This week we are presented with the covenant of Abraham, the covenant of
faith. The covenant is that if we trust in God, have faith, and he will reward
us for this faith.
The first reading for this Sunday is the sacrifice of Isaac. This is a hard test for us to
understand. The Jewish people never practiced human sacrifice. Why is Abraham
was called to kill Isaac? It appears only as a demonstration of how deep his
faith in God needed to be. Well, as we know, he did have faith. He had faith in
God's promise that he would build him into a nation even though the only way
that would happen would be through his son Isaac, the very son he was asked to
sacrifice. As you know, God did
not allow him to kill his son, and his faith was rewarded by a covenant with
him saying that his descendants would be as countless as the stars of the sky
and the sands of the seashore, they will conquer their enemies and all nations
will bless Abraham. Indeed,
Abraham is the father of faith not just for those of the Jews and Christians,
but even for those who follow Islam.
The point for us today is that God is aware of our faith. He knows the struggles we have to
believe! Abraham did not want to sacrifice his son, but trusted in God. Jesus cried during the agony in the
garden for his father to free him from the terrible suffering he was going to
endure, but he still trusted in God.
How about us? God sees us
here, praying to him, wanting to grow closer to him. At the same time he sees how our faith is continually tested
by the turmoil of our lives. It is easy for us to believe and be so called
people of faith when all is going well and we are happy. It is easy to believe,
be people of faith, when we are enjoying our family, our children, our lives. It’s
easy to believe, be people of faith, when we leave Church feeling warm and
deeply moved. But faith is difficult when we are in turmoil! When relationships
meant to be growing and nurturing, such as marriage, become bitter and end up
destructive, when children push people to the edge, when jobs that we don’t
even like are in jeopardy, then faith is difficult. It is difficult to believe
in God when we are a loved one is sick, or if a loved one has passed away.
God knows how often we are just plain angry, angry with him for the difficulties
of our lives. He knows that sometimes we become so angry that we even doubt his
existence. He knows that sometimes we wonder if he really cares. God knows how
often we feel weak in our faith, but he also knows that we do want to have
faith. “I do believe,” said the man whose son had leprosy and whom the
disciples could not cure. “I do believe,” the man said, “but help my unbelief.”
God sees us here as people of faith, who are begging him to help them grow in
faith. When times of turmoil take
over our lives, we have to focus in on the covenant with Abraham, the covenant
of faith. Abraham trusted that God
would find a way to reward him for his faith. And God did reward him. And he does reward us for our faith.
When the disciples, Peter, James, and John saw Jesus transfigured on the
Mountain and Elijah and Moses with him they wanted to erect booths. Maybe they
wanted to sell religious articles. Some nice plastic statues of Moses that
people could plant upside down in their yards when they wanted to sell their
property would be go over big. Or
maybe there was some other superstition that they could make money on in the
name of faith. Maybe, the
disciples wanted to organize pilgrimages to the mountain, and then invest in a
Hilton nearby. People these days are continually looking for the spectacular as
a basis for their faith. But Jesus
told the disciples and us that glory comes only after they and we understand
what to rise from the dead means.
We cannot celebrate the Glory of the Lord until we share in his passion,
his death, and his sacrifice. Our faith is tested like Abraham's faith and like
Jesus' faith. We are called to give our best to the Lord and trust him to
transform the sacrifice into a new covenant far greater than we could ever
imagine.
“If God is for us,” St. Paul tells the Romans and us, “who can be
against us?” He, who did not spare his own son for us, will prevent the forces
of evil from attacking us. This includes those forces within us tearing at our psyche,
leading us away from the Lord.
Today, we pray for the faith of Abraham, trusting in God to reward our
determination to be his ■
[1]
2nd Sunday of Lent B, March 1, 2015. Readings: Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18
Psalm 116:10,
15, 16-17, 18-19; Romans 8:31b-34; Mark 9:2-10.
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