Second Sunday of Lent
Today’s Gospel is the Transfiguration of Christ. If I were one of the disciples chosen to see future heavenly glory I would probably act just like St. Peter, “LET’S MAKE THREE BOOTHS!” OH YEAH! And when we’re feeling great with a skip to our step, even when turmoil happens all around us we know that we can live another day. We can do anything because, “If God is with us, who can be against us?” However, after a while, we step out of our moon shoes and reality hit us hard. It is then time for us not just to talk the talk, but walk the walk. That’s what Abraham did. He loved God and had hope in God so much that when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son for God’s own sake, Abraham did not hesitate. Oh don’t be mistaken, Abraham was in turmoil, but his hope was greater. God too gave His only beloved Son in whom He is well pleased, for our sake so that we can be with Him in heaven.
If Abraham gave up what was most precious to him for God, and God gave up His most precious Son for us, what are we willing to give up for God when he asks us? When troubled times hit us, when we are put to the test will we curse God and shake our fist at him as if to say, “what are you doing?” or will we, even in the midst of suffering and mental pain, give up our whole selves to God? Like Abraham we look towards the future glory God gives us. It is when we accept the hardships in life and see them as gifts from God that the Holy Spirit will briefly remove our darkness and cover us with a cloud of understanding and enlighten our whole being. “I believed, even when I said ‘I am greatly afflicted.’ I am your servant, the son of your handmaid; you have loosened my bonds. To you will I offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and I will call upon the name of the Lord.”
