Gn 22:1-2/ 9a, 10-13, 15 -18; Rom 8:31b-34; Mk 9:2-10
2nd Sunday in Lent
How often in life do we sacrifice that which is most precious and sacred due to a terribly misaligned set of values. In an effort to maintain a certain lifestyle we sacrifice family harmony. We cling to prejudices or outdated concepts of how the world should be which drive us deeper into ourselves and away from a true connection to the community. We burden ourself with the outward trapings of religious belief and lose God in the process. We sacrifice love because we become lost in anger or even hatred.
This tragedy almost befalls Abraham in the first reading. He comes close to losing his son, Isaac, due to his cockeyed sense of what God is like and what God really wants. (Would God ever test a persons’ faith in such a horrible way? Would a God who did be worthy of worship?) Were it not for the last minute divine intervention in the story Abraham might have been lost to history as one more lost soul who made an idol out of his own Ego and destroyed himself in the process.
How can we avoid such a trap? The story of the Transfiguration concludes with an answer. In reference to Jesus, the voice from the cloud – God Him/Herself- says, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him.”
This week, make some time to listen. With your ears, but also with your full attention and with your heart. Listen to the voice of God as it is expressed to you in prayer, through the Church and through each and every one of the people who will touch your life this week – those who are at the center of your existance, but also those at the periphery.
Jim Philipps (3rd millennium pilgrim)j
(Pat Leonard and I are leading two Lenten retreats this year – Monday nights at 7:30 in St. James parish in Setauket and Wednesday nights at 7:30 in St. Frances de Chantal parish in Wantagh. Please come by and pray with us if you are able.)
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