Homily of 2nd Sunday of Lent Yr. B by Fr. Isaac C. Chima

God will not fail you: Listen to Him

1st Reading: Gen. 22:1-2.9a.10-13,15-18

2nd Reading: Rm. 8:31b-34

Gospel: Mk. 9:2-10

Dearest brothers and sisters, the central message of this beautiful Sunday is in the first paragraph of the second reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Romans. It said: “if God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, will he not give us all with him?” if we read a bit further to verse thirty-five, saint Paul mentioned many of the forces that battle against our life here on earth, and he affirmed that nothing on earth can separate us from the love of God. He said: “who, then, can separate us from the love of Christ? Can troubles do it, or hardship or hunger or persecution or poverty or danger of death?... No, in all these things, we have complete victory through him who loved us.” In verse thirty-nine, Saint Paul concluded that “there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God.” Truly, nothing can separate us from the love of God.

What, then, does this strong promise of the love of God mean for every Christian? Dear friends, it means that we should have unwavering faith, a faith that is as strong as rock in God, in His words and promises, even in the most difficult time of our lives. It is a call for every Christian to stand firm in God in the face of life’s challenges, and even when the difficulties and challenges of life seem to make a ridicule of our faith in God. It is a call to be strong in God, to believe in his words, even when we did not understand them fully. He will fulfil them in due time.

We saw this unwavering faith in God and his promises in the first reading about the life of Abraham. As we all know, Abraham demonstrated a strong and unwavering faith in God both before the birth of his son, Isaac, and afterwards. Before the birth of Isaac, God appeared to Abraham countless times and also made countless promises to him. At each appearance, God gave Abraham a new task to do. Abraham continued to believe in God, he continued to be obedient to God, and he continued to believe in the fulfilment of the promise that his descendants will inherit a large land mass. His faith was strong despite the fact that he had no child and even when, according to nature, his wife has passed the age of childbearing. What a strong man of faith. Abraham was sure that not even nature can stand against the fulfilment of God’s promise to him. My dear friends, God did not fail Abraham. God does not abandon those who trust in Him.

When, eventually, Isaac, the son of the promise, was born to Abraham, God came to Abraham with another challenge of faith as we saw in the first reading of today. God asked him to Sacrifice his most precious son to him. To this second challenge, Abraham demonstrated that God should be trusted and believed even when we did not fully understand Him. Dear friends, our Christian life is a call of total trust in God even in the most difficult times of our lives, and even when our relationship with God demands us to leave something what is very important to us, as Abraham did with his son.

In the gospel of today, we saw the same absolute trust in God, even when that absolute trust would bring suffering and pain. On the mountain of transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus to discuss His death according to the will of God, the death on the cross for the salvation of the world. Hence, the will of God for Jesus was one that would bring pain and death, but Jesus accepted and obeyed this will because he believed that not even pain and death can separate him from the love of God the Father. The psalmist of today said: I trusted, even when I said, I am sorely afflicted.

Dearest brothers and sisters, in the gospel of today, the voice of God came from the cloud and told us, the disciples of Jesus: “this is my beloved Son, listen to him.”  Thus, our own task as Christians is to listen and obey the voice of Jesus for our lives, even in the most difficult moments of our lives, believing with saint Paul that since God gave us his only Son to die for us, He will do everything for us.

Our life in this world is full of crosses, sicknesses, pains and uncertainties. But in the midst of all these, the church wants us to listen to the voice of Jesus, believing that God will not abandon us to the power of sickness and pain. Also, whenever it seemed that our prayers are not answered, our faith in God should be unshakable like that of Abraham.

God wants us to listen to the voice of Christ which calls us to give out or share our precious treasures with the poor this Lent through almsgiving. He wants us to listen to the voice of Christ which invites us to deny ourselves some pleasures through fasting because of Lent. God wants us to listen to voice of Christ and the church which is calls us to come out of any sinful behaviour or conduct, and any sinful relationship for the sake of the cross and death of Christ, even when that sinful conduct or sinful relationship is the only source of our joy, and even when coming out of that sinful conduct will cause us pain and sorrow. The truth is: if God is for us, nothing can be against us. If God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, he will do everything for us. God will not disappoint us when we choose Him above every other thing, especially, above the pleasure of sin.

Have a beautiful Sunday

Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima

Image from: (8) a-psalm - Second Sunday of Lent Year B - Gospel Acclaimation - YouTube