2nd Sunday of Lent

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.”

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 GospelCF. MT 17:5

From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard:
This is my beloved Son, listen to him.

GospelMK 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.

I would like to share just a few of my thoughts on the Reading for this Sunday.

I love how the first reading speaks of faith, trust and hope.  Abraham had faith in God and His Word to him.  He had trust when God tested him and asked him to sacrifice his only son.  It must have seemed a little odd to Abraham, while he lived among people who believed in child sacrifice, he knew that God did not ask this of His people.  Hence Isaac’s question about the animal for sacrifice, yet he too trusted his father.  And hope, at the end of this scripture God once again reminds Abraham of many descendants!

The first reading is also a foreshadowing of Jesus and God the Father.  The Father offers His only begotten Son for us!

And relating to our lives today…God leads us and guides us.  We have to walk in faith hope and trust as we also cannot see the outcome until we arrive.

In this Lenten journey we are asked to make sacrifices to be drawn closer to God and he blesses us and strengthens as along the way.  In order to follow His commandments we make sacrifices to be able to control ourselves.

In the gospel is the Transfiguration of Jesus.  As we journey toward the cross we are reminded that the cross is not our final end, that after the cross is the Resurrection; and we too will be transformed.  On this earth we are continually transformed as we make sacrifices and journey with Our Lord; so that in Heaven we will be completely transformed into the son or daughter Our Father wants us to be.  I always like and need the reminder to “Listen to Him”.  Take time for my busy day caring for children in need and the office work that goes along with it and spend time with my Lord!  Don’t always do all of the talking, take time to be quiet and “Listen to Him”!

May you have a wonderful week!