Second Sunday of Lent, Cycle B

1st Reading- Gen 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18

2nd Reading- Rom 8:31b-34

Gospel- Mark 9:2-10

Reflection: “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?”

The Transfuguration, our Gospel this Sunday, invites us to look into the mystery of Christ. He is not human alone as others may think of Him. He is both Divine and Human, fully human and fully divine. In His humanity, Christ brought to Himself our human condition except sin, but took up our sins and offered Himself as  sacrifice for our redemption. His divinity reminds us of God’s presence that brings us to an intimate relationship with the Father.

The story of Abraham offering his son Isaac in obedience to God’s command in our 1st Reading, is a reminder for us that intimacy with God is presupposed by obedience and trust. God will allow trials to come into our lives not to let us fall but to strengthen our resolve in following His will in our lives. Abraham followed God’s command knowing that God will always provides and rewards those who are obedient and faithful to Him. The angel said of Abraham, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son, I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing— all this because you obeyed my command.”

In our 2nd Reading, St. Paul reminds us of God’s generosity that goes beyond human expectations. He whom we have failed so many times in our lives made it a point to save us from our sins. St. Paul says, “Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who acquits us, who will condemn? Christ Jesus it is who died—or, rather, was raised— who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.”

In the end, God’s generosity cannot be surpassed by anyone. Abraham’s readiness to offer his own son prefigures God’s own offering of His Son on the Cross. The Transfiguration affords hope to the disciples that He who is transfigured in front of them will also rise from the dead after His suffering and death on the Cross. Jesus is the Beloved Son whom we have to listen to and follow. He shows us the way to the heart of the Father through His own example of obedient love.