Sunday Gospel Reflection, February 25, 2018: If God is for us, who can be against us?

If God is for us, who can be against us?

Why is it such a challenge to accept God’s path 
in times of uncertainty?

   Accepting God’s will for him does not appear to have been an issue for the patriarch Abraham in the Book of Genesis.  When Abraham is called upon by God, he responds Here I am! and does not hesitate to take his son Isaac to the land of Moriah to sacrifice him according to God’s instructions.  Recall that Isaac is Abraham’s guarantee of continuation after death in the form of descendants.  Yet, although he does not, and indeed cannot understand God’s plan or know how God will follow through on his promise, Abraham is ready, waiting for God to speak, ready to listen no matter how difficult the task he is given might be.  Like the psalmist in Psalm 116, Abraham believes, even when he is greatly afflicted, and does not hesitate to obey the will of God.

   When, in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus takes Peter, James and John up onto a high mountain and is transfigured before them, flanked by Elijah and Moses, the apostles don’t know what to think.  Jesus has just predicted his own suffering and death, and now this!  But voice from the cloud gives them a clue, at least. This is my beloved Son. Listen to him, it says.  Listen, even though you don’t really understand, even if it won’t make sense until later.  Listen.  Abraham’s story tells us that God will provide the sacrifice, and in the person of Jesus, God does just that. It is, after all, a question of trust, as Paul tells the Romans, for He who did not spare his own Son will also give us everything else along with him.  We may not understand such generosity, but we must remain open to it, and trust.

   Our faith is not necessarily complete in the moment we exercise it, for our hearts need to be fully open and ready to understand.  In times of great uncertainty, we need still to say, Here I am, remaining totally present to God so that God might be present to us.  We must be open and ready to do whatever God asks of us, to obey – from the Latin, ob-audire, to lend an ear – walking with faith even as we are challenged to understand God’s plan for us.  For if God is for us, who can be against us?

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.

Image source:  www.wordle.net

Sunday Gospel Reflection, March 1, 2015: From the cloud came a voice...

From the cloud came a voice...

Do you understand God? 

It’s pretty impossible to get your head around God’s promises.  Take the story of Abraham, in this Sunday’s first reading from Genesis.  God has given Abraham a son in his old age, only to ask him to sacrifice Isaac on a height God will point out to him.  What?  How can that possibly make sense?  But Abraham does not question God, not once:  he has embraced God over all, and follows God’s instructions to the letter.  Yes, the messenger stops him mid-deed.  But ultimately, the story is about Abraham believing – having faith – when he cannot possibly understand God’s plan.  He doesn’t need to get his head around God’s request:  he simply trusts.  The psalmist likewise believes, even when he cannot understand; he keeps the faith, even when afflicted, knowing that precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones (Psalm 116), trusting in God’s infinite mercy in his time of difficulty.

Jesus is the son of [God’s] handmaid:  born into the slavery that is human existence, Jesus takes this identity on fully; like the psalmist, he will know great affliction.  Paul recognizes this in his letter to the Romans:  God did not spare his own son, handing him over for us all.  Unlike Isaac, God allowed Jesus to be sacrificed, to die and be raised.  Is this a reality we can get our heads around?  Is it, really?  Or is God’s love simply greater than anything we can imagine?  The disciples certainly don’t get it, even when they are on the mountain with Jesus in Mark's Gospel.  Having heard him predict his own Passion, they witness his Transfiguration before their very eyes.  Peter hardly knew what to say, and the disciples will continue to question what rising from the dead meant in the aftermath of this remarkable event.  Although they hear God’s statement – Listen to him – they really have no clue what it all means.  Not yet.

It is a part of the human condition to live with doubt, to be overwhelmed by the ineffable – it’s hard to get what God is about in our lives.  Understanding the revelation, comprehending what God has done – sending his son, handing him over, raising him – takes time, and we’re still working it.  Hang in there… In the end, it will surely be worth it!

This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
Image source:  Wordle