Reflections on the readings for the Second Sunday of Lent (February 28, 2021): GN 22:1-2,9,10-13,15-18; PS 116:10,15,16-17,18-19;ROM 8:31-34; MK 9:2-10
MISSIO offers “Preaching Mission,” as a homily help, providing connections to mission from the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
We must make the decision to cooperate with the will of God whether or not we understand it.
In the Scriptures for this Sunday, we are told of the many ways that Almighty God expresses His love for us by demonstrating His guidance and support. In the Old Testament reading we have an account of Abraham’s immense trust in God – even when he is told to make a sacrifice of his only son Isaac. In an age when human sacrifice was not uncommon among some peoples, Abraham must still have been shocked at this demand. This is especially so, since God had promised Abraham that his wife Sarah, who had been childless, would bear this son. But since Abraham was willing to obey the Almighty in anything, holding back nothing including his beloved child, God intervened and saved the boy. Abraham has long been seen as a figure of complete faith in the divine will. In the second reading today, St. Paul tells the early Christian of Rome that they, too, must trust God in everything. Whatever trials they may face, God will not abandon them. “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?” (Romans 8:31-32)
However, we must realize that does not mean that those who follow Christ will not experience troubles. After all, Jesus Himself suffered and died for us. But He was also raised from the dead. And we, too, will share in His Resurrection. We must make the decision to cooperate with the will of God whether or not we understand it. Isaac’s life was saved but Jesus’ was not – nor have been the lives of many people who have endured great anguish, even martyrdom in doing what God asks of us. Jesus accepted the will of His Father. So did Abraham, Paul, and so many others, including people in our own generation. In the Transfiguration of Christ and, later, in His rising from the tomb, we see our own future – our eternity – if we place ourselves completely in God’s hands. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Let us choose to be for God.