God sets a threshold that those of us could never cross yet God did: Would we voluntarily give our son up to death so that others may be saved? Thankfully God would never expect us to do so yet THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HE DID. God offered His only Son and His only Son accepted what His Father wanted Him to do. Isaac was an early revelation of the Crucified Christ carrying His own cross to be a holocaust offering for all of our sins. Us mentally failing the test that Abraham and God had passed should strengthen our faith and love in Him who is above all things. The failure of the test actually makes us pass it if we enter into relationship with God and love Him even more as a result.
This is one of the many tests that we are being set up for during The Season of Lent. The messages from these tests are designed to strengthen us and deepen our faith. Through the process of the testing the love that God has for us will be made all the more clear. It has been mentioned in previous reflections how the most important relationship we should have in our lives is our relationship with God. All others relationships, built on this God foundation, will benefit and become Godlike as a result with love as the mitigating force. To know God is to love God. In order for us to love God we have to delve into a relationship with Him. This test as presented in the First Reading today centers around us recognizing that, if tested in the way Abraham was, we would fail. In comparison God did not fail the test and gave His Only Son in sacrifice for our salvation and the forgiveness of our sins. This cannot be overstated or easily dismissed. GOD GAVE US EVERYTHING so that we can be healed. He gets nothing out of this while we get everything. Whatever we have done and whatever we will do there will always be an opportunity of forgiveness and healing. God made sure of that.
We are so broken and corrupted that the impact on Jesus’ sacrifice can be minimized very easily. Like a bright shiny object distracts an animal so does sin and temptation distract us from the basic truths that are laid before us. Wrecked by sin and the exercising of our free will we choose to act like gods ourselves instead of recognizing the True God. We are attracted to evil and the allures of the flesh. The good news is that Jesus is here to help us in that respect. Jesus, possessing a human nature, knows the struggles that we go through and the temptations that we face. He offers us comfort and aid in our most difficult circumstances where we can overcome what is facing us. Even those who were closest to Jesus and were witnesses to His divinity had their doubts. In response Jesus did not rebuke them but instead gave them what they needed to fortify their faith even further. The doubts that they possessed, even though they knew Jesus intimately, gives us all encouragement. If they had doubts then it is acceptable and natural for us to be challenged with our own doubts. It is okay to be challenged and to have doubts. Jesus has the solutions to these. We just have to be willing to put in the work. Jesus shows the way and we do the work. When we need a little help He is also there to assist in the heavy living. We are never really alone in this area. We are never really alone in our lives. Christ is with us. We can have no greater friend.
Deacon Tom
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
Would we be able to sacrifice our precious child to God if He so requested it? In reality, He would never require this but, through the First Reading in Sacred Scripture today, He was making a point. Abraham willingly brought Isaac forward to be the Sacrificial Lamp to demonstrate his love and obedience to God. At the last moment, God then had him replace Isaac with a ram. His love for us is this way that He would never request that which would cause us unnecessary pain and torment. God loves all of us and we are His children. He only wants the best for us and to experience the joy of an intimate relationship with Him. Yet, it is He that has demonstrated that He indeed loves us more than we love Him. He gave up His beloved son to suffering and death so that we may obtain eternal life. It was a sacrifice that He willingly made for us. We are encouraged to place ourselves in the character of Abraham: Could we ever rise to the request of God to offer to Him what He offered to us? Again, the answer would be no and that is the point of the entire exercise. God did for us out of love for us what we could never do in return. It is through that knowledge that we should approach our relationship with Him. He is all giving and loving while we will naturally show restraint in our reverence to Him.
Why are we so afraid to surrender to God’s Will? It is partly because of Original Sin and our own pride that causes us to not fully commit to God. There will always be some level of doubt which will leave us lacking in our relationship with Him. But, where there is failure there is also an opportunity. As Christians, we are encouraged to recognize our shortcomings in order to overcome them. We should approach these faults by embracing them and contemplating them in relation to our overall relationship with God. Acknowledging where we fall short then can create an opportunity for us to improve on the areas necessary to better ourselves and strengthen our faith in God. Wherever we find ourselves in our life at this present moment, there is always room for improvement and growth. Concentrating on the growth opens a doorway to further knowledge and understanding of Him who created us. The goal, though maybe not obtainable until our death, is perfection in our relationship with God.
During this Season of Lent, when our faults are recognized, it is spiritually healthy to feel unworthy and downtrodden. This is part of surrendering to God. Jesus then can more readily enter into our hearts and begin the process of healing. In the beginning, there will be some sort of pain but it can be a good pain that indicates that we are healing. No healing be it physical, mental, or spiritual is without some sort of pain. It is then we unite ourselves with the Crucified Christ and understand the pain He experienced for us and us alone. God gave us His only beloved son as a testament to what He was willing to do for us. Surrendering ourselves to Him in much the same way can bring about a new chapter in our relationship with God. It can be viewed as a mutual suffering where we become bonded with Him who created us and longs for our redemption.
