May the good Lord grant you this Sunday the graces to listen to his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, by following him and by participating in his life, especially his life through Calvary/suffering to his resurrection. Happy Sunday!
+John I. Okoye
DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Genesis 12, 1-4; 1 Tim 1, 8-10; Matt 17, 1-9: 2ndSunday of Lent: Year A, 2017)
The theme “called by God and the response of faith by man” is what connects the three readings of this second Sunday of Lent. The first reading of today, presents the call of Abraham. God requested Abraham to leave his fatherland, home and relations. In exchange, God promised him a new land and many descendants: I will make you a great nation…and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing. But is there any other guarantee beside these divine proposals? Humanly speaking there is none. At his departure, Abraham did not even know the name of the promised land, not even where it is situated. The directive he got from God is: Go towards the place I will indicate to you. The divine promise of many descendants looks not plausible, if not impossible, given the fact of the age of both Abraham and Sara his wife. Certainly, Abraham understood that the call implies an exodus, a departure that demands radical privation and abandonment of all human securities like fatherland, home, family and family affection as well as material things. The only security and guarantee offered to Abraham were the word of God, the fidelity and promises of God. Fully conscious of the situation, Abraham went as the Lord told him. He did so because he had faith in God and believed in his word. On his own part, God did not disappoint the expectation of Abraham and he did not subtract anything from his promise. Abraham would still take possession of the Promised Land, would still have his descendants and would still be the father of multitudes of believers.
The call of Abraham is emblematic of all divine calls particularly of the Christian call or vocation. A Christian is one who is really called as Paul expresses it in the 2nd Reading of today: … God who has saved us and called us to be holy. Our call is a holy call. We are called to a holy vocation. It is a holy vocation because we are called to salvation. It is a call to co-operate in the salvation of all. Ours is a holy vocation, because we are called to eternal life, to the happiness of paradise, which is our definitive promised land. It is a holy vocation because it is a gift of God who is the font of all holiness. Our call like that of Abraham does not originate from human presuppositions, nor is it based on human works or merits but anchored in the free divine initiative and on the benevolence of God the Father, manifested in Christ. Our call, like that of Abraham, implies and requires a radical exodus, departure, abandoning and detachment. It has to be a departure from ourselves and from all our human ways of seeing things. It has to be an abandoning of our slavery of selfishness and sin. It has to be a detachment from all those things we consider as securities: material goods, power, prestige. Our call like that of Abraham requires a faith response. To believe, means trusting God completely and always: leaving ourselves to be guided by him and following the way he indicates in the certitudes that they are the paths to our salvation and true happiness.
But how does God guide us? How does he make us know his ways? How can we know all that he wants from us? The unique way of knowing God’s will is through our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the beloved of God, about whom God is pleased, he is the revelation of the Father and definitive word of God. We cannot go to God unless through Christ, nor can we know the thoughts and desires of God unless through Jesus. There is nothing left than to listen to him, follow him and imitate his examples.
During his transfiguration, Jesus uncovers his divinity veiled by his humanity and thereby offers us a glimpse of the radiance of the resurrection, assuring thereby that His death is not the end, rather the resurrection is the end point. The episode of the transfiguration was necessary to inform the disciples of Jesus that Jesus was a suffering Messiah. He has to pass through suffering to victory. It was necessary to clear in their mind that the call to follow Jesus would ultimately be the same way Jesus lived; passage from the cross to the resurrection: no cross, no crown! Therefore, Jesus reiterates:Whoever would like to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me (Matt 16,21-26).
After the transfiguration, Jesus invites Peter, James and John to descend from the mountain to continue with him the journey towards Jerusalem, with him to Calvary: He said to them: Stand up and do not be afraid. At this time they have to understand that Calvary is a necessary passage and not the end of the journey, nor the destination. They are not to fear following him even in the midst of their own suffering. We have to trust him. Jesus will make us understand what it means to be the disciple of Christ and what is the implication of Christian vocation. Jesus will also clarify what it means to be called and to follow him. He would teach that it does not only mean to listen to him, but also to follow the path he has traced. He will further teach that the disciple is called to share and participate in the victory over sin, death, as well as in the destiny of life and immortality, but sharing all these through the obligatory way of the cross and suffering, where shortcuts and “apian” ways do not work. With the transfiguration and especially with the resurrection of which the transfiguration is a foretaste, Jesus guarantees that we can believe in his word, we can trust him totally and will not be disappointed or deluded by his promises.
In conclusion, we can do this examination of conscience: do we believe really in Jesus Christ? Do we seriously confide in him? Do we follow him faithfully in his ways? Do we listen to him? May our responses not be superficial. May we pray during this second week of Lent to appreciate our call as Christians and to respond to this call by listening and following Jesus Christ. Amen!Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye
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