Reading:
Genesis 22:2
Write:
Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah.
Reflect:
My dad used to say that he saw cornfields on forty-second Street. I can remember them on eighty-fourth Street. Do you remember when it was a “comfortable drive in the country” to get the Boys Town? How much has the city of Omaha expanded?
Well, this is not an idle question. Mount Moriah, where Abraham was supposed to sacrifice Isaac, was within eyesight of what was then the town of Salem. Salem became Jerusalem. And Mount Moriah became the site of the Temple for Israel.
The mountain of the Transfiguration is in a different place. Many believe it is Mount Tabor. In fact from the height of that mountain, you can see the entire Sea of Galilee.
Let’s put the distances in perspective. From the Mount Tabor to the Sea of Galilee is like going from here to Blair. From Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee is like going from here to Columbus. We don’t think much of traveling those distances. But Jesus and the apostles did it on foot. And there is a big difference between the plains of Nebraska and the mountains of Israel.
So this puts our readings today in a little bit of a perspective. Mount Tabor is a long way from Mount Moriah, especially on foot.
Apply:
But now, let’s concentrate on the Gospel. The verse before our reading started today is this: “He also said to them, “Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come in power.” Then we move right into the story of the Transfiguration which I think is the fulfillment of Jesus comment about seeing the kingdom of God in its power.
Jesus was revealing to Peter, James, and John as much of his glory and power and holiness as they could stand. Did they see all of it? (Pause.) That I am not sure of. God the Father’s appearance to them was in the form of a cloud, which seems to me to say that they did not see the full power and majesty and holiness of God. Remember, the Old Testament tells us that if anyone were to see God fully, they would die.
But this is why Jesus came in the first place. He came that we might see the glory of God, put in flesh in the person of Jesus. His other mission of course was to bring us his mercy.
Now, we are still in the beginning of Lent. Yet the church gives us the readings we have today that remind us of the sacrifice and the glory of God. These are issues that need to remain near the front of our lives every day of our lives. The season of Lent is supposed to remind us of the call to holiness that God gives us in his mercy. Remember what holiness means: it means being “other” than the rest of the world. We are called to be holy as God is holy. This “being other” is necessary in our world today more than ever. The three apostles struggled to understand the call to holiness that God was revealing. They hardly knew what to say.
I can only imagine Abraham’s thoughts when he was presenting Isaac to be killed. He had a trust in the otherness of God – the holiness of God. And he was not going to allow himself to be stopped by thinking only in terms of this world. That is why he is so honored in the faith! Yet it would be only human to in some way question his own sanity in his response to God’s call. He already gave up so much. Now he was asked to give up even more.
What is being asked of us? When we turn to read the selection from Romans, it seems there’s not much there that is being asked of us. God seems to be doing it all! “If God is for us, who can be against us?… Who will bring a charge against God's chosen ones? It is God who acquits us, who will condemn?”
I do not think this is an idle reflection. I think it is an important one to try to tie these three readings that the church has given us into one cohesive call to holiness. Reflect on these three readings this weekend. Don’t just let them be a set of readings that you listen to at Mass and move on.
Also, reflect on these two phrases from the Responsorial Psalm:
“To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.”
Our sacrifice of Thanksgiving is primarily with the Eucharist, but we need to make our lives a living Eucharist for the sake of the power and glory of God. This is what he revealed to us with the Transfiguration. This is what he called Abraham to be… by sacrificing Isaac. This is what he declares to us he does… by issuing the challenge in Romans: “Who will bring a charge against God's chosen ones? It is God who acquits us, who will condemn?”
We may not travel up a high mountain. We may not travel across the ocean. (hmm) We may not even travel to Columbus. But we are called to make a journey – a journey of faith that takes us away from the mundane of this world into the holiness of God where we will be transfigured as we behold Christ face-to-face.
+++++