{"id":10060,"date":"2012-03-04T21:00:38","date_gmt":"2012-03-05T04:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/?p=10060"},"modified":"2015-03-19T13:10:51","modified_gmt":"2015-03-19T20:10:51","slug":"glory-unveiled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/2012\/03\/04\/glory-unveiled\/","title":{"rendered":"Glory Unveiled"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m late, but I’m back<\/a>! \u00a0“Theology On Tap” and\u00a0<\/em>“Daughters Of The King” craziness is mostly over now so proper blogging should resume shortly…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

2nd Sunday of Lent: 4th March, 2012<\/h2>\n

\"\"The Readings this Sunday are a source of encouragement to strengthen to us during this Lenten season.<\/p>\n

In the First Reading we read the familiar story of the testing of Abraham. This patriarch was asked by God to offer what was most precious to him, his own beloved son. This Reading demonstrates the obedience of Abraham, but it also gives us a picture of the love of God the Father who\u00a0“so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son”<\/em> – John 3:16<\/span>.<\/p>\n

The theme of Christ’s sacrifice is picked up by St. Paul in our Second Reading where he asks\u00a0“<\/span>[God] did not spare his own Son\u00a0but handed him over for us all,\u00a0how will he not also give us everything else along with him?”<\/span>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Finally, in this week’s Gospel we read the story of the Transfiguration. Jesus, together with His “inner circle” ascend a mountain where His glory is unveiled. While transfigured, Jesus is visited by the two greatest figures in Old Testament history, Moses and Elijah.<\/p>\n

As this Lenten season continues, let us be inspired by Abraham’s love of God, comforted by the love of the Father which made Him give His Son and humbled by the love of the Son that He would come be our redeemer. Let us too \u00a0become “transfigured”, transformed more and more into the likeness of Christ as we serve Him in the world.<\/p>\n

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Reading I: Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18<\/h3>\n

Last week we heard in the Gospel how Jesus was tempted in the desert and this week we hear the account of Abraham’s testing. This story is\u00a0rich in typology, pointing us towards our Heavenly Father’s offering of His only begotten Son.<\/p>\n

God put Abraham to the test.\u00a0He called to him, “Abraham!”\u00a0“Here I am!” he replied.\u00a0Then God said:\u00a0“Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love,\u00a0and go to the land of Moriah.\u00a0There you shall offer him up as a holocaust\u00a0on a height that I will point out to you.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

When they came to the place of which God had told him,\u00a0Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it.\u00a0Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.\u00a0But the LORD’s messenger called to him from heaven,\u00a0“Abraham, Abraham!”\u00a0“Here I am!” he answered.\u00a0“Do not lay your hand on the boy,” said the messenger.\u00a0“Do not do the least thing to him.\u00a0I know now how devoted you are to God,\u00a0since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.”\u00a0As Abraham looked about,\u00a0he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket.\u00a0So he went and took the ram\u00a0and offered it up as a holocaust in place of his son.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Again the LORD’s messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said:\u00a0“I swear by myself, declares the LORD,\u00a0that because you acted as you did<\/span>\u00a0in not withholding from me your beloved son,\u00a0I will bless you abundantly\u00a0and make your descendants as countless\u00a0as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore;\u00a0your descendants shall take possession\u00a0of the gates of their enemies,\u00a0and in your descendants all the nations of the earth<\/span>\u00a0shall find blessing-\u00a0all this because you obeyed my command.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Questions:<\/p>\n