Paul reminds us that if God is with us who can be against us? The relationship we have with God is established through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. With God committing this act for us is a testament to what He is willing to do for us to insure our happiness and joy. There is nothing that He will not do for us. In a world of selfishness and self-centeredness, this act by God raises us all above that into a new way of living. Living our lives through the example of this sacrifice glorifies Jesus Christ. It also glorifies us as His children. There is no exemption from this. As long as God is recognized and Jesus’ death embraced, we are naturally transformed by these events into something more amazing then we could ever contemplate. An act of acceptance is all that remains to begin a process of perfection through the Love of God.
Deacon Tom
My sisters and brothers in Christ,
Let us give all to the Lord and receive from the Lord whatever He sends us. That is the invitation of the readings today. Give all and receive whatever is given back.
Although we want to give all the Lord, we often find that what the Lord wants of us seems more than we can give. Most of us don’t have the faith that we see in Abraham in the first reading today from the Book of Genesis. We should recognize that even the early Christian commentators on this passage found it difficult. Would God actually ask a father to kill his own son? This is God asking something immoral from a human. The only answer to this difficulty is that God does not actually, in the end, ask Abraham to kill his own son.
The point of the account in Genesis is not about God asking Abraham to do something immoral, but about Abraham being willing always to do the will of God. Abraham is called “our father in faith” because of his complete dedication to doing whatever God asks of him.
We may doubt at times what God might ask of us. We find it difficult to accept the evil that is in our world, the bad things that happen to good people, the atrocities against people that go unpunished, the school shootings. Always people ask how a good God can allow such evils to happen. Yet such questions are truly not about God but about us humans with our sinfulness. We are broken beings who don’t always choose what is right and good. God gave us this freedom. And we misuse our freedom.
The real question is this: why don’t we humans always choose what is good and what is right? The only answer is that something is broken in us. What do we do about the brokenness? All the laws in the world are unable to redeem us and to force us to choose good. Only salvation from God brings about a true conversion.
And how difficult that is! The Letter to the Romans, from which is taken the second reading today, speaks to this problem: “Christ Jesus it is who died–or, rather, was raised—who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.” The only way of redemption is to embrace the path of God, who gave His own Son for us.
The Gospel today, from Saint Mark, is the account of the Transfiguration of Jesus. Jesus is changed in front of his own followers, at least some of them, so that they can believe that He is truly God even when they see Him undergo crucifixion. At the heart of our Christian believing is this deep awareness that Jesus is born for us, that Jesus dies for us and that Jesus has indeed been raised to life for us. This is not a philosophical argument but an experienced reality of the early Christians that we later Christians have come to see as true because of their testimony.
So our readings today are clear: seek to do the will of God in all things, believe that Christ died and was raised from the dead for us and see in the Transfiguration of Christ that we also can be transfigured by our complete belief in Him. Let us give all to the Lord and receive from the Lord whatever He sends us.
Your brother in the Lord,
Abbot Philip
God did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all—this phrase from the second reading today, from the Letter to the Romans, is the theme for this Second Sunday of Lent. We can hardly imagine that a father would hand over his own son to die for others. We could not imagine that such a father would have any love for his own son. The accounts that we are given in Scripture sometimes leave us with enormous questions and enormous doubts that it can really be of God.
Yet, if we read the Scriptures with open hearts, we come to find the wisdom of God there. The first reading today, from the Book of Genesis, is the story of Abraham being will to kill his own son because he believed that God was asking that of him. Was Abraham wrong? Is it just a story? Is there any morality in it? All those kinds of questions are justified. Yet, we are called to read with faith and to understand the meaning of the story: a person must be willing to give up everything for God.
All of us know this. No one, not even the persons that we most love, should interfere in our relationship with the living God. Yet we must pray that those whom we love can walk with us in the relationship to God, rather than get in our way. Even when we know that a relationship is perhaps not the best for us in terms of our religious practice, we can still pray that it might change. That is what we do when we love others. But at the end, we must be willing to give up all for the sake of God.
The Gospel today, from Saint Mark, is about the Transfiguration of Christ. Always the first Sunday of Lent is about the temptations in the desert and the second is about the transfiguration. These two experiences go hand in hand, and in both of them there is an awareness of some special relationship with God, some special manifestation of spirit (even of Spirit) in which the people around Jesus feel and experience something divine.
Jesus is baptized and is willing to give everything for God. Jesus is tempted in the desert and is willing to give everything for God. Jesus is transfigured and the disciples with Him remember this experience after His suffering, death and resurrection. Jesus is willing to give all for God.
The challenge of the Gospel for us today is very clear and very stark: Am I willing to give everything for God? This is the challenge of Lent. We would like to give all for God and yet we don’t. Lent is to help us continue to move into action our deepest desire: all for God.
CHRIST IN THE DESERT MONASTERY
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