HOMILY OF THE SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B
Genesis 22:1-2.9a.10-13.15-18, Rom 8:31b-34, Mk 9:2-10.
THEME: OUR FAITH IN THE MISSION OF CHRIST
It is hard to obey someone in whom we do not have faith. To follow someone’s instruction entails having trust in him or her. Anything short of that is coercion. God cannot coerce us. He gave us freewill and he wants us to exercise it. Abraham heeded God’s instruction to sacrifice Isaac because he firmly believed in God’s endless and divine provision. He knew how old he and Sarah were when they were gifted with Isaac. He believed that God cannot fail him.
Furthermore, it takes faith to follow someone even when we do not fully understand him or her. From our today Gospel account, the glory of God that shown on the mountain of transfiguration was such that, the disciples cannot but believe in Jesus as the messiah. Yet, their expectation of the messiah is not the type who will go to Jerusalem to suffer and die as Jesus told them. God the Father has confirmed him in their presence, yet they could not still imagine him as one who has not come to rule by force.
However, Jesus told Peter, James and John to keep the mountain experience to themselves until the time of his resurrection. Mark 9:9. Preaching to them about the resurrection may not solve the matter. Rather, being witnesses to the resurrection will be the best demonstration of his Lordship. This further attests to the fact that, we learn by experience.
Moreover, when we rely solely on the story of others, or on the experience of others, we may not gain a full understanding of a person or a situation. The transfiguration experience was complemented by the resurrection experience. This also means that we don’t always gain full understanding only by a single incident. As the Lord keeps showing himself to us, we gain more knowledge of him. That shows the progressive nature of knowledge.
Let us seek to have more of personal experience of the Lord, that we may understand him and his mission in our lives and in the world. May the Lord manifest himself to us that, we may gain more knowledge of him. May our daily encounter with him deepen our understanding of his mission in the world, that we may be fully part of his kingdom on earth. Amen
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