Second Sunday of Lent - 2024

We know that people in ancient times, in their religious worship of their gods, practiced human sacrifice – sometime of their enemies – sometime of their very own, even their children. These sacrifices were meant to appease the gods, so the gods would act favorably toward the worshipers. Israel was familiar with these religious practices – and could be susceptible to these erroneous ideas of God. So, God chose Abraham, to teach him, and all who would become believers in the One true God, that He did not want humans to be sacrificed. God taught this important lesson to Abraham in this dramatic way, as we have just seen in today’s first reading recorded in the book of Genesis. Gen. 22:1ff  God does want man’s allegiance and unconditional trust, just not his possessions. God created us with the intention of letting us share in His glory. But before we could be entrusted with such a glorious destiny, we had to learn humility – otherwise, we too might become corrupted with pride as did happen to some the angels God had created. In St. Peter’s first letter we read: “… But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.' Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives in reverent fear during your temporary stay on earth.” 1Pt. 1:16 - Leviticus 11:44. And when we are holy as the Father is holy, what will we look like?     "Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them." (Mark 9.2-10) The Transfiguration is a glimpse into what awaits us. St. Paul tells it this way: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” 1 Cor. 2:9 Paul says: … “None of the rulers of this age understood it. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”  1 Cor. 2:8. They lived a life totally conformed to this world, to a material way of thinking. And this is true of today’s secular way of thinking that gives way to an atheist mindset. Secularism wants to dismiss religion off into some obscure corner, out of the way, so that it will not contaminate the minds of people with its myths and superstitions. Lent is a time to focus our attention on the central reason for our lives, “to be holy as our Father is holy.” A holy person who is transformed by God’s grace, in turn transforms the world around them into a place shaped by truth and beauty and goodness; a place where all evil is banished; a place transfigured in the image of God. Catherine of Siena was permitted by God to see the beauty of a soul in the state of grace. It was so beautiful that she could not look on it; the brightness of that soul dazzled her. Blessed Raymond, her confessor, asked her to describe to him, as far as she was able, the beauty of the soul she had seen. St. Catherine thought of the sweet light of that morning, and of the beautiful colours of the rainbow, but that soul was far more beautiful. She remembered the dazzling beams of the noonday sun, but the light which beamed from that soul was far brighter. She thought of the pure whiteness of the lily and of the fresh snow, but that is only an earthly whiteness. The soul she had seen was bright with the whiteness of Heaven, such as there is not to be found on earth. ” My father,” she answered. “I cannot find anything in this world that can give you the smallest idea of what I have seen. Oh, if you could but see the beauty of a soul in the state of grace, you would sacrifice your life a thousand times for its salvation. I asked the angel who was with me what had made that soul so beautiful, and he answered me, “It is the image and likeness of God in that soul, and the Divine Grace which made it so beautiful.”. Yes, this is our dignity and final destiny if we are faithful to God.

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