homily notes: second sunday of lent

Do any of you like movie previews?


I'm not talking about commercials - the kind of things you see on TV - but real previews, that give you a little glimpse of what an upcoming movie going to be like.


I love previews - they hold a lot of potential. This movie could be really great. A lot of previews are actually better than the whole movie because they only show you the good parts.


We have previews in our lives as well.


We watch siblings and friends graduate from high school. We see our loved ones get married or have children. I watched friends - fellow seminarians - get ordained.
And all these things point to our future. We catch a glimpse of what could happen in our own lives.


Our readings today give us two examples of God offering us a glimpse of the future.


The first one, the story of the sacrifice of Isaac, is not such a pleasant one.


The book of Genesis tells the story of Abraham being called by God to leave his homeland to go to a place God would give to him and his descendants. Then God makes a covenant with Abraham through the sacrifice of animals; then the covenant of circumcision.


Finally, we come to today's story. God asks the unthinkable of Abraham - the sacrifice of his own son. And because of his complete trust in the goodness of God, Abraham goes along with it. But in the end God stops him, and because of his faithfulness, he promises Abraham a great number of descendants through which God will bless the whole world.


The place where all this happens, is traditionally identified with another famous hill - Golgatha - the place where was crucified.


So, we have the story of  a son, who carries the wood for his own sacrifice and who escapes death by the power of God.


This is a glimpse, centuries before the death of Jesus, of what God would give, what he would sacrifice for our salvation.




In our Gospel, we have a different sort of vision.


Jesus takes his three closest disciples up a mountain and there he is transfigured before them.


Peter, James and John see Jesus as he truly is - the Son of God. And standing next to him are Moses and Elijah - two of the most important figures of the Old Testament, representing the Law and the prophets.


Jesus fulfills all of the promises of the Old Testament - through his sacrifice, we can see the meaning behind the story of Abraham and Isaac: that God would do anything, give anything, so that we can be with Him - even giving up his own Son.


The disciples see this glimpse of Jesus' true power and majesty on top of one mountain, but the next time Jesus goes up a mountain, it's on Calvary to offer himself on the cross. Through the transfiguration, Peter, James and John are strengthened for what's to come.




We need those glimpses as well. We need to be strengthened in our faith to see that God is working in our lives - and we get that here.
In the Eucharist, we experience Christ's saving passion, his death and his resurrection. We see how God has a plan to take our broken world and transform it through the self-gift of his Son, Jesus.


A movie preview may look great, but there's always the chance that the real story will disappoint us. The glimpse that God gives us of our destiny is just a tiny hint of the true joy that's to come.