Home › What We Do › Liturgy & Worship › Sunday › Homilies Archive › March 12, 2006
Contact Us
{Tip Jar}

Homilies

Second Sunday of Lent
March 12, 2006

(For the Homilies Archive, click here.)

What is God Saying in the Readings?

Each of the readings for today’s Mass for the Second Sunday of Lent brings us face–to–face with the one thing we all want to avoid: death.

In the first reading God asks Abraham to give up his only son. Abraham is to sacrifice his only son on an altar. This seems an especially strange request. For God, who is supposed to be all–loving and completely trustworthy had given Isaac as miraculous gift to Abraham and had promised Abraham that Isaac would be the father of many nations. Now God appears to be breaking his promise, for he is telling Abraham to offer up his only son on an altar, as a sacrifice.

But we learn in the course of the reading that this is actually a test on God’s part. God wants Abraham to have the experience of putting trust in God alone. Abraham passes the test and, after Isaac is spared, we hear God say to Abraham: “Now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” In other words, now you know, Abraham, what it means to trust in God, and you know that, if you do, all will be well.

Still, how could Abraham do such a thing? How could he reach for a knife to kill his own son? For Abraham is not merely pretending to go through with the order. He really intends to kill Isaac. But how in the world could a good father act in such a way? And what must Abraham be thinking about the trustworthiness of God at this point?

The story makes sense only when we realize that Abraham completely trusts in God. Thus, he does not even question God’s ways. Abraham may have no idea why he is to sacrifice his only son, but he believes that, even when he does, God will take care of all. God will arrange it such that Isaac will still be the father of many nations. God will in some way bring Isaac back to life, for God made a promise about Isaac, and God’s word can be completely trusted.

Yes, Abraham’s trust in God far outweighs his fear of death. Hence, he acts rightly. And because he acts rightly, he is rewarded. God says to Abraham: “Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore…”

The second reading also raises the subject of death and trust in God. Saint Paul exhorts us to overcome our fear death. We ought not fear being charged or condemned, for Christ Jesus will intercede. God the Father, like Abraham, did not withhold his only Son. He gave him up as a sheep to be slaughtered for our sakes. And this God is for us and not against us. He is all–powerful and will give us everything we need to be united with him. Therefore, all the charges and condemnations, yes, even death itself will fade away—once Christ Jesus makes his intervention on our behalf.

In today’s Gospel we receive a glimpse of what the intervention of Christ will be like. For we get to experience the wonderful story of the Transfiguration. Jesus is transfigured to his glorified state right before the eyes of the three highest–ranking disciples: Peter, James, and John. For some reason, Jesus deems it fitting (and perhaps even necessary) for these three to receive a glimpse of what he will look like when he is returned to his full glory with our Father in heaven. (And for some reason he tells them not to tell anyone about what they have seen, until after he is resurrected from the dead.)

At first glance, the Gospel text does not appear to have much to do with the first two readings. The first two reading are about facing death and trusting in God, but the Gospel is about the wonder of the glorified state.

But when we look at what happens right before the Transfiguration, we see that the Transfiguration is actually the climax of the first two readings:

Just before the Transfiguration takes place, we hear Peter confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus then immediately informs his disciples that: he is going to be rejected, he is going to suffer and die, and then he is going to rise from the dead. He says, “the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” (Mk. 8:31)

Immediately after saying this, Jesus then gives the disciples (and us) the teaching we work so hard to ignore. He tells us that we are to imitate him in this whole business of suffering and dying. He says, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Mk. 8:34–36)

This is a fundamental (and paradoxical) teaching of Christ and the Church: sacrifice your very life, so that you may truly live.

But immediately after Jesus gives this us this hard teaching, he takes Peter, James, and John up to the mountain to witness his Transfiguration. Why is this? What message is Jesus trying to give us?

What is the Message in the Readings?

The message throughout these readings is clear: trust in God. Trust in his ways, even unto death. Sacrifice his gift of life on this earth in order to experience the life of heaven, with Christ in all his (Transfigured) glory.

