SUNDAY 28TH FEBRUARY 2021
SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT
Genesis 22:1-2,9-13,15-18
Psalm 115:10,15-19
Romans 8:31-34
Mark 9:2-10
HOW STRONG IS YOUR FAITH IN GOD?
Today being the second Sunday in the season of Lent, the Church calls us to reflect on our faith and trust in God. What extent can you go in doing something because you know that God is by your side and he will never deceive you?
In the first reading, we see the call of God for Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Abraham's faith in God started in Genesis 12, when God called him to leave his own land and go to an unknown place and he obeyed. He remained steadfast in faith when God promised him a child despite his age. Sometimes God tells us to do something difficult so that he can bless us the more.
In the second reading, St Paul in his letter to the Romans, compares Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac his only son to the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. God did not spare his own son as he spared Isaac, this therefore means that there is nothing God will not do to save us.
Jesus obeyed his father to the end and gave up his life on the cross, just as Abraham obeyed God and was ready to sacrifice his son. Jesus did not hesitate in dying. Just like the prophet Isaiah said that, "Ill-treated and afflicted, he never opened his mouth, like a lamb led to the slaughter-house, like a sheep dumb before its shearers he never opened his mouth" (Isaiah53:7). This was only possible because Jesus believed in and trusted that his father has the perfect plan.
In the gospel reading, we see the narrative of the transfiguration of Jesus. Six days earlier in Matthew 8:31-38, Jesus had told his Apostles that he would be captured and tortured by the chief priest and elders of the people, he will be crucified and he will die, but will rise on the third day. This made the faith of the Apostles to dwindle. Jesus therefore used the transfiguration experience to strengthen their faith in him. To have seen Moses who represented the law, and Elijah the greatest prophet in the history of Israel with Jesus, and to hear the voice of the father from heaven must have strengthened their faith in Jesus.
The Christian life is a journey of faith, only those who fully trust in God and believe that God is aware of whatever comes their way will succeed. Whatever you are passing through at the moment may be a test of your faith that will lead to the blessings God has designed for you. Do not give us. God help us to entrust our lives to him. Amen.
Fr Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie, MSP
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