| Readings for March 4, 2012
THE TEST and THE TRANSFIGURATION
...God put Abraham to the test..."take your son Isaac, your only son, the one whom you love"..."there you shall offer him up as a holocaust"...
Today's first reading is really the ultimate of all tests. God knows how much Abraham loves his son, but in order for Abraham to realize how much he loves and trusts God, he must be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.
How much are we willing to sacrifice in order to know that God is taking care and watching over us?
We are called upon this Lent to journey with Jesus to his ultimate sacrifice. We are called upon this Lent to be tested by our own burdens and struggles. We are called upon this Lent to be open to the call of God when he asks us to carry those burdens. God does not and will not ever ask us to take on more than we can handle.
...God put Abraham to the test...
Do we accept the tests God puts us through?
...Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them...
The Gospel for the Second Sunday of Lent is always one of the Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration. The Transfiguration is one of the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. This miracle is unique among others in the Canonical Gospels, in that the miracle happens to Jesus himself. Thomas Aquinas considered the Transfiguration "the greatest miracle" in that it complemented baptism and showed the perfection of life in Heaven.
The Transfiguration is a pivotal moment, and the setting on the mountain is presented as the point where human nature meets God. The meeting place for the temporal and the eternal, with Jesus himself as the connecting point acting as a bridge between heaven and earth.
It is important that we understand this connection. God sent Jesus into the world to connect with our humanness. However, Jesus was always that bridge to the eternal life of heaven from his incarnation, through his life and death, and at his resurrection and his ascension back into heaven. A full circle connecting us with God through Jesus.
On the mountain Peter says to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here!" Peter speaks for all of humankind when he says this because it is truly good for us to be in the presence of Jesus and ultimately in eternal communion with God. Unfortunately, this is not always easy. There is struggle and testing of our faith, just like the test of Abraham in the first reading. So just as Peter, James and John struggled to understand ...what rising from the dead meant, they would soon understand the whole story and their role in this connection of Jesus to humanity and to heaven.
Prayer for the Week - Collect for the Second Sunday of Lent
O God, who have commanded us
to listen to your beloved Son,
be pleased, we pray,
to nourish us inwardly by your word,
that with spiritual sight made pure,
we may rejoice to behold your glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Jim Wojcik - I am the Director of Operations in the College Admissions Office at the University of Chicago. At Ascension, I am the Coordinator of the Art and Environment Committee, a member of the Liturgy Committee, a Lector and Minister of Communion, as well as a member of the RCIA team.
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