Gen 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18
Rom 8:31b-34
Mk 9:2-10
We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee
Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
The first reading from Genesis described Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac. Unfortunately, the passage was edited and thus we hear a discontinuous reading. Thus the details of the journey to the place of sacrifice were omitted, as was the image of Isaac carrying the wood for his sacrifice. We are left with two things: Abraham's obedience and the confirmation of God's promise that he would be the father of a great nation.
This is a rich narrative. It should not be abbreviated. The parallels between Isaac carrying the wood on which he was to be sacrificed and Jesus carrying the wood on which He was crucified are obvious. If they are proclaimed in the first place. Isaac's confusion was mirrored by Jesus' confusion in Gethsemane.
To those with a Freudian mindset or those hostile to faith, the narrative is disturbing. God orders a man to sacrifice his only son. The man prepares to carry out the sacrifice without question.
Many people whine, whimper, and emote about this narrative along the lines of "I could never believe in a God who could be so cruel, sadistic, irrational, or . . . ."(fill in the blank with a favorite pejorative). There is no sadism here. There is no cruelty in the narrative. There is only faith.
The Jewish Study Bible describes this as Abraham's greatest test, and as "A magnificent story, that is one of the gems of biblical narrative." It also notes a translation problem. "There is no good English equivalent for the Hebrew 'hineni' that is translated as 'Here I am.' Hineni indicates readiness, alertness, attentiveness, receptivity, and responsiveness to instructions." It indicates unquestioning obedience to the will of God.
In the reading from Paul's Letter to the Romans we heard that, God "did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all." God asked Abraham to give him all, to give him everything, to give him his only son, to give him his future, and the existence of a people yet to come into existence.
Once Abraham demonstrated his obedience God returned everything to him. Because of Jesus' obedience everything was returned to us.
One of the first prayers a Jesuit novice learns is the Suscipe of St. Ignatius of Loyola. It begins,
"Take Lord, and receive,
all my liberty, my memory, my understanding,
my entire will,
all I have and call my own."
Take all. Not that which I am willing to give, not that which is left over, not that which is easy. Take all. That is what Abraham was willing to give. That is what God the Father gave us. All.
The narrative of Jesus' Transfiguration both points us towards and draws us into
a mystery that is beyond historical reconstruction, scientific explanation, or geographic specificity. None of these factors matter. When, how, and where are unnecessary distractions. It is sufficient to know that Jesus was transfigured in front of three of the apostles.
Imagine the scene. Moses and Elijah, the Law and the Prophets standing with Jesus. Place yourself in that scene. Where are you standing? What do you see? What do you feel? What are you thinking? How are you acting? The apostles were confused and frightened. As he became more anxious Peter began to speak without thinking what he was saying. Despite today's vogue for apostle bashing none of us would have acted any better. Most likely, we would have acted worse and pulled out an Ancient Near East smart phone,
snapped pictures, texted them to the rest of the apostles, and tried to get a selfie with Moses.
As the tension increased the voice of God the Father declared, "This is my beloved Son." This is the beloved Son who was like us in all things but sin. This is the beloved Son who took on the human condition to redeem us from our sins and save us from death. This is the beloved Son, God incarnate, who, like Isaac, carried the wood for the sacrifice on his own back.
This is the beloved son, who, like Abraham, acted in perfect obedience to the will of the Father. Then, the apostles, and by extension, each one of us, received a mission from the Father: "Listen to him."
Listen to his teaching, the teaching of His words and the teaching of His actions. As we listen to Jesus words and imitate his actions, as we take His teaching to heart, and allow that teaching to transform us, we move that much closer to experiencing the glory of His Transfiguration in our own lives.
We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee
Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
_________________________________________________________
Almost fully recovered from the adventure with covid. A bit of fatigue and a degree of cough which is baseline for me for other reasons. Will give the homily at Mass tomorrow AM at 8.
The photos are from the Church of St. Cyril and Methodius, the Serbian Orthodox Church in Ljuljana. It was not large but absolutely exquisite.
Fr. Jack, SJ, MD
No comments:
Post a Comment