Most of us like to think we understand and accept Jesus’ teaching about sacrifice. We like to think that we are ready to sacrifice all, so that we can live the life of glory with him in heaven. But a brief investigation into our preoccupations reveals that this is not so.

Jesus knows this, and this is why he gives us the following exhortation: “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? …do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ …But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Mt. 6:25,31,33)

We all love Saint Francis of Assisi, but how many of us are really ready to imitate him and give up all that we possess? How many of us are really ready to put total trust in God? How many of us are willing to “suffer” and be fed and clothed according to the way God sees fit?

No. We don’t trust, especially in this whole business of dying and rising again. We live as if this life were the end–all and be–all rather than as something which ordered to a greater good. So, we worry about things of this life (things of which God is more than ready to provide), trying to somehow make this passing life to be eternal. We almost even deny the fact that we are going to die soon. We are caught up with this world because we don’t trust in Jesus. We don’t trust that he will be there for us (waiting in all his glory), if we only do what he says, i.e., sacrifice. No. Like idiots, we live for the ephemeral over the eternal.

Yes, these readings demand that we ask ourselves: Am I really trusting in God? One way we can answer this question is to compare the way we live our lives to the ways of the saints—Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, Paul, Benedict, Francis, Dom Bosco, Therese, Max Million Kolbe, Mother Theresa. We are wrong to think that we cannot be that good (or that foolish). We are wrong to think that we, because of the particular circumstances we find ourselves in, cannot imitate such radical and revolutionary behavior. We are wrong to think that, because things are different now, it wouldn’t be prudent to draw so much attention to ourselves, to stand out as someone strange.

But this is the whole point: we are supposed to be fools for Christ. This means that we are not going to fit in. Saint Francis did not fit in. Many thought he was crazy. Dom Bosco did not fit in. Many within the Church accused him of horrible immoral behavior.

But few are accusing today’s Christians of acting foolishly. In fact, we tend to fit in just fine. Fundamentally, our priorities are the same as the rest of the world. Our decisions tend to be heavily influenced by our worry for food, clothing, and shelter. We are a bit more modest, perhaps, but our worries are the same.

But Jesus tells us we cannot serve God and wealth. He tells us that we are not to worry at all about such things but everything should be ordered toward the next life. We ought to strive first for the kingdom of God and all these things will be taken care of.

What is my Response to the Readings?

By faith, I completely accent to this teaching. I want to live by it. But I am a weak man, habituated to putting myself first and God second (or third or fourth). I have not the habit of the saints who completely trusted in God.

But the better part of me is ready to incorporate this teaching into my way of life. The better part of me wants to radically change. I know that, like the alcoholic in a 12–step program, it will take time (and work) to recover, but this is not a problem. Once I am on the road to recovery, life will begin to make sense again.

So, I must take concrete steps, and not just make an act of the will in the abstract. The first thing I must do, therefore, is pray, then I must act.

This Lent, therefore, I will improve my prayer:

This Lent, therefore, I will act better. I will make at least one little sacrificial act at least once a week. I will give away my own lunch to someone else. Instead of eating lunch, I will look for someone else to feed. I will, for example, take a beggar into McDonalds and buy him lunch (and go without eating myself). I will talk with this person, and I will be kind to him.

In this little way, I will be imitating the saints, and I will pray to them that I learn to act more like them.

With the psalmist in today’s responsorial psalm, I will pray to our Father in heaven:

I will offer to you, O Lord, a thanksgiving sacrifice
and I will call on the name of the Lord
For your ways, O Lord, are love and truth
to those who keep your covenant.
Lead me, O Lord, in your truth, and teach me your ways,
for you are the God of my salvation
for you I wait all day long.
Gloria Patri, et Filii, et Spiritui Santo.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, Et in saecula saeculorum.
Amen.

Contribution by Brother Anthony Myers
© SACROS 2006 {www.sacros.com}
To read homilies from other Sundays, click here.